Yesterday, when I was doing some background research for this weblog, I discovered, to my sadness, that Avalon Music in Rochester, MN no longer exists. Apparently they went out of business a year or so ago. As far as I can tell, this is the only store that offered “higher end” guitars in Rochester.
With disruptor online stores like Reverb, it is probably very challenging to own and operate a successful music store in a moderate sized town. I imagine that the nearby Twin Cities were also a source of serious competition. Of course, this is all speculation as I have no idea what really happened to the store, other than the proprietor selling the building for a little over a million dollars.
Avalon Music was a very nice store with a broad inventory of instruments, and a nice selection of Taylor Guitars. It was a very important music store to me as it is where I reinvested myself in guitar playing while at the Mayo Clinic for a seven week medical treatment cycle. I bought a very nice Taylor 914ce there and took lessons from an excellent fellow and they still influence me today .
The store itself was located on the main floor and lessons occurred upstairs in a series of rooms. There was a nice “living room” up there to await your lesson and to warm up. I learned some fascinating facts about that building while surfing around trying to understand why the store closed down.
The building was originally the Northwestern Hotel established by Sam Sternberg in 1919 where Jews could stay as the other hotels surrounding the Mayo Clinic would not house them… ugh… In 1944, a new owner changed the name to the Avalon Hotel and it became the first to host African American guests, including Duke Ellington. Mississippi John Hurt popularized a country blues tune called “Avalon Blues” and though I am not sure a connection exists, there sure might be.
The building has been converted to offices and another of many Bistro’s that come and go in Rochester. The only constant in this world is change…
