Josh Van Halteren is making a public plea through Facebook on the fund-raising platform “givesendgo.com” for $105,000 as Van Halteren’s Music Centre faces many pressures to stay open and expand operations.
Lindsay and area’s only music store, which is managed by Jeremy Van Halteren, is intent on remaining relevant, but a number of external forces have put the business in a make-or-break situation. As manager Jeremy Van Halteren puts it, “our financial situation is at a tipping point. We need to raise the funds in order to keep the store open and to progress with any of our future plans involving it.”
The wolf got to the door gradually. Over the last 15 years, online markets gradually became an accepted way to acquire both new instruments (think Amazon) and used gear (Kijiji or Facebook Marketplace), eroding an established sales base.
Luckily, those customers who still saw the value in holding and hearing a new instrument before buying it, continued to patronize the shop. So, too, did buyers who wanted the peace of mind that comes with buying used gear from an established store instead of a stranger in a parking lot. However, protracted bridge construction made it difficult for those people to even get in the front doors. “That happened twice. Back to back,” notes Van Halteren, the third generation to helm the shop.
Then a little thing called the COVID pandemic brought the live music industry to a halt. People were not buying gear as frequently, and the audio and lighting rental stream of the business became almost non-existent, as did in-person lessons.
Recently the arrival of a national music store chain in Peterborough undoubtedly impacted business, as did the opening of a 60,000 square foot superstore in Richmond Hill. It has become a destination as much for the shopping experience as for the products.
Taken together, these impacts have left the business teetering on the brink. “The fundraiser was started because we don’t have the means of coming up with the money ourselves,” says Jeremy who is taking over the store from his father, John.
The situation has also prompted changes around the store. Visitors to the Wellington Street shop will notice a transformation of the physical space currently underway. Roughly 1,000 square feet of what was once retail space has been cleared out and will be repurposed. Van Halteren sees it as a community space with a stage at one end used for youth open mics, or recitals. Other ideas include using it as a space for group lessons, or an artist’s fair. With community support, they want to build a hub for musicians and music enthusiasts in Lindsay and the surrounding Kawartha Lakes area.
At the same time, the convenience and service advantages that a local music store offers consumers will continue in ways that a megastore cannot provide.
“I have customers who are coming to Lindsay from the surrounding area to do some shopping or on other business, and they will call and ask if I can do a repair or change strings for them while they are on their other errands, says Van Halteren. “I can usually fit them in with a little notice, but I’m sure that same customer would be waiting for a few days at a big store.”
The year Van Halteren’s Music Centre opened, the Billboard charts were populated by artists like Al Wilson, George McCrae, and Billy Swan. Nearly 50 years later, without a dramatic reversal in fortunes, the store may be forgotten like those musical footnotes.