Anyone know which brick-and-mortar store(s) sell messenger bags?
5Been looking for a shoulder bag to carry ukulele, music stand, sheet-music folder and lap-top.
I like the satchel/messenger bag style.
I’ve seen some nice looking and reasonably priced ones on Amazon, but this is really something I need to see in person before buying.
Yesterday I went to every store in the mall and didn’t find anything close to what I’m looking for.
I thought for sure Pac-Sun, Hot Topic, Urban Outfitters or any of those young-hipster stores would have them, but no dice.
Luggage departments of the big stores had plenty of brief-case style shoulder bags, but I want the flaps and straps style, and not a single store had them.
Might check out Target today - they have a wide variety on-line, but they’re mostly not available in-store.
But yeah, if anyone knows of a national chain or independent store in the Boston area where I might find a selection of them, I’d appreciate the advice.
Thanks!
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If you can wait just a bit, the back-to-school stuff is going to start showing up in stores, probably shortly after the 4th of July. Target, I know, greatly expands its backpack/messenger bag selection, but they may be covered in hamburgers or Shopkins or something.
Also: try REI, if you have one near you. They’re pricey, but have more bag/luggagey stuff than one might think for a camping store.
@mossygreen Great advice on the back-to-school sales!
Thanks!
And, I drove right by REI on my trip to the mall yesterday, and it never even crossed my mind.
/image facepalm
@mossygreen Yeah, just checked REI’s online catalog and they have a bunch. Can’t believe I didn’t think to stop in there yesterday. I’m even a member.
Unfortunately, I’m not in a hurry to head back there, it’s a bit of a hike (oops, no pun intended
) for me to go there.
Office stores such as Staples and Office Depot?
@mossygreen is right about stores being trip-over-it full of back-to-school stuff (including messenger bags) about 1/2 month from now.
Also, possibly, music stores?
@f00l Tried Staples, struck out.
@DennisG2014
Back to school is big there.
@f00l Still wondering which type of “music store” you and @therealjrn are thinking of…
The kind where you buy music (records, tapes, CDs) really don’t exist any more (except the little independent record shops that don’t typically stock “fashion accessories”).
The kind where you buy instruments and equipment - I know the independent shops don’t carry them; Guitar Center might but, as I never tire of saying, they can go fuck themselves.
@DennisG2014 @therealjrn
I was thinking of stores that sell instruments.
There are still a few of those around here (Texas), in spite of Guitar City.
Just flashed thru my head:
What about art stores?
(IE stores for people who draw and paint (pencil, oil, watercolor, etc.)
Those people need bags that can carry much stuff. Those bags might be interesting to take a look at.
@f00l @therealjrn The only instrument shop I’d patronize around here (Mr. Music - they’re the best), I know they don’t have 'em, as that’s where I bought my uke case.
They do sell some larger cases that have a pocket for sheet music and stuff (I have one of those, too), but the ones in ukulele sizes wouldn’t have room for my lap-top.
re: the kinds of bags that art stores might sell… I don’t really think they’d have the style I’m looking for.
My second choice, if I’m unable to find what I’m looking for, would just be a big-ass tote bag.
Basically, would like to stick my soprano (very small) ukulele in its case into the bag, and I expect it to stick out a bit, hence why I want the flap-over closure.
lol - I just Googled Mr. Music and I see that they’re using the phrase “Guitar Center” in their search engine results.
That is definitely a premeditated attempt to steal customers from Guitar Center (who can go fuck themselves), and I love it.
Mr. Music is one of the very few independent shops to survive GC’s scorching of the earth of the music merchandise landscape.
It’s not easy to compete with a giant like G.C., especially when lying, cheating and stealing is their corporate M.O.
Please don’t patronize Guitar Center, just tell them to go fuck themselves. Thank you.
@DennisG2014 So…just to be clear here…what you are saying is Guitar Center can go fuck themselves?
@therealjrn Not only can, but should.
Here’s what I was going to write, but decided not to, but just now changed my mind…
Maybe a little over the top?
@DennisG2014 Um…just a skosh.
@DennisG2014 @therealjrn
I don’t currently play an instrument, and haven’t in decades.
I was in two Guitar Center locations a few years back.
I forget the reason I was there. Perhaps something for someone else? But I didn’t buy anything.
