Fanfare as Windblowers is back in business
MUSIC SHOP OPENS IN BEESTON UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP
A “LANDMARK” music shop which traded for decades in Nottingham city centre until it closed due to retirement earlier this year has reopened at a new location under new ownership.
Former owners David Oldershaw and Margaret Frogson appealed to potential buyers to keep the Windblowers shop in Derby Road going.
That call was answered and a new shop opened in Technology Drive, Beeston, last week.
Co-owners and musicians Richard Cox and James Beard are behind the relaunch of the business, which sells musical instruments, sheet music and also has a workshop.
The new Windblowers shop opened on December 1 in Unit 29 of the business park next to Beeston railway station.
“I’m a musician and I run a business, Europa Records, that sells classical recordings. I’ve done this for the past 20 years and I’ve known Windblowers since I came to Nottingham as a student as I used to go there and buy sheet music,” Mr Cox said.
“I heard they were closing down and looking for a buyer. I presumed at that point that someone would snap it up because it was such a landmark for music in Nottingham.
“I found out in August that they hadn’t got a buyer so they were going to close. I got in touch to ask if we could come to an agreement and we did.”
When it came to making the decision to relocate the business, it was an easy one for Mr Cox, who was already in Beeston with his original business.
“We were already based in Beeston so the easiest thing to do was to move it into our existing premises. It was one of the ways of making it a viable venture as the rent was quite expensive so it had been putting a lot of prospective buyers off. We said we wanted to move it into our current premises which would share the overheads that way,” he said.
Former Windblowers staff member Nick Milburn has also joined the Beeston team as manager
One of the major parts of the original Windblowers was the workshop where customers could take instruments in for repair.
Mr Cox added: “It’s absolutely vital to have the workshop. It’s lagging behind slightly but it will be open in the new year.
“We do have third-party repair places we can use in the meantime so we will be moving things out to those for now but having our own internal workshop is essential.
“Musical instruments aren’t cheap and it’s important to have another string to your bow as a business. We want to be able to help musicians look after their instruments, which many originally bought at Windblowers.
“Sometimes we can have more repair inquiries than new instrument inquiries so it’s vital in my opinion.”
When it comes to business, it’s a tough time to be opening a new venture due to the cost-of-living crisis.
Mr Cox plans to counter this by increasing sales of second-hand instruments to help existing musicians and encourage young people to start up.
“Generally speaking, you can get them [used instruments] half to twothirds of the price of a new one,” said Mr Cox.
“I think that’s really important as we sell to a lot of parents for their children who may not be that well off,” he said.
“They want to learn to play the flute or clarinet. At about £500 it is a lot to spend on a new instrument. We want to able to offer those things for £200 or £300 instead. It’s something we are very keen to do.”
The new owners aren’t planning to alter too much about the business as the Windblowers name is so well established on the music scene.
However, they will be updating the shop with a new website. And events at the shop include a mulled wine and mince pie morning on December 17 from 10am until 12.30pm.
“The biggest thing we are going to do fairly quickly is get a brand new website up and running, and people will be able to buy instruments and book repairs or instrument-testing appointments. That will hopefully be coming in the new year,” Mr Cox said. “It’s early days so far but we might be able to do a monthly thing where people can come in to play a monthly concert for free. The only other thing we might do is get back into brass one day if things work out.”