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Once upon a time… back in the day when there were no computers, no fax machines, no internet & no mobile phones, I had the crazy that I wanted to open my own music shop. And in 1980, it was pretty simple thing to do:
• Think of a name (tick)
• Find a premises (tick)
• Call some suppliers & order some stock (tick)
• Pay the first month’s rent (tick)
And you’re away… and 38 years later, we’re still here.
Despite playing trombone professionally after leaving School & having 8 years’ experience in retail as I did, never could I have envisaged what it would be like (or, to be honest, how hard it would be to make it work). But… to borrow one of the most famous quotes of all time “I had a dream”, and as it happened, just the right balance of naivety in own ability & experience to make it work.
The dream was to have my own music store but to make it something really different form other stores I’d been to: clean, cool, super friendly with first class instruments, and totally focussed on helping people find the right instrument for them. Not the cheapest, not the most expensive, not the one with a certain name on it, but the “right” one.
A lot has changed in retail over the past 3 and a bit decades, my helping people to find the right instrument for them is still my mantra today, and all of my staff have been carefully selected to reflect that ethos – they know they are never to try to push people into buying something they don’t want or need.
Sometimes I am able to distance myself and look at Concept Music and feel proud of what I’ve built, but most of the time I just sit there trying to think of any way I can make it better… and more fun!
Graham Hoskins – owner Concept Music since 1980
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