NEWS
9th January 2012
Happy New Year! I am writing this first update of 2012 looking forward to the year ahead. Last year was a good year for our business, especially given the economic difficulties, and we are hoping to continue this into the new year. December was an enjoyable month at the showroom with a handful of deliveries the day before Christmas Eve getting the pianos in before the festive season got underway. We opted to close the showroom for the time between Christmas and the new year and have returned rested, refreshed and looking forward to welcoming visitors during the coming month.
We have a sale on during January and will be offering discounts an all of our pianos throughout the month. Towards the end of last year we had a few older pianos in, both uprights and grands, which proved very popular with customers. Most didn’t make it to the used piano pages before selling and being delivered to the new owners. As a result we are hoping to stock more old, fine quality pianos throughout the year and also increase the amount of pianos that we restore and present in the showroom. As I write we have just taken in a previously restored Bechstein model B and similar sized Grotrian-Steinweg grand. We have just restored and sold a Bechstein upright and sold another previously restored Bechstein upright. Currently going through the workshops are a beautiful burr walnut Ronisch grand, a Grotrian-Steinweg upright and a Grotrian-Steinweg grand which is reserved already. I am very excited with the prospect of sourcing, restoring and supplying these types of characterful, quality pianos which offer something different to new pianos.
Kawai pianos continue to be very popular with special promotions on some models. The K3 has been our most popular upright and the GM-10 the most popular grand. We have just taken in a two year old K5 which will be a very good buy for someone looking for a quality Japanese professional upright. Kawai pianos seem to go from strength to strength and are gaining in popularity all of the time. Most of our customers find the tonal quality and responsive actions superior to other similarly priced pianos on offer. Although we have had many enquiries our RX-2 is still in stock at a very attractive price due to a small cabinet blemish. It had sold but the customer was unlucky enough to have to buy a car instead due to mechanical failure of his old one!
Our beautiful model C Bluthner upright was delivered towards the end of last year. Whilst preparing this piano I was reminded of the unbelievable build quality of these prestigious German pianos. The quality of materials used and the quality of construction are second to none in the industry and the characteristic ‘golden tone’ is beautiful to hear. I am hoping to stock more of these desirable uprights in the future. Our replacement Grotrian-Steinweg Classic upright arrived towards the end of last year and is as impressive as the previous models that we have sold. Both Grotrian and Bluthner are family owned German businesses still producing the finest pianos in keeping with their rich heritage, what an impressive country it is!
We have much to look forward to in the months ahead. Jason from the Winchester Piano studios is holding a blues workshop in the showroom, we have had a cello masterclass and look forward to a choral workshop coming soon. I am always delighted to offer the showroom to local musicians and enjoy ‘showing off’ my stock at the same time! I was pleased to offer the use of my fabulous Grotrian-Steinweg Cabinet grand to a professional jazz pianist recently to record on.
Piano tuning remains extremely busy. Vicky is on two weeks holiday at the moment, well deserved after an impressive cello grade 8 distinction in December! Richard is helping with the workload while she is off but we do seem to have a bit of a backlog to catch up with. We all continue to thoroughly enjoy life on the road; for me it balances perfectly with the showroom business and makes for a fantastic work life.
That just about brings us up to date. Neil and I look forward to welcoming many new customers to the showroom. With special promotions from Kawai and our January sale it is a great time to consider making a piano purchase!
