Music & Arts has been expanding at a healthy clip of late (check out this year’s Profile of the American Music Dealer on page 58). One of their more significant recent moves was the acquisition of Southern California’s Anaheim Band Instruments. MMR got on the wire with executive vice president of operations Allan Greenberg to get the scoop on M&A’s new purchase in the OC and what the future holds for the operation.
MMR: What was the catalyst behind the purchase? Was this a long time in the making, or more of an “aim-fire” type thing?
Allan Greenberg: While we are careful to look at every opportunity we come across, our executive team avoids “aim-fire” decisions. Every partnership we move forward with is designed to bring us closer to our overarching goals. In this case, our partnership with Anaheim Band Instruments represents an incredibly important element in Music & Arts’ efforts in Southern California. With the size of the market and the strong tradition of band and orchestra excellence, we see the region as a huge growth opportunity for our business.
MMR: What, specifically, was appealing about Anaheim Band Instruments to Music & Arts? Is your recent, fairly aggressive, expansion in Southern California somewhat random, or is there a reason behind that area being targeted?
AG: In addition to aligning with our goals in Southern California, Music & Arts’ partnership with Anaheim Band Instruments was appealing for numerous reasons. We have known owners David and Diane Browne for several years, and they live up to their impressive reputation of being generous, extremely professional, and experts in the industry. It’s no surprise they have grown Anaheim Band Instruments into a Southern California institution.
When presented with the opportunity to work with such a well-respected and successful music company, we jumped at the chance. David, Diane, and their skilled team have excellent relationships throughout the Orange County music education community, which allows us to leverage our relationships with partners such as Yamaha and Jupiter to provide the best quality instruments to the music education community.
MMR: Will this operation continue to be referred to as “Anaheim Band Instruments?” Do you plan to follow the pre-existing business model for ABI, or will there be drastic changes? And, if so, what?
AG: The store will be known as “Anaheim Band Instruments, a member of the Music & Arts Family.” While it is an acquisition, our mindset has been to partner with David and Diane as if this were a merger. As a result, David and Diane will stay onboard through the transition, and we are excited to be able to keep every member of the current staff.
Anaheim Band Instruments is an incredibly successful music company, and we want to let the established team continue the great work that their customers have relied on for over 30 years. In the meantime, we will bring Music & Arts’ resources to bear so that those same customers now have an even more comprehensive product lineup to choose from.
MMR: Do you have any parting thoughts on this recent move and/or additional expansion in the near future – either in Southern California or elsewhere in the U.S.?
AG: We have been fortunate enough to grow successfully and strategically, particularly during these last two years during which we opened 12 organic stores and completed recent acquisitions of Alta Loma Music, Harrison Music, Maximum Music, and Anaheim Band Instruments. It’s an exciting time for us and we look forward to exploring additional opportunities, both up and down the West Coast and throughout the United States.
On behalf of Music & Arts, I’d like to extend our sincere thanks to David and Diane Browne as well as their entire staff for the opportunity to continue their 30-year tradition in Anaheim. We are excited to get to know and work with our new customers in Southern California.
