At Mr. Music, Guitar Sales Are 'Through The Roof' After Coronavirus Shutdown

BOSTON (CBS) - Mr. Music has been a staple in Allston for 47 years. Sal Barone, who co-owns the store with his brother Tom, explains, "The store opened up in 1973 predominately as a record store, 8-track tapes, accessories and radios and what have you and it slowly expanded into musical instruments."

In March, the music store dealt with something it had never had to deal with before: shutting down business. When they reopened in June, they were pleasantly surprised by what they found.

Sal explained that sales jumped about 50%, adding, "There was a big uptick in business. People were going stir crazy and they wanted to start learning to play guitars, ukuleles, so as soon as we opened up, we saw a big jump in sales."

Tom added, "Guitar sales right now are through the roof. People stuck at home, nothing to do. Why not play guitar?"

Andy Fischer is one customer who decided to do just that, picking out a guitar for his 7-year-old granddaughter.

Fischer said, "My daughter is going stir crazy with her three kids at home and she's trying to work at the same time."

So, grandpa to the rescue- with a brand new beginner's guitar and lessons. He added, "It was a chance for the two of us to have something to do together and we're doing these lessons on the back porch."

And they're far from the only ones using more time at home to take up a new hobby. Tom has seen a lot of new customers in his store lately, sharing, "I'm going to say about 70% of them that I've seen new were all buying beginners guitars. My main sales here are beginners guitars."

The Barone brothers have doubled their orders in recent weeks in hopes of keeping up with demand. A good sign for expert and beginner musicians, alike.

For more on Mr. Music, visit: www.mrmusicguitars.com