SWAN SONG FOR 2 STORES
Music Mart, Apple Mountain bid adieu
Two more local music stores — Music Mart and Apple Mountain Music — are closing their doors.
For a pair of longtime Albuquerque businesses, the month is ending on a sad note.
Two more local music stores — Music Mart and Apple Mountain Music — are closing their doors. They join Grandma’s, which closed in July.
Music Mart, which opened in 1951 under its first owner, for years was the go-to supplier of printed music for bands, orchestras, choral groups and individuals, said current owner Joe Keith, who began working at the store in 1964 as a young UNM student and later purchased the business in 1969. From the beginning, his wife, Claudia, also worked in the business and their sons, Michael and Stan, both musicians, first came to work in playpens and later took on various aspects of the operation.
Founded 67 years ago by “Miss Charlie Maude Curtis,” Music Mart has supplied road maps of the world to teachers, band directors, conductors, composers, vocalists, schools, colleges, churches and thousands of ordinary souls. These maps, known as sheet music, contain squiggles and dots arrayed on horizontal lines that turn silence into sound.
In early March, Music Mart will go dark, undone by online convenience and the gradual cutting of music education, said Keith.
“Most are sad or sorry to see us go,” said Keith of several generations of customers, not just in Albuquerque but all over the U.S. Pre-Internet, “85 percent of sales went out the back door,” through an active mail-order business, Keith said. The Keiths will continue to sell on Amazon, and Michael has plans to run the instrument rental side of the business.
Keith said the bricks-and-mortar side of the business started to slide during the Great Recession and the growth of online commerce. At one point, the business had 15 employees. Now it’s down to seven, including family members.
One longtime customer mourning Music Mart’s imminent closure is Joneve Bender, a Corrales music teacher. Bender said she has “hundreds and hundreds of music books and sheets” that she and her mother, who was also a music teacher, had purchased at Music Mart over the years.
“I am so sad to see yet another business closing due to the internet (mainly Amazon),” said Bender, who has taught for more than 50 years through Albuquerque Public Schools and private lessons. “Browsing music scores cannot be done online. I am at a loss in my heart, my mind and for my lessons.”
Several weeks before the store closed up shop at 3301 Carlisle NE, a handful of customers browsed the bins one last time, while shelves, racks and display cases around the edges of the room held an untold number of musical arrangements. A perusal revealed Pachelbel’s Canon and Mendelssohn’s Wedding March; a rousing Sousa march for the tuba; hymns to enliven Sunday morning church services; and ‘60s-era pop songs to recreate nostalgic moments.
Music Mart is discounting prices on all remaining inventory — as is Apple Mountain Music, which has been serving the folk music community for over 20 years.
Apple’s retail location at 10301 Comanche NE will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today. On its website, the business said it would continue renting folk music instruments, sponsoring classes, workshops and house concerts. “We are deeply grateful for your loyal support over the years and we hope to continue our relationship in the future,” the owners posted. Calls to the business for comment were not returned.
With retirement looming, Joe Keith, 76, said he’ll have more time to make his own music, which includes leading various church choirs around Albuquerque, such as St. John’s Methodist. He’ll also enjoy Rotary activities and growing a small brass music publishing company. “We’ve had a great run,” Keith smiled.