BOUTIQUE - Music Inc. Magazine

Phillip Jordan hasn’t only
made it through the
recession unscathed;
he’s grown his business,
RedPhish Music.
Jordan, 46, got his start in
music retail working at a pawn
shop in Wilson, N.C. In 2006, he
bought the store after running it
for almost 30 years, and a few
months later, he opened a retail
store in nearby Rocky Mount with
all-new merchandise.
Business at the original Red-
Phish store — named after a
combination of Jordan’s daughters’
nicknames — was so strong
that he opened another location
in Wilson in 2007, followed by
stores in Smithville and Goldsboro
— all within a 25- to 30mile
radius. Jordan attributed his
success since then to knowing
his market, keeping his overhead
low and relying on a small stable
of long-term, trusted employees.
Pay-aS-you-GroW STraTEGy
Each RedPhish store is a fullline
1,200- to 1,500-square-foot
operation, aimed at the novice to
intermediate player. Most have
only two employees. Jordan carries
some higher-end gear, but he
said that instead of having four
of the same $1,000 keyboard, he
might have four different $1,000
keyboards — one at each location.
This lets him diversify without
putting all his inventory eggs in
one basket. It also helps mitigate
the effect of nearby chain competitors,
as does RedPhish’s pricematching
guarantee.
“I know I can’t have the inventory
that those guys have, but I try
and listen to the local people and
stock what they need and want,
so they don’t have to hit the road
and go anywhere else,” Jordan said.
That doesn’t mean RedPhish
hasn’t made purchasing mistakes.
“We’ve been wrong several times,
and you just have to cut your
losses and move on,” he said. “I
think knowing our market — and
more than that, learning our market
— is key.”
Jordan warehouses all of his
inventory at one location and distributes
it among his stores by
truck. Before an aging item gets
marked down, it makes the rounds
and gets exposed to as many as
four different customer bases.
His pay-as-you-grow strategy
has also helped keep stock under
control. “I was raised on a farm,
and I watched what happened back
in the ’80s, so I’m not a big credit
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NO RED INK
Phillip Jordan
person,” Jordan said. “We’ve grown
the company and added brands as
we could afford to do so without
going into debt to do it. When I
started this business, I didn’t want
my employees or myself to be in a
situation where slow days could
have disastrous effects.”
nEVEr cry THE BluES
As the business has grown, Jordan
said he has “shared the
bounty” with staff, who he credited
for much of RedPhish’s success.
“I didn’t have to hire just anyone
off the street, and many of these
people have been with me for more
than 20 years, back from the pawn
shop. Everyone who works here is
a musician — a local musician —
and that makes a big difference.”
And, he added, some things
never change, recession or not. “I
don’t think there are fewer musicians
because of the economy,”
Jordan said. “[A musician] just
has a little less money to spend.
He may spend as often, but the
price of the high-ticket item may
come down.
“Nobody wants to come in
somewhere where you’re crying
the blues — if you’re playing the
blues, maybe — so you’ve gotta
be able to stay upbeat when you
don’t have that big sales day.” MI
JANUARY 2011 I MUSIC INC. I 15