It’s time to call in the roadies
Steve’s Music Store forced to relocate
Steve’s Music Store is moving. After more than 50 years at its original St. Antoine St. location, the landmark Montreal instrument shop will be packing up this summer and reopening on SteCatherine St. E.
“We’re moving because we’re forced to, not because we want to,” said store manager Sheldon Sazant, who began working at Steve’s in 1978.
He was talking on speakerphone from the office of company president Michael Kirman, son of the titular Steve.
“I’ve spent my life here as an employee and I’ve loved doing so every minute,” Sazant continued. “Michael was basically born in the store. But when you have no choice and the government sends you papers for expropriation, you either fold or you roll up your sleeves and continue.”
The property on which Steve’s is located was sold to a condo developer almost five years ago, Kirman explained. But after a period of limbo, they have received notice that the land will be used for the expansion of the neighbouring Palais des congrès.
No eviction date has been set, but Kirman and Sazant preferred to take matters into their own hands. They will be moving the bulk of operations to the new location by the end of the summer while retaining some facets of the business in the old digs for now. Needless to say, there’s a lot to coordinate.
“There’s no other store in the world that has developed the way Steve’s has developed and expanded over the years,” Sazant said, referring to the current location’s mazelike layout and multiple access points. “We have nine storefronts to open and close every day, and two alarms.”
It’s hard to say goodbye to a place with so much history, the pair admitted. Sazant rattled off names of Quebec musicians (“Céline Dion, Simple Plan, Michel Rivard, Offenbach, Harmonium, Paul Piché ... Michel Pagliaro was in here today”) and international movie stars (“Richard Gere, Johnny Depp, Benjamin Bratt, Nicolas Cage, Bruce Willis, Wesley Snipes, Carole King, ZZ Top, Green Day, people from KISS”) who have passed through and returned over the years.
Expansion has led to outposts in Greenfield Park, Dollard-desOrmeaux, Ottawa and Toronto, but the original Steve’s location retains a gritty mystique all its own.
“Before it was a music store, it was a drum shop,” Kirman explained, “and in the ’30s and ’40s, my grandfathers had a pawnshop here. My dad started this business when he was 18; he passed a couple years ago, so a lot of his experience is still in the building. That part is going to be very emotional for all of us. We’re trying to get the spirit of this building into the new business. It’s like losing my father again, in a certain sense. But we’re looking forward to the challenge.”