Marvelous Monday

Hello Reader! I hope your Monday is going well! I have strayed from the usual MM format of thanks, dwarfism information and something random, but only because I have felt very passionately about something else… you don’t want to be reading this blog all day, right?! So, I will return to the usual next week, but this week, I want to focus on my wonderful husband, Dave.

Ten years ago Dave and a friend, Jamez, opened up B Sharp Music, and a few years later Domenick joined as a partner. The shop went from being consignment and some repairs with minimal hours, to Dave and Domenick’s lifeblood- open 7 days a week and offering repairs, new and used equipment, as well as booking shows (thanks in part to Hilary).

In 2003 (also the same year I graduated high school!), Providence was a musical hotspot, the economy was doing well great, and Broadway was the place to be on the West End (still is!).  The shop now has Dash Bicycle next to it (WE LOVE DASH!), and a favorite spot of mine for the past decade- where I met Dave, Julian’s on Broadway, is just down the street… but for the past few years, the shop was just holding on.

Dave has been building amps, designing his own line of pedals, repairing and modifying equipment for over 10 years,  and he’s happier doing just that.

 

Retail is hard work, and with the internet, sometimes it’s simply not worth it! While I wish B-Sharp could last forever, it will always live on fondly in our hearts.

So here’s the announcement!
    B Sharp is closing it’s doors forever, so this is your last chance to buy from us!

We will be closing at the end of June,and we have to sell EVERYTHING. We will be accepting offers on pretty much everything, including new and used inventory, strings and sticks, store fixtures…

Simon and Patrick guitars, Electro Harmonix pedals, Kala Ukeleles, an Orange Tiny Terror, a few nice old Fender amps, plenty of used pedals – it’s all got be gone by Sunday, June 30th 2013.

B Sharp may be closing, but our repair services will continue, and we look forward to keeping your equipment playing and sounding great. Please contact us via email at amps@b-sharpmusic.com (Dave) or guitars@b-sharpmusic.com (Domenick).

 

Dave had this to say about the closing:

The End:
After more than ten years of serving the musicians of Providence, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and countless traveling musicians and bands, we must regretfully announce the closure of our retail shop at 265 Broadway in Providence.
The reason is pretty simple – the retail part of our business can no longer pay for itself.
Brick and mortar retail stores across our country find themselves in competition with online retailers, who have far less overhead and expenses, and as such can offer better pricing and selection. We are no different, facing this competition head on in the smallest state. Ebay and Craig’s List have become a far more appealing venue for used instruments than selling or trading to a smaller shop. It makes sense – you can get more for your guitar if you cut out the middle man, right? Well in this case, the middle man is your friendly neighborhood guitar shop, who you might rely on for strings, sticks, cables, and repair services, among other things.
The only way small shops can stay open in the internet age, and in this struggling economy, is by offering services – retail alone doesn’t cut it. Rhode Island has a history of small music retailers opening and closing every decade or so – it’s hard to get the right combination of retail and services and it’s also hard to keep people interested in playing music in this age of entertainment bombardment.
None of that is new, though.
We take solace in the knowledge that even though we can’t afford to keep our doors open, the live music scene in RI is still a strong, thriving force, and will remain even as we sweep up the last bit of dust and broken picks from our floor, and close our doors forever. Thank you for your years of business. Now to play us out…

-David Martinka
co-founder: B Sharp Music

I take to heart what I want from Journey’s Faithfully, because “loving a music man ain’t always what it’s supposed to be”, is kind of my life. Some days it was pretty fun to be at the shop- B-Sharp Nights at AS220, free drinks, late hours, a good spot to sit and watch people…

And other days it was hard. Not because of music… but because of Rhode Island, being a small business owner and the unstable economy as a whole. Because we are still paying taxes from years past, the closing is bittersweet. But thankfully, Providence is still a major music city and we love so many bands currently in it, we are sad to no longer be offering a storefront to them.

Dave will be continuing his repair work and can be emailed at amps@b-sharpmusic.com, and his business partner Domenick will also continue guitar repairs and can be contacted at guitars@b-sharpmusic.com.

Oh behalf of our family, we thank everyone for their patronage and support over the past 10 years. We hope to see you during our last month of business (and for all your future repair needs), and wish you a happy and healthy summer!