SYDNEY, N.S. — There are two things you notice immediately when you visit the new location of Long & McQuade Musical Instruments at 369 Prince St.
There’s a place to put your vehicle — an actual parking area that was lacking at the store’s previous Charlotte Street location.
And then there are the guitars. Hundreds of them throughout the store, including a full wall of them that you see as soon when you enter the building, as well as an entire room filled with them.
For store manager Dan MacKinnon, those are just a few of the advantages of the new location.
“It’s only fitting that we’re on the corner of Prince and Disco,” he says, laughing. “I think it’s a much better location. The biggest complaint we had downtown was parking or the lack of. Also, we wanted a lesson centre which was a natural fit for our business. And we just couldn’t have that in our previous location downtown. So parking was the big thing, more accessibility for our customer base and being able to have a lesson centre are the real reasons why we moved.”
Last week was spent getting used to the new store after a complex move the previous weekend that saw everything from piccolos to pianos being transferred to the new location.
“We moved our warehouse on Friday — that was an all-day process — then we closed down Saturday at 5:30 and we worked until 9 o’clock that night and we were back here at 9 the following morning,” says MacKinnon. “We worked until 8 o’clock on Sunday and we were all back here Monday at 8 in the morning and we opened at 9:30.
“The store looks good but it’s still a process of moving stuff around and finding spots. And there’s still stuff at the other store that still has to be moved. Not much, just some minor things. Everyone worked extremely hard — I have a great team here. They put the hours in and we have it done.”
The new store takes over much of the first floor and the second floor is devoted to the new music school, which will feature nine individual music studios on the second floor as well as one accessible studio on the first floor. It will be looked after by lessons co-ordinator Sheldon Aucoin, a well-known local guitarist and teacher.
“We have a drum instructor, we have guitar, we have piano, voice, violin, and woodwind,” says Aucoin. “We’re going to focus on group lessons as well as on seniors and youth. We’re going to cater to all levels, from beginner to professional. So all of the teachers come with really good resumés and backgrounds in music and teaching so they’re going to tailor their lessons accordingly to each student’s needs which is a great thing. We’re going to be open hopefully from Monday to Saturday and available to the community from around 10 a.m. to 9 p.m."
Lessons are expected to begin later this month for all ages and Aucoin says you purchase them at the beginning of the month, with your chosen time and day remaining the same each week, unless you have to change your schedule. The rate currently is $21 per half-hour lesson.
When asked how much the new store cost, MacKinnon said he didn’t know but he expected it was in the millions of dollars because of all of the renovations involved. The store is owned by the Long & McQuade chain, Canada’s largest music retailer with more than 70 stores from British Columbia to Newfoundland.
“It is better laid out — no expense has been spared on the building,” said MacKinnon. “Long and McQuade has invested heavily in this area.
"This was a major project and I think it’s going to be a lot better for our customers.”
