Kala dealer

[Ukecaster]

I always see online Kala listings from a brick & mortar dealer about 45 minutes away, but never ventured there, until today, when I happened to be passing nearby. Previously, he listed Kala Elites, so I was hoping he may still have some of those to try, but no dice. He had about 60 Kalas of various levels (had well over 100 6 months ago) with the most expensive being the recent SCAC cedar top models with Ratio tuners. They were ok, nothing too special, and I thought the previous incarnation, the slothead ATP-CTG line sounded better. All the ukes were well displayed, in great shape, and all in-tune.

Anyway, when I asked about Elites, he said he didn’t have any left, but that they sold well. He then explained that Kala won’t sell him any more ukes. I asked just the Elites? He said no, they won’t sell him any more ukes period, claiming that the company is “a mess” after COVID, and taking all sales in-house, through the internet only. Not sure of the validity of that, it was rather shocking to hear, but we’ve heard similar dealer complaints here before, about them undercutting dealers. He had a bunch of Islanders in the store (by Kanilea) and said he will now sell those instead, along with a couple of other low end brands I never heard of. Kinda sad to think of a dealer being cut off by a brand after they’ve probably already sold hundreds of their ukes.

 

[rainbow21]

Well, their website shows that there are over 1500 Kala dealers in the USA. It would be quite a feat for them to convert all these to internet sales out of their central office.

It sounds like you are not being given the real reasons why they are no longer a Kala dealer nor carrying their stock. That is somewhat their own business decision, but the reason given to you does not ring true. This can create a trust issue for the business.

I would rather hear something like: "We no longer carry the Kala line, but we have found that the Islander ukuleles, a subsidiary of Kanile'a, are equal or better to the Kala ones..."

 

[Graham Greenbag]

IIRC Mim decided not stop selling Kala Ukes and it was because the on-line sales undercut her prices so badly that there was no margin in there for her. Bottom line is that there’s got to be something in there for the dealer ‘cause if not them they can’t cover their costs —> so going bust. I anticipate that Ukecaster was given an explanation with elements of truth in it, but not the whole truth.

 

[TimWilson]

the company is “a mess” after COVID

It's not just them, or ukulele builders and dealers in general...but the whole ukulele business is hurting. As one of the guys who rode in on the pandemic wave of geezers picking up ukulele, I'm well aware that that dynamic wasn't going to last forever, and it hasn't.

Obviously, plenty of businesses are doing better post-pandemic. The real hit has been to companies who disproportionately benefitted from the pandemic. Zoom and Facebook are among the two who've said that they rebuilt their companies on the assumption that the three years of the pandemic ('20, '21, and '22) were giving them a trajectory that would continue, and it just hasn't.

And I think as an industry, ukuleles have certainly been riding a wave up that is now coming down. I would guess that Kala may be feeling it more than most, specifically because of how thinly they've been spread. 1500 dealers?!? How many companies of ANY kind have 1500 dealers? Toyota only has 1200-ish in the US. There's around 1900 Target stores and 500 Macy's. 1800 Olive Gardens.

Obviously Kala's investment in 1500 dealers is nothing like the dollars tied up in 1200 Toyota dealers, 1900 Targets or 1800 Olive Gardens, but THIS is the scale we're talking about. Supporting a reseller channel at anything close to this kind of scale carries enormous costs of its own. Even apart from gross sales and profit margins, one of the fastest ways to save money without tinkering with the entire business is going to be to reduce the size of your channel. Prices and margins can stay the same, development can stay on track, and now with fewer coop advertising dollars being sent to fewer dealers to support their own sales, you now have more resources to step up marketing your own website a little more.

So yeah, as noted above, I can't imagine zeroing out the channel. Not even Apple has done that, and they've come closer than anyone. (I worked in Apple's channel for a while in the early part of the century, right as they were burning it all down; my father actually created Apple's channel when he worked there back in the late 70s, but that's another set of stories.) Even without zeroing out, though, just reducing the channel to save costs? It would be crazy for them NOT to be doing this. The very definition of low-hanging fruit in the reorg handbook.

Unfortunate for any number of specific dealers and customers, certainly, and I can't imagine that Mike Upton is taking any of this lightly...but it HAS to happen.

 

[Ukecaster]

Again, no idea if what the guy was saying was BS, just relaying what he said. I imagine there was something else going on there with his dealership relations, since I can't imagine Kala just cutting off 1500 dealers and going direct.

But, I wonder what's going on with the Elites. If you look at the Kala site, there are only 9 different Elite models listed now, all labeled dealer exclusive. No more all mahogany doghair ukes, super tenors, or sopranos. Downsizing and more focus there too I guess.

They also say:
"Current models are available while supplies last. Stay tuned for upcoming updates to the Kala Elite USA Series".

 

[badhabits]

Maybe their in-house luthiers are busy making revelators?

 

[EDW]

Maybe their in-house luthiers are busy making revelators?

Maybe they will start a revelatory revolution?

 

[UkingViking]

I think that having a lot of presence in shops have boosted Kalas sales a lot.

So many people come to this website asking for advice on their first ukulele, saying that they have been told to go for Kala. I once saw someone walk into a small copenhagen guitar shop, asking for Kala ukulele ( they only had one ukulele in store, a Bruko, rare to see in shops).

