X Marks the Spot

It’s early days yet but in the relatively short time it has been open for business, X Music – this country’s first and only music instrument retail superstore – has proved hugely popular with Irish musicians. “The reaction to date has been fantastic,“ says X Music’s Retail Manager, Stephen O’Brien. “People have said to us, it’s about time Ireland had something like this. They’ve seen stores like it in other countries and wondered why we couldn’t have one here. Well, now we have."

According to O’Brien, business has been booming, with weekends in particular proving to be hectic (though when Hot Press dropped out on a wintry Tuesday morning there was a steady flow of customers coming through the doors, including a couple of well-known Irish session musicians).
The out-of-town location has proven to be a winner too, with customers quickly warming to the concept of not having to go into the city centre for their music needs. X Music is located at the Red Cow Retail Centre close to the junction of the M50 and the N7 (Naas Road). It’s also minutes from the Luas Red line.
O’Brien: “Some people in the business thought it was a big risk to leave the city centre. But as it has turned out, it’s a great location, easily accessible from almost anywhere. You don’t have the same problems with parking and it’s much easier for say working musicians and crew to be able to drive up, leave the van outside the door and pick up whatever they need.
It’s certainly a whole new experience in music retail and the first impression you get on entering X Music is the sheer scale of the space that confronts you. The main ground-floor area is spectacularly large, with high glass walls providing natural light while the ceiling – several stories high – contributes to the overall feeling of vastness. All around the side walls and across the open-plan floor area are tantalising displays of instruments and gear, including guitars – both electric and acoustic – keyboards, drums, amps and sundry other accessories.
In complete contrast to most city centre stores, which tend to be full to overflowing with instruments and gear, all fighting for limited floor and wall space, X Music’s uncluttered displays and demonstration areas provide a vast range of brands and models.
“From a delivery point of view it works much better for us,” says O’Brien. “We’ve loading bays around the back which you don’t often get in the city centre where deliveries often come through the front door. It doesn’t help having 24 boxes of gear that have just been delivered clogging up space on the floor.”
Off the main area, are specialist rooms featuring hi-end (and more expensive) instruments and gear. They include the popular Fender Store, offering every conceivable model in the Fender range, including special editions and signature series. Also in the electric guitar area are all of the other big names such as Gibson, Ibanez, Gretsch and Epiphone.
Meanwhile, a high-end acoustic guitar room features brands such as Martin, Taylor, Takamine and Lowden among others. Within this room is a more intimate “tryout” area offering even greater seclusion for those wishing to check out the range of acoustic models.
The counter/customer service area is situated island-like, in the centre of the main ground floor space, while steel and chrome stairs lead to the large mezzanine which houses the second floor area with more specialist departments such as the Roland Planet keyboard centre.
A drum showroom features kits from Pearl, DW, Gretsch, and Spaun and it also includes an enclosed drum “tryout” room with space for a full kit. Another nice touch is a “boutique” amp room which houses names like Marshall, Vox, Hiwatt, Mesa Boogie and Blackstar. “Rather than lump everything in together, it offers players the chance to close the door and try them out in an enclosed space,” says O’Brien.
Elsewhere, there are dedicated rooms for recording gear and equipment, desks, monitors, software etc while a dedicated PA room features full PA systems including the acclaimed Dynachord range. Meanwhile a stage area in the main floor will the allow for live appearances from local bands and more established acts.
Prices are competitive and match those of the internet, which has taken a sizeable chunk of the Irish market in recent years according to O’Brien. “We’ll match most internet prices with the added benefit of a back-up service. It’s all very well buying stuff on the internet from abroad, but if something goes wrong and it has to be shipped back you’re into a lot of extra costs.”
“We provide value for the beginning to the full gigging touring band standard. For example a standard American Fender Stratocaster can be had for €999.00 while we have the standard Les Paul at €1999.00. For a budding young guitarist €199 will get you a Fender Squire Strat package, complete with amp, case and tuner for €199. A basic Peavey drum kit can be had under €389.”
According to O’Brien it was a monumental task getting such a large-scale retail operation up and running in time for the official opening. “It was hectic and a huge learning process for all of us involved,” he says. “The sheer amount of gear we had to set up for display was overwhelming and there were plenty of long days and late nights involved in getting the place ready. But it was great fun too and everyone worked hard to make it happen. Most of the big brand names helped a lot with advice on displays and in supplying stock in time.
“We’re still fine-tuning things and improving things all the time but we want to make sure it’s as good as it can possibly be. We’re looking at expanding the range of instruments For example, we’d love to be able to offer brass instruments saxophones and trumpets etc but we would want to make sure we had people working here with knowledge and expertise in that area, otherwise we couldn’t provide the service. It’s the same with our internet service, which will be up and running soon. We wanted to make sure we have enough stock in to provide an instant service – there’s nothing worse than people ordering stuff only to find it’s not available."