> Upon entering Mr. > Jones was said to have "gasped in disbelief". Inside were > hundreds of brand new Baldwin digital pianos, crated in the > boxes and ready to ship. Unfortunately the entire inventory > was at least five years or older, completely antiquated and > virtually worthless on the retail market. Likely > they will now all have to be destroyed. Littering the > market with a product for pennies on the dollar that can't > be given a warranty will likely damage the Baldwin name > further while eliminating potential buyers for future > profitable products. In today's business world it would be > a risky move for a manufacturer to try and sell these > instruments at this late stage no matter how tempting. True, but what about donating these instruments to non-profit children's homes, etc. Maybe even qualifying funds-poor churches. Heaven only knows how bad some need a functional instrument (I know all of you are aware). A bookeeping nightmare could be turned into a PR opportunity. Think of the headlines - "Baldwin Puts Music Back in Churches"! It would be a crime to destroy such an inventory. I would strongly suggest finding this guy's name and sending him such a message to pass along to Mr. Jones. Terry Farrell ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Goodale" <rrg@nevada.edu> To: "PianoTech List" <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2001 1:48 AM Subject: Baldwin's Woes > The PTG convention in Reno proved to be a fertile ground for > gossip regarding Baldwin's woes. Throughout the week > stories trickled along the withering grapevine about the ill > health of the company. Several times I caught a hushed > earful of rehashed news and on rare occasion someone who had > know idea that there was a problem. Personally I was > somewhat surprised to discover that the cashed strapped > legend managed to make an appearance, although it was > somewhat encouraging to see. > > Of course I heard a great deal of speculation regarding > "what happens next" and of course the now infamous "I heard > that Samick is going to buy them" routine in addition to > other idle chat. Nothing to stop the presses. Then I > stumbled into a unique situation. At the PTG banquet I > happened to sit at a table in the company of a gentleman who > had a little more credibility on the matter. His name at > the moment escapes me although if I recall it I would not > repeat it in respect of privacy of the source. > > This gentleman is the rather business savvy type and is an > acquaintance of Mr. Bob Jones, the new CEO of Baldwin Piano > and Organ. In a nut shell the tale goes something like > this. A short time ago when Mr. Jones assumed command he > took it upon himself to physically inspect every inch of the > Baldwin facilities. Certainly a wise and appropriate task > to do as I'm sure you will agree. As expected his > inspection yielded a number of items for potential > improvement, but the biggest shock was when the tour arrived > at one of the warehousing facilities. Upon entering Mr. > Jones was said to have "gasped in disbelief". Inside were > hundreds of brand new Baldwin digital pianos, crated in the > boxes and ready to ship. Unfortunately the entire inventory > was at least five years or older, completely antiquated and > virtually worthless on the retail market. They had been > sitting there rotting away for years until all market value > had deteriorated and with no explanation as to why. Likely > they will now all have to be destroyed. Littering the > market with a product for pennies on the dollar that can't > be given a warranty will likely damage the Baldwin name > further while eliminating potential buyers for future > profitable products. In today's business world it would be > a risky move for a manufacturer to try and sell these > instruments at this late stage no matter how tempting. > > Moving on to another warehousing facility was a further > unbelievable discovery. Hundreds of pianos, grands and > uprights. These are what is sometimes referred to in > business as class B surplus. They are pianos that for > whatever reason were returned from dealers back to the > factory. In some cases they were returned simply because > they were misordered. In other cases they may only have a > couple of minor problems. Few pianos that have major damage > ever make it this far. As a result of poor record keeping > there was no way of telling what was in there. A potential > gold mine of revenue sitting in a warehouse rotting away. > Every piano will have to be removed to be inspected and then > repaired as needed. Of course at the present time even > these pianos are nearly worthless since Baldwin already has > a problem with excessive crated new inventory. > > These are just a couple of examples of what mismanagement > can do to destroy a company. Poor record keeping is largely > to blame for this unbelievable waste. I just received my > July issue of THE MUSIC TRADES which contains a feature > article on Baldwin's bankruptcy after being unable to make > their May 25th payroll. Once again Karen Hendricks is the > focus of the company's failure. Although I have no doubt > that Hendricks was grossly irresponsible and deserves a > substantial amount of the blame, Baldwin's problems are > clearly rooted deeper than that. This is a company that > been buried in waste and mismanagement. Throughout most of > the 90s piano sales were soaring yet by the end of the > decade Baldwin had little to show for it. Baldwin could > still potentially turn around with the right management and > an aggressive move toward leaning down and plugging the > hemorrhaging waste problems. With new products, corrected > manufacturing defects, and an aggressive campaign to restore > the Baldwin name, the potential is there. Unfortunately > what they need desperately more than anything else right now > is cash. I didn't hear any stories regarding how that will > happen. > > Rob Goodale, RPT > Las Vegas, NV > >
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC