Live from Music Row Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed local Nashville business owner Greg Davidson of Music City Outdoors to the newsmaker line to discuss the effects of inflation and supply chain on the running of his small local business here in Nashville and how he has worked around the issues.
Leahy: On our newsmaker line by a new friend, Greg Davidson, the owner of Music City Outdoors. Good morning, Greg.
Davidson: Good morning.
Leahy: So now tell me about Music City Outdoors. You’re located on the web at musiccityoutdoors.com.
Davidson: Right.
Leahy: And tell us about your business and tell us about how it’s been impacted by supply chain problems and inflation.
Davidson: We’re located in Berry Hill, right near the Fairgrounds. We sell kayaks. Primarily to sit on top kayaks people use for fishing or recreation. The higher-end kayaks. And our business, like every other business, has been impacted with availability and with products.
When the pandemic began, the demand for anything outdoors ramped up quite a bit. And of course, running out of kayaks was sort of expected then.
It’s gotten better on that part of it. But the cost of materials has gone up so much that we’ve seen anywhere from 10 to 15 percent increases across every brand we carry. And that’s in just a year.
Leahy: How did you decide to start this business? Are you primarily a retail business? Are you an online business? When did you start it? Are you the owner of it?
Davidson: Yes. I’m one of the owners. I and Charles Adams are partners. We own it 50/50. We kind of fell into the business honestly. Our background was wholesale. And we were speaking with one of our current kayak brands and they had a cooler.
It was kind of like a YETI knockoff cooler. And we were trying to get some national distribution for that because that was kind of more what we did. And they told us we don’t have anybody selling our kayaks in Nashville.
Would you do it? And so we set up a little section of our warehouse and said, sure, we’ll sell them. And it’s grown into a pretty good-sized business.
Leahy: How long ago did you start doing that?
Davidson: 2016.
Leahy: Okay. And so when you say pretty good size business, can I walk into your store?
Davidson: Oh yeah. We have a showroom upfront at 2600 Grissom Drive. You can walk in. And we’ve got a couple of hundred kayaks in stock right now. We have 30 different kayaks that you can demo for free to take out and see whether you like it or not.
Leahy: So are you having a significant problem getting kayaks through the supply chain?
Davidson: We were. It’s getting better, but it’s getting better because we’re committing to orders. It used to be committing to orders a couple of months out. Now we’re committing orders as much as 16 to 18 months out.
Leahy: That’s one way to address the supply chain. That’s smart to address the supply chain problem.
Davidson: That’s the only way you’re going to have kayaks. The only way to have kayaks in April and May when people are really getting outside and looking to do something is to make the commitments last August. And to get take delivery in December and January. Otherwise, you’re not going to have them.
Leahy: Got it. One last question for you. Is the world today much harder to do a small business? What sort of advice would you have for somebody who says, hey, I want to start a small business today.
Davidson: I don’t think there’s anything like a small business. And I’m an optimist. And I think if you’re not an optimist, you don’t need to be in a small business. So I’m more of a glass-half-full kind of guy. And, yeah, it’s hard, but it’s rewarding, and it can be done. You just got to have a plan.
Leahy: Greg Davidson With Music City Outdoors thanks so much for joining us today. Musiccityoutdoors.com. And what’s the physical address?
Davidson: All right.
Leahy: Greg Davidson, thanks so much.
 – – –
Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
