{"id":28079,"date":"2021-12-28T08:01:33","date_gmt":"2021-12-28T16:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=30000024193"},"modified":"2021-12-28T11:52:09","modified_gmt":"2021-12-28T19:52:09","slug":"former-gilmore-music-employees-to-open-new-music-shop-early-next-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/former-gilmore-music-employees-to-open-new-music-shop-early-next-year","title":{"rendered":"Former Gilmore Music employees to open new music shop early next year"},"content":{"rendered":"

When it was announced in May that Gilmore Music would close after serving Long Beach musicians for 75 years<\/a>, the music community mourned. The store’s staff, however, was determined to continue its legacy, one way or another, and that drive has evolved into More Music LB, a new music shop expected to open after the new year.<\/p>\n

Four former Gilmore employees\u2014Andy Arroyo, Andre and Ettienne Bouyer, and Pedro Rodriguez\u2014banded together after the iconic store\u2019s closure, each having worked at the store for 12 or more years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a family,\u201d said Rodriguez, who worked at Gilmore for 14 years and was manager when it closed.<\/p>\n

Initially, the small group of musicians sought to purchase the Gilmore store from Linda Gilmore, wife of Clint Gilmore, who died in 2020. However, the asking price was simply too much, Rodriguez said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really wanted to honor his legacy because [Clint] employed us and we were thankful for that,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cBut we couldn\u2019t even keep the name.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is no animosity between the group and Linda Gilmore, Rodriguez said of the failure to come to an agreeable price for the business. \u201cIt\u2019s just business,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Without a space for their store, the group went on the hunt, which proved challenging, Rodriguez said, adding that he started driving for food delivery service DoorDash to pay the bills. While out making deliveries, he drove by a vacant storefront across from Thomas Jefferson Middle School on Seventh Street. A number was posted on a banner, so Rodriguez called it.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The co-owners of More Music LB, a new music store by former employees of Gilmore Music, adjust the shades in the window of their Seventh Street storefront Friday, Dec. 24, 2021. Photo by Brandon Richardson.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Located at 3736 E. Seventh St., the former home of Luxury Glam Hair Salon was perfect for the music shop, Rodriguez said\u2014a cleaner area with more parking and fewer traffic accidents compared to the former Gilmore location at Cherry Avenue and Seventh Street.<\/p>\n

While More Music LB will not carry on the name Gilmore, Rodriguez said it will carry on its purpose.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are here for the community,\u201d Rodriguez said, adding that he hopes the store will become a hub for local musicians to meet, hang out, grow and promote themselves. \u201cWe want to be a store \u2026 that\u2019s going to be able to link musicians with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

The store will have a giant chalkboard for local musicians to promote upcoming shows, seek new members and more, Rodriguez said.<\/p>\n

Each of the four owners specializes in different areas: Arroyo in percussion, live sound, engineering and instrument repairs; Andre Bouyer in record players and turntable repair, and bass, guitar and instrument electronic repair; Etienne Bouyer in bass and guitar repairs, set up and maintenance; and Rodriguez in private lessons and instrument repair, including being an authorized repair center for Taylor and Gibson.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be everything except a recording studio,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to do everything here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
What is to become the front counter and display case of More Music LB, a new music shop expected to open next year at 3736 E. Seventh Street. Friday, Dec. 24, 2021. Photo by Brandon Richardson.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rodriguez said the store is going to open with the basics\u2014guitars, basses, ukuleles, banjos and other stringed instruments. However, over time, he said the plan is to expand to as many instruments as possible, including woodwinds, brass, classical and less common pieces such as shofars and other instruments.<\/p>\n

The store also will sell and repair amplifiers, Rodriguez said.<\/p>\n

The group had hoped to open ahead of Christmas to take advantage of holiday shoppers but delays with the city have likely pushed the opening date to the first or second week of January\u2014hopefully. The business is waiting for its final inspection, Rodriguez said, but with the holidays it has been all but impossible to get city staff on the phone, let alone out to the store.<\/p>\n

Once they have the inspection and business license in hand, Rodriguez said the store could open in a couple of days.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re excited,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cWe are the same people and we\u2019re going to give the same or better customer service.\u201d<\/p>\n

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with the correct address.<\/em><\/p>\n

https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/gilmore-music-to-close-permanently-at-the-end-of-may<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The group wanted to move into the Gilmore Music store, but it was too pricey, so they’ll carry on the shop’s legacy at a new location.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":268,"featured_media":71866,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3,31840],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[25820],"class_list":["post-28079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hi-lo","tag-instagram","tag-music-store","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28079"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=28079"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=28079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}