Well Known Product # 1: Amoeba Records

Amoeba and the record store romantics

"At Amoeba, we’ve always seen ourselves as part of a larger community of people for whom music isn’t so much a pastime as a passion. It’s a shared experience that connects our amazing staff of musicians and music lovers with similarly obsessed folks on the hunt for everything from Top 40 hits to Ethiopian funk, rare 78s, vintage concert posters, or just a low-key in-store jam by a local band. That experience is inspired by the great indie stores we all hung out in when we were growing up, where music genuinely mattered and made us who we are. Simply turning people on to great music has made Amoeba what it is today."

The Amoeba Record Store has always been my music haven ever since i can remember. I have been going to Amoeba since the age of 12, stepping inside those doors is like walking through the gates of Disneyland every time i pay a visit. They have hundreds and thousands of records, cds, tapes, vintage music posters, anything a music lover needs in their life they've got it. Their higher sales are mostly on records and cds. Very well known products since the history of life. 

Consumers: 

"With a collective depth of knowledge that is virtually unparalleled in the business.  Many of us are musicians, or make music our lives in one way or another, and we take seriously the importance of our customers' relationship to music.  We put customer service first and foremost -- our mission is to bring people and music together and to make everyone feel at home." (amoeba.com)

The Amoeba consumer is the record store romantic. We are not a group of people, we are a movement all around the world, the music  lovers of the world. We stay true to our music and dont  rely on Itunes and online data bases to gather all of our music compilations.

Competitors:

Another reason Amoeba has outlived its competitors is curated stock. While other record stores featured top-40 albums and a small back catalog, Weinstein and his partners kept thousands of titles flowing through their stores by mopping up estate sales and buying used records. To stock its Hollywood store for opening day, "we spent millions of dollars across the country buying up collections that had never been seen before," he said. "And we still do. People who love our store come in frequently just to see what's new. (LA Times.com) 

Amoebas competitors are online databases such as Itunes, and other music downloadable sites. They demolish the competition when it comes to a true brick and mortar store. They have over millions of records, cds, and tapes with a variety that is very hard to find. Giving it the advantage of the most diverse record store.

MarketPlace:

Annual sales are down 10% since the stores' peak a couple of years ago, to about $45 million this year from $50 million, Weinstein said. Much of the decline is at the Berkeley store, where students are more likely to hit online torrent sites for pirated music. But the L.A. store has seen no decline in sales, he said. (LA Times.com)

Although Amoeba has declined in sales, They are still standing strong in the marketplace. With over a million products this company has too much going on for itself to get hurt by the economy. Music is definitely recession proof. Even with the bad economy people don't stop listening to music.

Community: 

Rolling Stone magazine in September named it among the nation's 25 best record stores, calling it "simply the most thorough and welcoming place a record lover could hope to shop." (Rolling Stone)

The things that make a record store special are not only its one-of-a-kind interior design, its dazzling prices, or even its incomparable selection of music. No – what makes a record store special is its undeniable sense of community. Stroll through the lively streets of Los Angeles or the bubbly cities of the San Francisco Bay Area and don’t be surprised to see locals proudly sporting Amoeba Music apparel anywhere you go… (thefindmag.com)

The sense of community that Amoeba record store offers is like no other. It is an experience that no other record store can bring to the table. Upon entering one of their record stores you feel the sense of the music community and the strangers around you share the same passion for music as everyone else in their. It is truly one of my favorite record stores, the therapy we all need.