Island Music is one of the East Coast’s must-see musical instrument retailers, with a jaw-dropping inventory that literally goes from the floor to the top of the 16-foot ceilings. However, that wasn’t always the case. Having overcome considerable early adversity, Island Music has truly become “the little store that could.”
Island Music’s story dates back to 2008, when, after years of working in local music stores, Keith Grasso decided to open his very own music store in La Plata MD. Unfortunately, when the store officially opened its doors in October of that year, the country was in the midst of the greatest financial crisis in a generation.
“That was absolutely the worst time possible, when the stock market was at its lowest,” said Grasso. “We were in a 12’x12’ room with about 12 guitars, and I remember standing there by myself for eight hours a day in that first month. No one came through the door. It was a tough time.”
Luckily, a confluence of events stopped Island Music from becoming a cautionary tale. During the slow periods, Grasso would offer lessons before the store opened and after the store closed, which helped to build a customer base. The store was also featured in one of the local newspapers around Christmastime in 2008.
Island Music Co.
403 Charles St.
La Plata MD 20646
(301) 392-2960
www.islandmusicco.com
Mon-Thurs 10am to 8pm
Fri-Sat 10am to 6pm
“The article was actually a downer about picking the worst time to open, but still, that helped get the word out,” said Grasso. “People liked our customer service and the fact that it was a quaint little store. They were pulling for us.”
One of the fledgling store’s biggest breaks was acceptance from two of the industry’s biggest guitar brands: ESP and Peavey. “They took a chance on us and believed in me and the store,” said Grasso, who counts Hartley Peavey as one of his idols. “That was the biggest thing that happened to us. Without those anchor lines, we wouldn’t be where we are today.”
Today, Island Music occupies 3,800 square feet with six lesson rooms, a full repair shop, thousands of guitars on the wall, 15 employees, and 20 teachers and techs. “So, we’ve come a long way,” said Grasso, whose store carries many product categories, from percussion to pro audio, plus guitars, which represent Island Music’s bread and butter.
“There aren’t too many brands we don’t carry,” Grasso continued. “As an independent store, you can’t carry everything, but we want to have a big selection to give our customers as many choices as possible. It’s hard to sell if you carry one brand because the customers always want to be able to make comparisons.”
In fact, Island Music carries so much merchandise that it has to get creative when stocking the store. Grasso and company have learned to hang electric guitars sideways to fit more in, and they even built shelving into the pro audio room to create an extra foot in perimeter.
“Our customers say we should get an award for the best use of space,” Grasso said proudly. “It looks clean, but every square foot is covered with product. I think one of the keys to our success is having that much selection. It’s a cool vibe to see so much merchandise.”
With such a deep catalog of product, Grasso recognizes the importance of staff training. “I’m focusing on staff training now more than ever, because things change so quickly that it can be hard to catch up,” he said. He holds bi-weekly meetings to educate the staff on new products, as well as to foster a sense of community among his employees. “It’s important to have a team feeling. This isn’t just a job; you’re part of something,” he stressed. “This is a fun job, and there are far worse jobs you can have. I know I can’t imagine doing anything else. Every morning, I wake up excited to go to work.”
Grasso feels that sense of community not only within his own store, but also within the music community. He is more than willing to name other successful music stores as idols of his, including Ralon Music, Chuck Levin’s Washington Music Center and Bill’s Music. “I even idolize Sweetwater as far as their staff training, their quality of service and their online presence,” said Grasso.
“I have no problem tipping my hat to folks who inspire me, because I don’t view them as our competition,” Grasso explained to The Retailer. “Ten years ago, you could say other music stores were your competition, but not today. Today, your competition is more these outside forces—the iPad, the laptop, video games, etc.—that take the customer out of music. People only have so much disposable income to spend, so our job in the music business is to create an atmosphere where music is cool and things are happening so we stay in customers’ minds.”
At Island Music, those happenings include clinics and an open mic night that’s co-sponsored by Yamaha and a local restaurant. The store offers a summer promotion called Sidewalk Saturdays that “attracts attention to the store and gives local players an opportunity to perform that they might not otherwise have,” Grasso said. When the weather cools, an annual canned food/restringing event has proved successful for the store, too. “Over the past four years, we’ve collected between 7,500 and 10,000 pounds of food. It’s a big day,” said Grasso.
Grasso and his staff work hard to keep the store in people’s minds and to foster their interest in making music. Continued growth is always a goal for Grasso, who takes his position as a music store owner very seriously. “For some, this is a side job so they can keep playing. Or maybe their music career didn’t work out and this is the next best thing. But this—not being in a band—was my first choice,” he said. “I run our store like a real corporation and it’s a component of our success. We can always sell more, display more, promote more…. It’s a character flaw,” he concluded. “I’ll never be satisfied.”
[maxbutton id=”10″]