Last weekend, I had to go to Target, which led me to a suburban retail plaza that happens to also contain a large guitar shop chain.
I figured since I was there, I would pop by and take a peek to see if they had any interesting used gear. I stumbled upon a pedal that I had never tried before and wanted to check out. All of this was very regular, right?
The only issue was that my 5 year old was with me.
The salesperson set me up at their pedal station and everything was fine. Except, at this point, said 5 year old was getting impatient. We’d already been there for maybe 10 minutes and for a 5 year old, 10 minutes is a loooooong time.
Of course, the guitar was out of tune, so I had to tune it— which I proceeded to do with my child literally hanging from my neck. He continued to alternate between hanging on me and asking when we were leaving for the maybe 5 minutes I was able to sit there with the pedal while I was mostly unable to really focus on how it sounded or how the controls worked.
This is not an ideal situation for me and it isn’t an ideal situation for the company, who could have potentially made a sale if I didn’t feel so distracted and rushed.
I’ve discussed here a number of times that despite the fact that I have a lot of complaints about the treatment I and many others experience in music retail spaces, I really do love them and I appreciate the community they provide.
But, as a parent, the time that I have to myself to just go to a shop is VERY small. Like, maybe a couple of hours per week?
My son’s father and I are together. We only have one child and work standard office-y hours of 9-5ish, while making up for the extra 3-5pm times in the evenings and on weekends. Overall, we are VERY lucky.
For non-parents, that schedule might not mean much. But for working parents, you know that the 5pm-8pm time frame is the only time you’ll see your kid most of the day, assuming they aren’t busy in some sort of sport or lesson after school. During the week, that is also the only non-work time that most music stores are open, and some close even earlier.
So, in order to drive there in what might be the worst traffic of the day, a potential customer might be there for about 15 minutes or so, depending on the size of your city. If it’s a larger store with longer hours, a parent might have an hour after bedtime to pop over there… but let’s be real, they are probably too exhausted to do so.
Everyone’s situation is different, but for us, we usually spend one weekend morning doing family stuff, like a hike. I spend usually a couple of hours one day either working or practicing. The other time is spent running errands with my child in tow while my partner is working or on a bike ride. That’s often the only time I might have the opportunity to hit up a shop. That’s assuming they are actually open at all, which might not be the case if it’s a Sunday.
The reason I’m mentioning all this is to demonstrate for non-parents, or parents who don’t share equal childcare duties with their partner, that it might be very hard to get to a shop without a child.
So, how can retailers make shopping with a child a better experience?
In the past we’ve discussed a number of ways to make retail spaces better and the importance of doing so given competition from the internet. But, as I was sitting there with my child hanging around my neck, it occurred to me that there are likely some strategies to address the specific experience of shopping with children, helping parents get what they need, and hopefully leading to more sales for retailers, as well.
Open earlier or later— perhaps you can’t do this every day of the week, and of course, this can be a drag for employees who want to sleep in or who have things to do in the evening, but if you can manage it once or twice a week, it would give busy parents additional hours to get there, potentially sans children.
Keep expensive items out of reach— if you are a parent trying to shop, it’s hard to focus on what you are looking for while watching your child out of the side of your eye to make sure they aren’t going to knock over a $10,000 ‘60s Les Paul or whatever. That’s stressful for employees AND for parents. As a preventative measure, it can help to move things out of the way.
Have amenities on hand— for infants, having a small rocker of some sort available that you can set a child in a buckle them is great. If someone drove in a car, they might be able to just use the car seat, but if they walked, they might just have the child on their person, and having a place to put the child while you try things out (quietly) can help. Have some snacks on hand that won’t make a mess. Offer kids stickers or small toys to get them excited. Sometimes small things can make a big difference to kids and to their parents to show that you care.
Protect those ears— have ear protection available for babies and kids who might need it. If they aren’t used to it, it might even startle them and they could start crying, in addition to potentially causing hearing damage.
Create a play zone— this doesn’t have to be a giant space with a ball pit or something, but if you have the space, a small designated kids area can help keep kids occupied while their parents are busy. It can be as big or small as you can manage, and can include some toys or even some instruments. If you are worried about it being loud or distracting, it could be a separate area, though that might require you to hire someone to cover childcare, which might or might not be manageable for you. A fun experience for kids is the concept of an “instrument petting zoo,” which is basically a bunch of instruments that they can try out. This can also help spark their interest in music, too! If you offer lessons, it’s easy to connect those dots, as well. Of course, right now covid is a concern so that would need to be taken into consideration, but hopefully, it won’t be forever.
Online updates— since parents are often strapped for time (and let’s be honest, cash), they do often shop online first. If you regularly update your website, social media, and Reverb store, it will help folks know what you have in stock and whether they should spend their precious time (and money) stopping by.
Curbside pickup— the pandemic has helped many retailers to understand the benefits of curbside pickup, which can be a boon for parents who just need a quick pick-up, like picks, strings, or sticks, but don’t want to have to unbuckle their kid(s) from the car seat, bring them inside, and keep them occupied while they make their purchase (did you know it’s illegal to leave your kid in the car under age 12 in Rhode Island? it’s true!).
These are just a few ideas for brick and mortar retailers that could help retain parents as customers. Unfortunately, once their child is born, parents may move to online retail, and if the benefits of brick and mortar don’t outweigh the negatives, they may move to online purchasing permanently.
I recognize that not all retailers want children in their stores, and while I understand that it is a pain, it is also a pain to lose customers. Some parents take a break from music when they have young children, but this is a time when they might need the outlet music provides more than ever and you can help.
Following these recommendations can be a net positive for musician parents of all genders who simply want to try out the cool new pedal, cymbal, or synth you have to share and hopefully the good will you build up by creating a positive experience for parent customers will keep them coming back when their kids are looking for their first guitar, as well— so it’s in the best interest of retailers to support parents and for manufacturers to encourage them to do so, too.
P.S. This doesn’t address the ways that music retailers can support employees who are parents— that’s or another article!