I remember my impression of the places as being much like a very junky and unpleasant chain store.
Not that the stores were particularly dirty or disorganised. They were ok in those ways.
There was just a noticeably unpleasant vibe: for reasons I can’t remember well enough to articulate.
I did decide not to go back there.
I don’t know any more about their business practices than that. But the “bad vibe” impression lingers strongly with me.
@f00l I can tell you the source of that bad vibe;
The sales people there make minimum wage plus commissions, so they are highly motivated not just to sell, but to sell at the highest price they can get away with, regardless of the true retail value of the item.
So, not only are they miserable because their motivation is to give the customer the worst possible deal, but they can often be not-so-subtly hostile to people in the store who are not there to spend money.
One of many anecdotes, this one being one of the few times I actually spent money there;
They had a big display stack of boxes of a component I had been shopping for (rack-mounted bass compressor, for those in the know), on sale at a steep discount.
I bought one and when I got it home, I discovered why they were such a ‘great deal’ - it was defective.
Right out of the box it was fucking broken.
When I returned to the store, with the boxed component under my arm, it wasn’t just like I was invisible, it was like the salespeople and I were opposite polls of a magnet - they were actively avoiding me.
It was so blatant it was almost funny.
I eventually stood at a counter next to a customer who was being helped by an employee behind it, so that I could be the next to be helped.
When he finished with that guy he actually looked past me, over my shoulder, and asked the person behind me if he could help them.
At that point it wasn’t funny anymore and I said, “uh, hey - this thing came out of the box broken and I want my money back.” The guy was so overtly resentful at having to deal with me, it was like I had said, “uh, hey - if you don’t help me, I’m going to go to your house and kick your dog.”
Make no mistake - every box in that stack contained a likely defective item - they knew it and were just attempting to dump them on unsuspecting customers by making them out to be a ‘great deal!’ instead of a clearing-out of worthless stock.
This is an example of something I eventually learned is just how they do business.
They routinely try to blow-out items at steeply discounted prices; these are advertised merely as SALE prices and can’t-miss deals.
What they are not telling the customer is that they are selling these items at these prices because they are not even worth those prices - defective, factory seconds that are not disclosed as such, used instruments being sold as new - I’ve seen it all.
On the other side of the coin (as long as I’m already well into TL;DR territory), they will advertise legitimate can’t-be-beat prices on legit, non-defective, new-in-box instruments (Fender Strats, e.g.).
The reason these advertised prices (apparently) can’t be beat is because they are below the “MAP”, minimum advertised price, allowed by the manufacturer.
An independent dealer (such as the one, full disclosure, that I worked at) of that brand would be at risk of losing their dealership if they advertised (even just in-store) below MAP. We had our dealer rep issue us a warning and insist we change price tags when he visited and saw our display selling their guitars below MAP.
Meanwhile, the owner of the store I worked at and the owners of Mr. Music (whom we were friendly with) would routinely report GC’s sale flyers and mailing-list post cards violating the MAP to the manufacturers, who would just shrug their shoulders or even, on one occasion flat out state that, “when you’re moving product at GC volume, you can get away with advertising at GC prices.”
So - when I say that GC lied, cheated and stole to eliminate any and all competition, I’m not being hyperbolic in the least.
Guitar Center is the embodiment of the “soul-crushing Corporate Evil” stereotype.
That is all.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@DennisG2014 If you have one of the Sierra stores near you, they may have them. I saw some in the store I went to near me a few months ago.
https://www.sierra.com/
@cinoclav TYVM, there is one very near me; think I’ll head over there today.
@cinoclav Never made it there yesterday because I wasted too much time on a certain deal-a-day site’s forum…
At risk of the same today… I gotta get the fuck outta here (this forum and my house)!
lol
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@cinoclav @DennisG2014 Don’t look at me, I’ve already been to a meeting, a doctor’s appointment and I gassed up my car for $2.05 a gallon at Costco. I think I need a nap.
Think I’ve seen them in Nordstrom.
@DennisG2014 second vote for Sierra. There’s one in Newton.
@Nate311 Less than 10 miles from me, and I drive by there often!
TYVM - I’ll check them out.
@Nate311 Newwwwton… Not to be confused with Newtown!
