Many people have asked me to explain why there are two separate companies called Arcus currently making bows. The following is based on my own experience, my opinions, and what was told to me by others. To the best of my knowledge the facts are correct.
At one time Bernd Müsing from Arcus had a collaborative relationship with a fabricator in Austria. Together they manufactured and marketed the original bows, and they worked with a distributor in the United States. I was one of the early adopters of the Arcus line many years ago, and I both stocked and sold more of them than anyone else in the country. They were and still are an esoteric item, but I was fascinated by them, and so were my customers. These were the Arcus bows with the names Cadenza, Concerto, Sinfonia, and Sonata. I owned quite of bit of inventory, as did my distributor.
We were doing fine with the line with just enough sales to make it worthwhile, when one day Bernd abruptly decided that the distributor was no longer going to carry the bows for him, and on top of that he was changing the names of the models, and also changing manufacturers. This was done without warning, and anyone who stocked the bows was holding a lot of expensive and possibly obsolete inventory. The manufacturer was also left high and dry with inventory that Bernd Müsing was now no longer going to pay for (this is my understanding as explained to me by others.)
It took a while to sort all of this out, but the importer worked out a deal with the original manufacturer (who currently is still making the Original Arcus bows) and with me such that we are still selling these bows to people who are interested in them. I have had a few people try the new Arcus line and also try my bows, and they have always ended up with an Original Arcus bow. (To be fair we are not talking about huge sampling of people here, but this has been my experience with the customers who have tried both lines and then reported back to me.) I always encourage people to do their due diligence with this, if that is their inclination.
Bernd created a lot of confusion in my opinion. I talked to him at the time and he seemed to not care at all about what he had done to those of us who had purchased bows for resale, and to his partner who manufactured the bows. In fact he was surprised that I wanted nothing more to do with him. There was no attempt to create a transition that would be fair to those of us who had committed large amounts of money to the original line, and in fact there was virtually no communication at all.
Since then Bernd has been through a couple of distributors, and he currently has a small following among dealers. I am not one of them because I would never sell his product, as I do my best to maintain a high level of ethics in a business that is often lacking in that regard.
So a few of us have continued to sell the original Arcus line, and the bows continue to be made for us in the original factory. It is very odd that Bernd decided to keep the same name for the company. He made no attempt that I am aware of to legally sort out the name ownership with anyone involved, so I have assumed that he had no legal leg to stand on; but I don’t really know that for a fact, and that part remains a mystery to me!
That’s the story, all from my point of view. Hopefully that is helpful. Please feel free to call or write with questions about the bows or how to arrange a trial.
At one time Bernd Müsing from Arcus had a collaborative relationship with a fabricator in Austria. Together they manufactured and marketed the original bows, and they worked with a distributor in the United States. I was one of the early adopters of the Arcus line many years ago, and I both stocked and sold more of them than anyone else in the country. They were and still are an esoteric item, but I was fascinated by them, and so were my customers. These were the Arcus bows with the names Cadenza, Concerto, Sinfonia, and Sonata. I owned quite of bit of inventory, as did my distributor.
We were doing fine with the line with just enough sales to make it worthwhile, when one day Bernd abruptly decided that the distributor was no longer going to carry the bows for him, and on top of that he was changing the names of the models, and also changing manufacturers. This was done without warning, and anyone who stocked the bows was holding a lot of expensive and possibly obsolete inventory. The manufacturer was also left high and dry with inventory that Bernd Müsing was now no longer going to pay for (this is my understanding as explained to me by others.)
It took a while to sort all of this out, but the importer worked out a deal with the original manufacturer (who currently is still making the Original Arcus bows) and with me such that we are still selling these bows to people who are interested in them. I have had a few people try the new Arcus line and also try my bows, and they have always ended up with an Original Arcus bow. (To be fair we are not talking about huge sampling of people here, but this has been my experience with the customers who have tried both lines and then reported back to me.) I always encourage people to do their due diligence with this, if that is their inclination.
Bernd created a lot of confusion in my opinion. I talked to him at the time and he seemed to not care at all about what he had done to those of us who had purchased bows for resale, and to his partner who manufactured the bows. In fact he was surprised that I wanted nothing more to do with him. There was no attempt to create a transition that would be fair to those of us who had committed large amounts of money to the original line, and in fact there was virtually no communication at all.
Since then Bernd has been through a couple of distributors, and he currently has a small following among dealers. I am not one of them because I would never sell his product, as I do my best to maintain a high level of ethics in a business that is often lacking in that regard.
So a few of us have continued to sell the original Arcus line, and the bows continue to be made for us in the original factory. It is very odd that Bernd decided to keep the same name for the company. He made no attempt that I am aware of to legally sort out the name ownership with anyone involved, so I have assumed that he had no legal leg to stand on; but I don’t really know that for a fact, and that part remains a mystery to me!
That’s the story, all from my point of view. Hopefully that is helpful. Please feel free to call or write with questions about the bows or how to arrange a trial.