CUSTOM SHOP NEWS



Fender Stars
Dusseldorf Showroom Spotlight  11.14.11

 
The idea of a Fender Custom Shop Showroom in Düsseldorf came up in early 2005. Barely several months later, in September of that year, the doors officially opened. It was at that time that Fender Custom Shop business became increasingly important for Fender Germany.

Business was growing, and as part of that we realized that there was increasing demand for Custom Shop instruments. We asked ourselves what we could do and how we could do a better job in satisfying this growing demand.

It was quite clear to us that dealers and their customers — high-end guitar lovers, collectors and Fender fans alike — would eagerly appreciate more Fender Custom Shop instruments, so Ralf Benninghaus-Fliedner presented the concept of a Fender Custom Shop Showroom to Fender’s CEO at the time, Bill Schultz. As Benninghaus-Fliedner conceived it, the showroom — nicknamed “The Smoke Room” early on — would be a key element of Fender Germany’s sales and marketing facilities — a “nicely decorated room with about 120 guitars on display” as he put it.

Gernold Linke added that, further, the idea would be to “make the customer feel like a king!” and to “invite dealers and their best customers to come to the showroom and have a great cappuccino while trying to find the dream guitar.”

Schultz fully backed the idea, and the concept received the avid support of the U.S. Fender Custom Shop, without which the showroom wouldn’t have been possible.

The Düsseldorf showroom quickly took shape, first on paper and then in elegantly striking real life.

To date, the showroom has more than fulfilled its distinctive role in Fender Germany’s sales and marking activities. We have appointments almost every week with dealers and their customers not only from throughout Germany, but also from throughout Europe; including clients from Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Visiting the Düsseldorf showroom is a very special event for them. Further, many well-known artists, professional musicians, actors and visitors from Germany and all over Europe have been known to visit from time to time — to come by and enjoy the dream world of the Fender Custom Shop.

After six years now, the Fender Custom Shop Showroom is still the talk of the town, the talk of Germany and the talk of Europe.