I worked there many years ago …
@mikibell @Nate311 ‘New’en’ - home of Matt Leblanc, kid. (He’d say, ‘mush’, but I ain’t from dere.)
Try either
“Modern Man Purse Boutique”
or
“The Fancy Gentlemen Fashion Co.”
@medz Interesting search results…
I saw plenty of man purses at the mall yesterday - they’re much smaller than what I’m talking about, more of a man shoulder-bag.
How about a music store?
@therealjrn You mean recorded music, or instruments?
)
I’m not sure I’d know where to find a recorded music store anymore.
(And the choices for instrument stores are pretty bleak, too - Guitar Center can go fuck themselves
@DennisG2014 In Boston? Don’t y’all play the violin and shit up thar?
@therealjrn lol - If that’s really what you think, you’d be surprised…
Lotta music in and around Boston and virtually all genres are widely represented.
Still not sure which type of music store you’re thinking of…
The kind of ‘record store’ chain that used to be around would probably carry some of the young-hipster type accessories, but I don’t think any of them exist any more.
A big-box musical instrument/equipment store might have them, an independent shop almost certainly wouldn’t, and the only big-box store left in this area is Guitar Center who, as I said, can go fuck themselves.
(Aside from other serious gripes with them, they are the reason why there are no other big-box music stores and a dwindling number of mom & pops left.)
I’ve had pretty good luck with that sort of thing in the luggage dept. of Ross/TJMaxx stores. Note that inventory changes rapidly, so you might need to stop by regularly until you find something.
Also, Academy Sports (and similar sporting goods stores) usually has a wide variety of this sort of product.
Any outlet malls nearby?
@compunaut
Not nearby enough for my taste, unfortunately.
There’s a big one in Wrentham, MA, but it’s a p.i.t.a. for me to go there.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Try Best Buy or Frys?
A lot of messenger bags are geared to carry computers. Might not work but…
Think Geek has messenger bags - although brick and mortar stores have limited selection.
Holy crap. I don’t think anyone makes or sells the thing I’m looking for.
I know I’ve seen people carrying them, but I have now been to every conceivable store (except L.L. Bean - I’ll try there eventually) and, while I did find a few examples of the exact style I was looking for, they were all half the size.
I’ve seen people carrying the big ones - the ones I found were all about half the size I wanted; big enough for maybe a 16" lap-top.
This image kept flashing through my head all day:
(If you see that image and hear Jimmy Stewart’s voice in your head saying, “I want a big one…”, like I did, then I love you a little.
)
What a freaking ordeal. After going to Sierra (and a few other stores) in Newton, I decided to brave Turnpike traffic again and go back to REI (and a few other stores in the area including Target).
REI had a right-sized bag that wasn’t quite the style I was looking for (zip top instead of flappy strappy). I would’ve bought it if it wasn’t $280 freaking dollars.
@Cerridwyn - yup, hit up Best Buy, too, and you’re right, this was the problem I ran into everywhere, they’re all sized to carry a lap-top.
Maybe the big ones I’ve seen people carry have just gone out of style and no one makes them anymore…?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
This was the nicest one I saw: https://www.wenger.ch/us/en/Products/Business-Gear/Laptop-Bags-Padfolios/Corfe-16-Messenger-Bag-with-Tablet-Pocket/p/602681
But again, it’s only about half as wide as what I’m looking for. It’s also $90, which is more than I was hoping to spend (the right-style, wrong-size one that Sierra carried was only $20!).
I might actually go back to Staples, where I saw the one above, with my ukulele case to see if it’ll fit.
Anyway - Jesus Christ, this has become a damn saga.
All I want is one bag to carry all my ukulele gear - uke in case, notebook binder full of sheet music, music stand and laptop (w/ music to play along to) - so I can walk to the damn city common, sit under a damn tree and play some damn music!
I may just settle for a tote bag, but even most of those I’ve seen don’t have a shoulder strap, which is a must-have.
