It seems to be the thing to do to bash the category leaders such as Walmart, Guitar Center, eBay, Bank of America, and DW. I'm not a big fan of some of these "category killers". But, I don't gripe about them because each of them and other leaders in their respective industries have earned their leading position because they attract more consumers than any of the others. I can b!tch all I want about Walmart being the giant they are. But, at 1:00 AM when I need to print out a lot of things for business, and my print cartidges are out of ink, I do go to the Walmart a half mile from my house. I bank at Bank of America because it is the seventh name for the bank where I began banking in 1978. Six other banking entities at which my accounts were held have either bellied up or been gobbled up by BOA. There is a high degree of security with this monster bank. Guitar Center was one of my customers for many years. I know the management people and many of their long time sales staff. I have had great experiences acquiring many of my vintage drums from several of their stores. One of the store managers is a vintage drum lover/collector. We have traded drums for drums in deals that have been good for his store and good for me. Sometimes, moving out items that have been there for a while makes sense in their business model. I can also find the accessories I need there. DW makes and sells very good and very pricey high end drums. But, I abstain from new drums. If I were gigging, and needed a set of new drums, I just might get some DWs.

The point of this post is to give some unsolicited advice. If you don't like doing business with a business leader, dont. But, please don't be a hypocrite--stay completely away from them or don't b!tch. They will not miss your business. For each person like you who won't shop in that store, there are hundreds of people who flock there to shop. An observation that I have made hundreds of times in my line of work is to see a consumer bashing Guitar Center while trying to beat up a smaller music store for a better price. That same consumer will be in the GC store an hour later b!tching about the small store being a money grubbing overpriced store.