Digger:
What is your background and can you tell us
how Jukebox Selection started and how the company
has evolved into what it is today?
Keith:
Both Eddie and myself were working in the leisure
industry - fruit machines, jukeboxes and pool
tables etc. I was a service engineer fixing
equipment on site and Ed was the pool table guy. I
never knew I would end up fixing this stuff in
people’s houses. We just did the odd juke now
and again. But we were offered the equipment, which we bought. It
filled a garage we had put up at the bottom of the
garden. That is how we started and we still work
from the garage. We are both too scared to say
“Lets do this full time”. Like I said, not
really business men.
Digger:
Why is vintage, retro and nostalgia so
popular in so many people's lives and why are
Jukeboxes so evocative of decades past?
Keith:
Vintage and retro will never disappear, even for
today’s children. In thirty years' time they will
be saying, “I remember that CD jukebox in my pub
when I started drinking”. I don’t really
remember any jukes in pubs when I started
drinking, certainly nothing that would stick in my
mind. I look at the classic jukes now and think
“Don’t they look good”. Of course the retro
or vintage feeling for the 60’s jukeboxes is a
little strange as they are more a copy or feel of
the big American cars, lots of chrome and fins,
nothing related to the UK at all. The 40s and 50s
jukes were more pieces of furniture which again
wouldn’t appeal to the normal Brit as he
wouldn’t have a house big enough to put one in!
It is a combination of music and style, people
still wanting to be Elvis or the Beatles and being
played on a juke from that era.
Digger:
What advice would you give to somebody looking to
buy a Jukebox?
Keith:
If you want a jukebox be sure of what you want so
have a good look around. Don’t buy a vintage
piece if you don’t intend on using it every
weekend or more. It will stop working. Besides,
what can you buy nowadays that will increase in
value and begs you to still use it? CD jukes are
cheap enough nowadays so start with one of those
and see if you use it enough to warrant moving up
to the big stuff.
Digger:
Can you tell us about the sales and repairs
aspects of your business?
Keith:
We love to prepare and repair our jukes although
even after 25 odd years there’s still a lot to
learn. The sales side is not our strong point. We
rely on eBay, which is a bad way of doing business,
and on word of mouth or recommendation. Because we do
things our way, we like to think properly. We
don’t get bad feedback or any bed feelings
towards what we do.
Digger:
What about the neon signs and pool tables? Can
you tell us more about those?
Keith:
The neons were my idea based around the music that
I love and another item we could add to make a
games room a little more special. We wanted to
have anything a person wanted to put into a games
room. There is always interest in the neons when I
display them at soul discos. Most people want their own design, which we can arrange. It
is time-consuming to do but well worth it when you
see the customer's reaction to their finished neon.
The pool tables are again something that we can do
and are another thing to put into a games room.
Digger:
What are the best sellers?
Keith:
The rock and roll and back to the 50’s neons
have sold but the soul music label neons haven’t
done anything which surprised me seeing as they
were the ones I wanted and thought would sell
well. You live and learn. Having said that, I have
just sold 4 Tamla Motown neons in a week, 3 to one
guy.
Digger:
What customer feedback do you get?
Keith:
We don’t get any bad feedback or complaints but
we try hard to make sure we don’t.
Digger:
What are the best aspects of running Jukebox
Selection?
Keith:
The best bits are that me and Eddie can still work
together after all these years and solving the
problems we get with the jukes. You never stop
learning.
Digger:
What are your plans for Jukebox Selection in the
future?
Keith: The future is changing. With so many people
now selling jukes, the pub trade has deteriorated
so much that there are loads of jukes out there
for people to sell. We want to spend more time
with the older vintage jukes. We will still have
the odd CD juke but not concentrate on them. We
can still do repairs to the CD stuff and anything
else that people want fixed in their games rooms.
The neons will be something that could do well but
we need a good sales guy to push it. Like I said
in the first question, we are (or should that be
“I am”) ideas guys not sales or business guys.
I don’t know if all of the above sounds negative
but we don’t have to rely on it for our salary,
it’s more like a hobby run by 2 'chicken shit' old
men maybe a little bit too much set
in their ways. A young whippersnapper sales man
or woman might kick some life into us!.....
