Double Time

Buena Park’s Yamaha Corporation of America has two new leaders and a renewed marketing strategy for the maker of musical instruments.

Earlier this year, the U.S. unit of Japan’s Yamaha Corp. named Tom Sumner and Rick Young to run day to day operations of the Buena Park unit, which makes up an estimated $800 million of its parent company’s $5 billion in yearly sales.

The two executives, both senior vice presidents, replace retiring executive vice president Terry Lewis.

Young and Sumner report to President Hogan Osawa, who came on board last year to oversee the Buena Park operation and report to Japan.

Yamaha ranks as the top U.S. music and sound company, according to Music Trades Magazine. The company makes guitars, stringed instruments, keyboards, brass, woodwinds, drums and sound equipment.

It sells a good chunk of its products through 8,000 or so independent music stores and chains such as Sam Ash and Guitar Center.

The slowing economy and retail downturn isn’t expected to be too severe for Yamaha. Sure, sales to amateurs buying their first instruments could be affected. But Yamaha gets most of its sales from professional musicians, who tend to buy gear whenever they need it.

“It’s a resilient group,” Young said. “They don’t have one guitar, they have 10.”

That has Yamaha’s new executives stepping up their courting of musicians in a bid to drive more sales of gear at stores.

Yamaha’s working with musicians to get their input on early instrument designs. The hope is to get the musicians involved in product development and earn their loyalty for instruments and sound gear.

This year, Yamaha opened a 5,000-square-foot workshop in Buena Park where it invites local musicians to test instruments and attend focus groups.

It’s also trying to appeal to musicians with its Hub Web site, where musicians and retailers can watch artists pitch Yamaha’s musical instruments or download Podcasts. There’s even a tuba Podcast.

The marketing strategy is subtle. It reflects an evolution for Yamaha, which doesn’t have a lot of untapped retail chains to turn to for growth. Like automakers and others, the company is seeking to spur demand among buyers who’ll seek out its products at stores.

“It’s been hard out there,” Young said. But “we don’t lose business.”

One new outlet for Yamaha: Best Buy Co.

The company is selling gear in the recently launched Best Buy Musical Instruments section inside Best Buy stores. The store-within-a-store is designed to boost musical instrument sales beyond professional musicians.

Best Buy also is selling instruments from Yamaha rivals Scotts-dale-based Fender Musical Instruments Corp., Nashville’s Gib-son Guitar Corp. and Japan’s Roland Corp.

“We looked for the biggest names in the musical instruments business,” said Justin Barber, Best Buy spokesman.

The electronics retailer started by testing instrument sales at a few of its Los Angeles stores. In July it opened its first Best Buy Musical Instruments in Riverside.

It plans to have about 85 by the end of the year.

Best Buy is a good fit for Yamaha, according to Young. The retailer long has sold Yamaha’s keyboards and stereo products.

The deal gives Yamaha another way to sell its products as the number of music stores nationwide continues to shrink, Young said.

Young and Sumner,both with decades-long tenures at Yamaha Corporation of America,have offices right next to each other. But they have completely different roles.

Young oversees the piano and band and orchestral divisions and heads up Yamaha Corporate Artist Affairs Inc. in Tennessee, which deals with big musicians who use the company’s gear.

He’ll also continue as general manager for the company’s largest division, which sells guitars, drums, sound equipment and other products.

Sumner heads up the advertising and creative services division and oversees corporate marketing. He’ll also continue his post as president of Yamaha Electronics Corp., a maker of home stereo equipment and video projectors.

To cut costs, Yamaha recently closed plants in Michigan and Georgia and shifted production to China. Young is quick to add that quality isn’t an issue.

“We spent 121 years building the high-quality brand name so we can’t build cheap instruments,” he said.

Yamaha’s biggest sales are of keyboards and concert grand pianos. It sees a stable business supplying school bands with instruments.

The company plans to introduce products at the NAMM Show, a big musical products trade show in January, according to Young. He wouldn’t say what type of products.

The company is optimistic about holiday sales, despite surveys showing that consumers plan to pull back this year.

“We’re still planning to have a good holiday season,” Sumner said.