Many brands, like Ohana, Islander, recent years Flight etc., has an equally good reputation on this forum. But Kala was the one with that reputation which you were more likely to find in shops.

If Kala reduces their shop presence, I am guessing they will loose som ground to Flight and Cordoba, which both seem to have more availability now. At least in Denmark.

 

[bbkobabe]

The prices on Kala's online stores are not super cheap, and the last time I bought from an authorized dealer they were able to undercut that price. It was a list price $220 uke he sold me for $185. I asked him how much he just made and he told me "less than $20". He showed me his Kala dealer catalog and price list to prove it.

Dealers are usually worried that buyers will try in store - and then buy online to save money. I doubt that saves you much if you buy directly from Kala... Kala Online does have a sale now and then, so maybe if you wait until what you want comes on sale you might save a bit.

Kala does offer free shipping on most orders, a slight advantage if the dealer isn't near you and you know what you want.

The excuse offered by this dealer is failing the "smell" test, IMHO.

 

[necessaryrooster]

The excuse offered by this dealer is failing the "smell" test, IMHO.

It's suspicious to me (as well as unprofessional) that the dealer would be badmouthing/airing dirty laundry to random customers.

 

[Ukecaster]

It's suspicious to me (as well as unprofessional) that the dealer would be badmouthing/airing dirty laundry to random customers.

Agreed, I was surprised.

 

[merlin666]

Before pandemic when I was travelling I loved to visit uke stores and they were all full of Kalas as dominant brand. So it was very easy to pick one up. But I think that many people who return to the stores for their next uke also figure out that the Kalas are all fairly generic and move on to different brand. Maybe the company figured that the market may be saturated already and they are changing their model and thinning the dealer herd.

 

[Nickie]

It's not just them, or ukulele builders and dealers in general...but the whole ukulele business is hurting. As one of the guys who rode in on the pandemic wave of geezers picking up ukulele, I'm well aware that that dynamic wasn't going to last forever, and it hasn't.

Obviously, plenty of businesses are doing better post-pandemic. The real hit has been to companies who disproportionately benefitted from the pandemic. Zoom and Facebook are among the two who've said that they rebuilt their companies on the assumption that the three years of the pandemic ('20, '21, and '22) were giving them a trajectory that would continue, and it just hasn't.

And I think as an industry, ukuleles have certainly been riding a wave up that is now coming down. I would guess that Kala may be feeling it more than most, specifically because of how thinly they've been spread. 1500 dealers?!? How many companies of ANY kind have 1500 dealers? Toyota only has 1200-ish in the US. There's around 1900 Target stores and 500 Macy's. 1800 Olive Gardens.

Obviously Kala's investment in 1500 dealers is nothing like the dollars tied up in 1200 Toyota dealers, 1900 Targets or 1800 Olive Gardens, but THIS is the scale we're talking about. Supporting a reseller channel at anything close to this kind of scale carries enormous costs of its own. Even apart from gross sales and profit margins, one of the fastest ways to save money without tinkering with the entire business is going to be to reduce the size of your channel. Prices and margins can stay the same, development can stay on track, and now with fewer coop advertising dollars being sent to fewer dealers to support their own sales, you now have more resources to step up marketing your own website a little more.

So yeah, as noted above, I can't imagine zeroing out the channel. Not even Apple has done that, and they've come closer than anyone. (I worked in Apple's channel for a while in the early part of the century, right as they were burning it all down; my father actually created Apple's channel when he worked there back in the late 70s, but that's another set of stories.) Even without zeroing out, though, just reducing the channel to save costs? It would be crazy for them NOT to be doing this. The very definition of low-hanging fruit in the reorg handbook.

Unfortunate for any number of specific dealers and customers, certainly, and I can't imagine that Mike Upton is taking any of this lightly...but it HAS to happen.

Thanks for this info Tim. Since the UBass, which was a real boon, Kala has come up with nothing special, except a way to s---w their dealers. MIM was almost forced to switch from pushing Kala to putting Ohana in the forefront. And it turned out to be a good decision.

The post Covid world is way more risky for pets than it is for ukulele sellers, unfortunately. Thousands of pets that were adopted during the pandemic have been returned to shelters. Shame on these people who are so fickle. We adopted 6 cats over the years, some were in big trouble, and NONE of them are going to shelters, over our dead bodies!
Sorry for the rant.

 

[Nickie]

It's suspicious to me (as well as unprofessional) that the dealer would be badmouthing/airing dirty laundry to random customers.

Dealers took a licking from Kala.....but....he sounded unprofessional to me too. I would only tell a well known, trusted customer such as that.

 

[Nickie]

I think that having a lot of presence in shops have boosted Kalas sales a lot.

So many people come to this website asking for advice on their first ukulele, saying that they have been told to go for Kala. I once saw someone walk into a small copenhagen guitar shop, asking for Kala ukulele ( they only had one ukulele in store, a Bruko, rare to see in shops).

Many brands, like Ohana, Islander, recent years Flight etc., has an equally good reputation on this forum. But Kala was the one with that reputation which you were more likely to find in shops.

If Kala reduces their shop presence, I am guessing they will loose som ground to Flight and Cordoba, which both seem to have more availability now. At least in Denmark.

Lately, here in the US, I've seen and played some very good examples of Flight and Cordoba ukuleles.