Old Town Music
Pasadena
Fritzie Culick, Owner
Business this year: Slightly up from last year
Evolution in the industry you’re excited about? We are using social media more actively and we see an increase in local music programs. There are many new studios opening up in this area, which means new faces coming into the store. On the downside, however, it means increased competition for students. Many teachers have been speaking of losing students and finding it harder to fill their rosters.
It’s getting harder to compete with online stores. Customers frequently turn us down, after examining items here, saying they’ll “just order it online.” They don’t realize that we are online ourselves and that we order from most vendors almost every week, so are very responsive to customer needs. One innovation for us has been to bring Happy Hour to a music store. There are Happy Hours all over our downtown Old Pasadena neighborhood, so we thought we would get in on that trade, too. From 3 to 5 p.m., we offer various rewards for coming in, from 10 percent off sheet music to a deal on gifts to deals on a guitar, and so on. It’s new this fall, and has brought in new customers.
Product of the Year? Ukuleles (Kala, Lanikai, Diamond Head). And for us, print music is really number one. It is what we are best known for. We rent and sell lots of violins, then flutes, clarinets and cellos, then trumpets and trombones, and last, small percussion kits.
