testing with membranes we imported from the United Kingdom. We’re the only ones offering anything like it. It dehumidifies without generating heat or requiring the user to empty a water tank,” Jennings details. “Making guitar collectors aware that such a product exists was a challenge in the beginning,” Jennings recalls. “I’d played guitar most of my life and didn’t know about a humidified guitar cabinet until I researched doing it myself. When we entered the market the handful of com- panies that made anything remotely like what we did never advertised. That’s when we bought ad space in Guitar Aficionado Magazine. That got the ball rolling. We advertise now in three or four magazines read by guitar players and collectors and that seems to work well. We’ve found Facebook has worked well for us, and we’ve gotten sales from people who originally saw our products there. I thought a remark from one of our Facebook followers really put it into focus: ‘Another product I didn’t know existed that I can’t live without.” “We’ve found Facebook has worked well for us, and we’ve gotten sales from people who originally saw our products there. I thought a remark from one of our Facebook followers really put it into focus: ‘Another product I didn’t know existed that I can’t live without.’” The Guitar Habitat® is truly the flagship of American Music Furniture. This Humidity Controlled Guitar Cabinet is, in Jennings’ words, “stronger, better sealed, better performing, equipped with more features, and easier to build” than its predecessors. American black walnut and cherry are the predominant wood choices amongst a clientele that knows their woods, grains, and finishes. “We’ve done a few in maple and oak, and they looked great, but most customers tend to stick with the walnut and cherry. We work with a local arborist on most of our wood. Luckily we are in a location that’s great for the wood we need.” Recently American Music Furniture forged a business partnership with both a local stained glass workshop and a guitar inlay workshop to offer the kinds of enhance- ments collectors and musicians alike want to see. “I see anything we do that reinforces quality, craftsmanship, and care as being important to our customers,” Jennings emphasizes. These partnerships coincide with the launch of a new product called the String Habitat™, “for smaller instru- ments like mandolins, ukuleles, and violins,” Jennings says. “We’ve not built many of them yet, but it’s really
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SEPTEMBER 2016 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS
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