For now, I think I’ll just give up until the back-to-school sales start, but judging from what I’ve seen, I don’t think I’ll find what I’m looking for - maybe just a better deal on one of the right-style/wrong-size ones.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Would an old USPS mail carrier bag be big enough? You could also use a sleeve to protect your laptop. If that would work, check Ebay as there are some listings for them.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/USPS-Mail-Carrier-Satchel-Bag-With-Strap-/133090220681
https://www.ebay.com/itm/USPS-UNITED-STATES-POSTAL-SERVICE-MAIL-MAN-BAG-CARRIER-SATCHEL-Messenger/153496676336?hash=item23bd1d67f0:g:Lx0AAOSwgiJc42WI:sc:USPSPriority!50138!US!-1
@msklzannie That’s a great idea. Right size and kinda cool.
Staples
Large Timbuk2 Classic Messenger Bag for $70 @ Amazon
/image Timbuk2 Classic
@compunaut Yeah, I’ve been looking at their offerings.
Would love to see that one in person.
I saw a smaller, different style of theirs at REI.
If I can’t find anything in person, maybe I’ll order one of these from Amazon, as long as I can return it if it’s not ‘the one’.
Thanks.
@compunaut @DennisG2014 Currently offering free returns too.
@cinoclav @compunaut Done. Ordered.
Free one-day shipping too, so it’ll be here tomorrow!
Thanks for the help, everyone.
I just hope this one works for me, can’t believe what an ordeal it’s been just to shop for a damn bag!
Thanks for playing!
The bag arrived today, only about 20 hours after I ordered it.
It’s not perfect, could really stand to be just a couple inches longer (wider, whatever), but it should work out just fine.
Figured I owed you guys this, whether you wanted it or not
:
Thanks!
@DennisG2014 I reckon y’all owe us a ditty from that thar funny-lookin banjo you got thar.
@DennisG2014 Very nice! I was expecting more of a 3-inch-thick fake book, for some reason.
@therealjrn I reckon you’re right, and someday I’ll probably make good, but I wouldn’t recommend holding your breath until then.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
In the mean time, any requests?
@mossygreen lol That folder I keep my music in was the result of a similar exhaustive/exhausting search for the “perfect” solution to my growing stack of loose sheet music.
It’s handy that the cover flap is also a sleeve where I keep that uke chord chart.
Re: Ukulele and the Real/Fake book, check out this guy’s playlist, “The Ukulele Fake Book Project”:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL186608D6A3646E4D
He’s a fantastic player/arranger.
I do have a copy of The Real Book, and there’s definitely enough room for it in that bag.
Maybe one day I’ll do a deep ukulele dive into all those jazz standards.
So far, I’ve learned one song from a Real/Fake chart…
I’m a huge Thelonious Monk fan. One day I walked into my group ukulele class and the teacher was noodling around on Blue Monk. I said something to the effect of, “holy shit, you’re playing Monk on the uke! You have to teach me that!”
The next class he handed me a copy of the sheet and the chord diagrams and helped me to work it out.
It’s one of my favorite tunes to play on the uke, but at the moment, I can only play either the chords in straight 1/4 notes or the melody as written.
I hope to one day be able to play chords and melody at the same time and improvise over the melody.
Here’s what I aspire to (this guy is an amazing player and also cool enough that he emailed me a transcription of his rendition - which is way too hard for me at the moment - I haven’t worked on any finger-picking):
One day I’d like to be part of a ukulele ensemble playing Monk’s tunes called “Monkulele”.
@DennisG2014 Man. I can awkwardly strum through “Has Anybody Seen My Gal?” and that’s about it. This is magic.
@mossygreen There are quite a few ukulele magicians on Youtube.
In searching for renditions of various tunes, I’ve come across some truly stunning players, most if not all of them have created the brilliant arrangements they play.
This guy is incredibly prolific - endless uploads - and he sure plays a mean ukulele…
@mossygreen I just stumbled on this kid yesterday. He is an absolute monster.
He’s 12 years old, been playing since he was 5 and is like, the definition of prodigy.
Spent the last half hour trying to decide which video to post - they’re all pretty incredible.
Decided to just post the one that hooked me - don’t even know this song, but it’s amazing:
Browse through his other videos - this kid is going to be a superstar.
@DennisG2014
What?! It’s the song that adds like 2-3 syllables to the word chandelier. “I…wanna swing…from the Shan-duh-leh-heer-ear!”
@medz Sorry, not sure where I’d hear Sia’s music (I’ve heard of her, because something she did went ‘viral’ a while back, but I don’t even remember what that was), but clearly it’s not somewhere I go.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