Let me add a couple of cents worth...I know we're getting away from the original string on polyphony, but since we're discussing music stores . . .
There are only 4 music stores in the Shreveport area. One of them is very chuch-oriented. They have pianos, organs, a few Korg synths, sound systems, but no arranger keyboards.
Another is strictly guitars, amps, p.a.'s, no arrangers.
Then there is a piano store that does carry one Technics KN6000. They are nice folks, but they don't know anything about how to work it. They offered me a one-time deal of $5000. if I bought it "today"! As far as I know, they've had it about 6 or 7 months, apparently waiting for an ignorant, rich little old lady to buy it.
The other store is the one I work with. They have a large department dedicated to pianos, synths and keyboards. Over the years they have always stocked some arranger keyboards. In fact during the 80's they were a big item. I often went in for a few months at Christmas to help demo and sell them.
They still stock Yamaha arrangers and they do have a young man that is knowledgeable to demo them. (Sometimes his demos turn into concerts, but at least he knows quite a bit about them). Being good friends with the owner, I can tell you his problems and concerns with this department.
There is quite a bit of interest in the low and mid range arrangers. Customers are shown the features and given fair prices.
Most of them do not buy at the first visit.
Instead they search the internet for "deals". They can go directly across the street to Circuit City and get really low prices on whatever couple of Yamahas or Cascios that are in stock. They don't have to have a demo because the guy at the music store has already spent a couple of hours doing that. Or they can order off the internet. The music store will match most any price, but often on the lower-end units the 8 1/2 percent sales tax puts the price too high. It's that tight.
The higher end units have many of the same problems, except they are not available locally anywhere else. My friend is reluctant to stock many keyboards because the profit margin is low. The time taken to demo a $500 keyboard, that you might make $50 profit on, could be spent marketing a 9-foot Yamaha Grand, or a $3000. p.a. system, either of which has significantly more profit built in. He doesn't stock the top-end units at all, preferring not to tie up $2000 per unit in such a low-demand, low-profit situation.
I suppose if the volume of keyboard sales were higher, a store could live with a very small profit margin (that's what the internet stores depend on, and some of them do not even have physical showrooms, salesmen, delivery trucks, sales tax, etc to worry about).
Of the higher end keyboards that they sell, I'm probably responsible for 75% of them simply because people hear me play them and ask where to to get one. I'll get them a price and the store will order the keyboard. Believe me, this is only two or three a year.
I suspect these and other similar factors are among the reasons you don't see many stores stocking the arranger keyboards. The exceptions, such as George and Dan, are stores in larger markets that become specialists in this area. I also suspect that George and Dan would have similar problems if they relied strictly on local traffic, instead of augmenting their operations with internet sales, but I don't know that to be fact.
What the local stores have to offer that the chains and internet stores can't is customer service. The question is, is it worth the time and expense necessary to provide this when the same effort provides more profit when directed to other areas of music.
On a related subject, I think the tremendous success of the Peavey company is in large part due to the fact that they protect their dealers by not allowing internet sales of their equipment. Their gear is modestly priced, well-made equipment. Most of it carries a suggested retail markup of 100%. Of course not much is sold at that markup, but at least there is room for a dealer to give discounts and still make a profit.
Maybe these rambling thoughts will either shed a little light on the subject or at least make us more tolerant in our quest for the perfect arranger.
DonM