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Business Happenings - JULY 2001

The Sound of Music - Everybody Wins with the New Owners of
Music of Moab!

Music has charms to soothe a savage breast,
To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.

William Congreve

The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not mov’d with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils;
The motions of his spirit are dull as night,
And his affections dark as Erebus:
Let no man be trusted.

William Shakespeare

If we are to trust Willy Shakespeare, you should be cautious when dealing with people who don’t like or listen to music. He suggests there’s something not quite plumb about them. William Congreve says it a little more softly: “Music has charms to soothe the savage breast.” Who can argue with that sentiment? How often are you in a gnarly mood and you put your favorite music on and everything seems to mellow out? How much faster do you get your house cleaned because you’ve put on some tunes to keep you company during your labors? Music does, indeed, play a large role in our lives and has the power to change the day.

In Moab that means that Music of Moab has the power to change our day, to turn it around and make it a little bit brighter or more relaxing. The local music shop has been making days bright for Moabites since 1990 the store first opened in McStiff’s Plaza. It moved to Main Street for awhile, then moved to Center Street, and is now back at McStiff’s Plaza, but the vital service of bringing music into our lives has been uninterrupted for 11 years.

Things have recently changed again at Music of Moab, but everyone wins as a result. Two months ago Racheal and Randy Martin bought Music of Moab from Andy Nettell. You all know Andy…he loses his head in the newspaper all the time, and has been the slightly manic, but definitely happy, owner of Music of Moab since 1997. It was time for Andy to make a few changes in his life and in doing so, he decided to sell the store. Serendipity had Randy and Racheal looking for a new business to purchase after they sold the Portal RV Park. But let’s start at the beginning…

Like so many people, Randy and Racheal came to Moab and fell in love with the landscape and the rural lifestyle. They had three young girls and decided that living in the fast-paced city of Chicago they weren’t spending enough time as a family. They began in looking for a place where they could raise their children and lead a quiet life together. They found Moab, bought the RV Park, and moved here with their three happy girls. After owning the RV Park for two years, they discovered they still didn’t get quality time as a family. Because they lived at the park, they found they were always working. Sticking to their original purpose, they decided to sell the park and start anew once again. At exactly the same time, Andy had reluctantly decided to sell his store. He didn’t have much time to change his mind. It went on the market, the Martins came to see it, made an offer, and within a week there was a handshake.

But the more things change, the more they stay the same. If you go down to Music of Moab, you’ll still find Andy Nettell’s cheery face behind the counter. That’s because Randy and Racheal recognized immediately that they couldn’t have a better or more experienced store manager than Andy, so they offered him the job not long after the deal was done. Are you following all of this? Andy was here, then Andy was gone, and now Andy is back again. The really good news is that none of the staff has changed and now instead of just Andy’s friendly, smiling face behind the counter, you have Racheal and Randy’s as well as their superb staff.

Andy sees this as a win-win-win. He’s happy because he sold the store to people who value music as much as he does. The Martin’s are happy because when they don’t want to work they can leave the store in the capable hands of Andy, and the community wins because they still have their music store.

Racheal and Randy promise not to change things too much. What is going to change is changing for the better.

“We’re making our inventory deeper,” says Randy. “With Andy’s help we’re buying more music than ever, so that people will have a better chance of walking in and finding exactly what they want.”

Of course, Music of Moab is always happy to special order. “We can get most any music within 24 hours,” says Racheal. “The next best thing to immediate gratification,” Andy chimes in.

The Music of Moab team talked about the competition in today’s music market. With the internet for on-line discount shopping, the ability to download music from internet sites, and discount stores across the state line, selling music in a small, locally owned store seems tough.

“I think Music of Moab has established itself as a community resource,” explains Andy. “We have become a place where people like to come and hang out and explore music. They can listen to the music before they buy it, and they like that. They stay in the store long enough to hear a variety of music, and customers talk to each as well as to the staff to exchange recommendations about music. You can’t get that kind of community interaction on-line.”

“There’s also shipping charges,” reminds Randy. “Those on-line stores really hit you with stiff shipping charges. Plus, you don’t get your music for a week or sometimes longer.”

Shopping on line can’t possibly be as much fun as going in to Music of Moab. There’s always lively interaction with the customers, new music to look at, a big selection of magazines, and movies, movies, movies.

“We’re getting into movies in a BIG way,” says Racheal. “We just keep buying more new movies. As soon as we figure out where to put them all, we’ll have all the new releases, plus all the art and foreign films that people come here to rent. And still for only 99 cents.”

The other new element at Music of Moab will be a larger selection of electronics. “We want to make it easy for people to shop in Moab,” says Andy. “If you want a stereo, you don’t have to drive elsewhere and shop at those giant, corporate mega-stores that don’t care about people. You can buy your new system right here in Moab. If we don’t have it in the store, then we can order anything you want. We have a 400-page catalog of electronics, and we use the same supplier that those big stores do. We’re just friendlier, we’re local – and we’ll beat the competitor’s price on any stereo.”

Music of Moab also offers a frequent buyer deal. After you buy 12 CDs, you get one free. And if you watch the local papers, you’ll often see big in-store sales. It seems like Music of Moab will find any excuse to have a sale.

“We like making people happy,” says Andy. “Sales always do that. If music soothes the savage beast, then music on sale has really got to make them smile, right?”
The MOM team spent some time talking about how important they think music is in their lives and in the lives of everyone.

“Music reaches to the soul,” says Andy. “Everything in life can be expressed through music.”

“Everyone has a kind of music that speaks to them,” adds Randy. For Randy, it’s Frank Sinatra. Racheal has too many favorites to narrow it down to one. Andy…well, everyone in Moab knows Andy is fiend for folk music.

“We sell it all,” says Racheal. “We have something for everyone and we’re just going to keep getting better at reaching that goal.”

Andy has always like to quote Shawn Colvin in his advertising: “But if there was no music, I would not get through.”

Fortunately for folks living and visiting Moab, you don’t have to worry about not having music because, in spite of lots of changes over the year, Music of Moab is still here and getting better every day at filling your car and home with the sound of music.

Music of Moab is located at 59 South Main, #8, McStiff's Plaza. To place a special order call 259-4409 and be sure to mention you read about Music of Moab in Moab Happenings.


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