So yesterday afternoon, on my way back from BC, I stopped in at the Cross Iron Mills location.
I got there about 2:30 and traffic was quite manageable.
I'll cut right to the chase; I left feeling unimpressed.
The interior design and layout of the store were its best features.
It's a very attractive facility although the demo rooms were a bit tight.
There was a small handful of fairly nice pieces in there but mostly your run-of-the-mill stuff.
Simon & Patrick, Art & Lutherie, the other Godin brands, a few low-mid Taks and Yammies.
I saw no Larrivees, Breedloves or the like.
There were a few Taylors, one of which was quite nice, a Auditorium shaped cutaway electric with an arm relief bevel.
I may have pulled it down to play it if I didn't own a pair of Taylors already.
A couple of mid-range Martins.
A couple of Gibsons including a fairly nice Jumbo.
There a few nice pieces but mostly pretty much the kind of stuff you can easily find at other stores.
The store did not distinguish itself from the others in my opinion.
The electric section was also pretty bland.
Some average Les Pauls, a few entry level Gretsches, an Elite Strat and a Select Bass but the vast majority was the budget-priced stuff you can find anywhere.
The only interesting thing I found on the electric side of the store were two Friedman amps, a 20 and a 50 but everything else was ordinary.
A DRRI, a PRRI, an HRD and some low end Marshalls
The effects section was its weakest section.
Some lower level multi units, a few budget micro-pedals and an array of BOSS units.
Nothing you can't find used on KiJiJi in less than 30 seconds.
Other than the one Taylor and the two Friedmans I saw nothing in there to pique my interest.
Since I live a couple of hours away I wouldn't go out of my way to get there.
It's not a bad store, it's just not a better store and I found myself asking why it was there if they're not going to do something others haven't already done better and cheaper.
If you want a MIM Fender and you can't find the colour you like and you live close by you might want to check them out and see what they've got in the inventory but if you're like me and you have higher than average expectations you might want to look at Stang in Edmonchuck.
Or even just L&M.
I realise I'm not the average consumer.
I want something different.
I'd give it a 7 out of 10 on the music store scale.
Were it not for the Taylor and Friedmans it would be a 5.
My 2 cents.
