Chinese electronics and home appliances retailer Suning has opened its first MusicVox musical instrument shop in Pudong, Shanghai, marking the beginning of the retailer's development of ten such shops on the Chinese mainland.

MusicVox is the musical instrument shop brand owned by the Japanese electronics retailer Laox, which sells video games, toy models, and musical instruments. The Japanese company was acquired by Suning in June 2009 and Suning's Chinese MusicVox shops will copy the product and management model of those in Japan.

A representative from Suning's Shanghai headquarters told local media that the operation of musical instrument shops is different from the operation of its technology and electronics stores. In the operation of electronics stores, service is only a value-added product; but in the operation of musical instrument shops, training and experience are important profit points. Therefore, in the MusicVox musical instrument shop, instruments are only one part of its products and training and experience are also important management projects.

According to an investigation on the Chinese musical instrument consumer market, in 2010, the scale of the Chinese musical instrument market will reach CNY24.681 billion; and the scale is expected to increase by 14.81% and 15.02% year-on-year in 2011 and 2012, respectively. In the family sector alone, the scale of the Chinese musical instrument market will reach CNY7.651 billion in 2010 and the number will surge to CNY10.756 billion in 2012.