After more than ten years of serving the musicians of Providence, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and countless traveling musicians and bands, we must regretfully announce the closure of our retail shop at 265 Broadway in Providence.
The reason is pretty simple - the retail part of our business can no longer pay for itself.
Brick and mortar retail stores across our country find themselves in competition with online retailers, who have far less overhead and expenses, and as such can offer better pricing and selection. We are no different, facing this competition head on in the smallest state. Ebay and Craig's List have become a far more appealing venue for used instruments than selling or trading to a smaller shop. It makes sense - you can get more for your guitar if you cut out the middle man, right? Well in this case, the middle man is your friendly neighborhood guitar shop, who you might rely on for strings, sticks, cables, and repair services, among other things.
The only way small shops can stay open in the internet age, and in this struggling economy, is by offering services - retail alone doesn't cut it. Rhode Island has a history of small music retailers opening and closing every decade or so - it's hard to get the right combination of retail and services and it's also hard to keep people interested in playing music in this age of entertainment bombardment.
None of that is new, though.
We take solace in the knowledge that even though we can't afford to keep our doors open, the live music scene in RI is still a strong, thriving force, and will remain even as we sweep up the last bit of dust and broken picks from our floor, and close our doors forever. Thank you for your years of business. Now to play us out...
-David Martinka
co-founder: B Sharp Music
B Sharp Was:
B Sharp Music offers quality, dependable products and personal, straightforward service. We are musicians, so we understand what musicians need and want - reliable equipment that sounds good! We treat every piece of equipment as if it was our own. While we buy and sell mostly second hand instruments, we are also an authorized dealer of Electro Harmonix effects, Yorkville/ Traynor amplifiers, Hughes & Kettner amps and effects, Orange amplifiers and cabs, and the Godin family of instruments. We provide all the basic necessities like D’Addario, GHS, Ernie Ball, and DR strings (our best seller), Vic Firth, Vater, and Pro-Mark drumsticks and Remo drum heads.
IN THE BEGINNING:
Conceived in November 2002,
B Sharp Music opened its door on April fool's 2003 to the relief of the
Julian's,
Providence's iconic West Side restaurant, they noticed a
vacant storefront two blocks away and figured it was worth a shot! Small in
size, but huge in potential, B Sharp was born - kicking, screaming
and shredding...
