Q&a: Brett Wickard

Brett Wickard founded the Bull Moose chain in Brunswick, Maine, with money he made writing a software program for the trucking industry. That was 1989, and Wickard was still a junior in college.

Today, Bull Moose has 10 stores and 100 employees throughout New England. A member of the Music Monitor Network, Bull Moose has the distinction of holding its own against rival indie chain Newbury Comics.

Wickard not only wrote the software for Bull Moose's point-of-sales system, he started a separate company, Crickery Wood, to sell inventory-management systems and services to other small chains like Zia, Dimple and Graywhale.

Bull Moose has always been known for its irreverent style. In 1991, the Portland, Maine-based chain ran its first radio ads, promising high prices and bad service. "Why pay less?" one spot asked. Another declared, "If your CD doesn't play, that's your problem, as long as we've got your money."

Although Wickard declines to specify the chain's annual sales volume—which Billboard estimates at $15 million—he says Bull Moose has grown in sales and profits every year, including this one. He cites a number of reasons, including an incentive-based salary system, under which store managers share in the profits.

Q: The newest Bull Moose outlet, opened in 2003, is a 10,000-square-foot combo warehouse/store in Scarborough, Maine. How is it doing?

A: Great, but it is the most inconvenient store to shop on the planet. You have to turn your head sideways to look at the titles, because everything is merchandised spine out. Employees are always walking up and down the aisles picking orders. The cacophony of the place makes it fun. Since it serves as the warehouse to stock the entire chain, it has a crazy mix of music titles, including jazz, classical and urban.



Q: Do your stores specialize in any genre?

A: When we open a store, we let each store adapt to each marketplace, which happens because of our point-of-sale system. One of the things about being in a relatively rural area is you have to be pragmatic and appeal to the largest range of people as possible. Also, we have a philosophy of music tolerance. Musical attitude is just bullshit. We show employees who have music attitude the door very quickly. All that being said, we do well with a lot of independent product.



Q: How would you characterize the current environment for music sales? Are the majors doing their share to make things happen?

A: The challenges that the industry has faced up till now have had some beneficial results. Before, a lot of people used to have their fiefdoms