Unexpected Horizontal Integration
Instruments and... skateboards?
Returning from my first Hanover Strings haul, I realized that I had forgotten to purchase an important item: the power cable for my amp. Eager to practice Van Halen, Blue Oyster Cult, and Poison tunes, I hightailed it to Hanover Strings the next day. As I was walking around the store with my friend, I noticed a set of offerings I didn’t expect to find in a music store: skateboards.
I don’t know about you, dear reader, but I would not have been perplexed if Hanover Strings offered woodwind and brass instruments in addition to their guitars, ukuleles, and basses. But skateboards? What could possible explain such an orthogonal inventory?
Perhaps the answer is idiosyncratic; the manager might be an avid skateboarder and enjoys oggling at his eccentric array of boards beside his instruments. Certainly skateboards are not a substitute for guitars—could they be complements? I’ve never witnessed a guitarist riffing while ollieing across the stage to cheering fans. Although, now that I’ve made such a silly statement, I can imagine this would be a great way to differentiate one’s performance from another’s. Alternatively, and more probably in my humble estimation, there could be some inexplicable overlap between musicians and skateboarders as consumers. I mean, both are definitely cooler than the general population.
TL;DR: I really have no idea why there were skateboards in a string shop. The next time I visit Hanover Strings, I’ll ask the cashier if he knows what the reason is for this confusing coupling of apparently totally unrelated goods. There must be an economic rationale; I endeavor to discover what it could possibly be. Stay tuned!