At age 10, growing up in East Grand Rapids, Terry Poe watched his brother strum his guitar and begged their parents to let him take lessons, too.
"I hated it," he says. "I quit within three months."
It's not something one expects to hear coming from the owner of
Grand River Music, the popular Eastown guitar shop at 1533 Wealthy St. SE. Poe opened the 1,200-square foot retail space in June of this year, after operating a successful guitar sales website for the past three years.
Poe renewed his interest in learning to play the instrument in high school, while hanging out with a group of musicians.
"I didn't want to be the guy sitting on the sidelines, so I bought a guitar and taught myself how to play," he says. Poe never looked back, and plays one of his 20 guitars every day.
Poe, now 50 with a mop of curly, red hair, has always had an eye for a good bargain. He purchases discontinued and b-stock guitars for Grand River Music directly from major manufacturers and their distributors. This means he brings in instruments with minor cosmetic flaws, such as a small chip or scratch on the back, for a hefty discount, which he passes along to customers. The store also buys and sells used instruments, providing a rotating mix of unique items lining the store walls.
Poe employs one full-time staff member, James Hughes, who serves as the chief instructor and also helps with customer service and the sale of guitars, bass guitars, amps, straps, strings and the other accessories sold in the store.
Hughes, along with three other instructors, provides lessons within the store to those wanting to learn to play an instrument. Poe says the main reason he quit taking lessons as a child was because he didn't connect with the instructor, so he makes sure his educators -- all pursuing or holding a degree in music -- place a heavy emphasis on communication.
"They work on establishing a relationship with the student," Poe says. "After each lesson, the instructors email the student with an overview of what they learned and what they need to work on before their next lesson."
Poe chose the location in Eastown due to the area's reputation as an artistic center of the city and the lack of a competing guitar shop. Both amateurs and local musicians frequent the store, and national touring artists have stopped in, often walking over before gigs at the nearby
Billy's Lounge. Grand River Music also hosts free, live shows twice a month, featuring local bands of all genres.
"Because of our location, there are a lot of experienced musicians in the area that come in, hang out and tell stories," says Poe.
Poe's entrepreneurial itch began in the early 1990s, when e-commerce sites like Amazon were in their infancy. Poe worked as a regional manager for Bargain Books retail stores and recognized the opportunity for retailers to increase sales by using online channels. He developed a plan to launch BargainBooksStores.com -- though he was by no means an Internet expert.
"I barely knew what e-mail was," he says.
Poe brought in a partner who did have online experience and together, they built the website into a multi-million dollar business.
"As an entrepreneur, you can't be stifled by fear because some risk needs to happen," he says. "People who don't have the risk tolerance might be good at making a lot of money for other people, but if they had a higher tolerance, they would be the owner."
Poe sold his share of the business in 2007 to launch his online guitar store. Poe, who worked in the percussion department at Yamaha Musical Products in Grand Rapids when he was younger, says his experience in e-commerce, interest in the product and awareness of the industry made selling guitars online seem like the next natural step.
"I'd seen the demand explode during the past 10 years, but at the same time, the quality of imports increased while prices dropped," says Poe. "Being a musician myself, I was familiar with the music industry and felt confident that I knew what I was getting into."
Poe continues to operate the online side of the business, but has been able to move his inventory of instruments (100 to 300 instruments, at any given time) from a warehouse on the Northeast side of town to his Wealthy Street store.
He credits having an understanding of his limitations with his success in all of his entrepreneurial endeavors thus far.
"I'm not necessarily the best at any of the things I do, but I rely on people who are better than me to do those things," he says. "You have to know yourself, know your limitations and find good people who can support you."
Kelly Quintanilla is a Michigan-based freelance writer who also writes for Rapid Growth's sister publications Metromode and Concentrate, and lives the dream as the microbrew editor for Revue, among other assorted journalistic pursuits.
Photos:Grand River Music (5)
Terry Poe (2)
Photographs by
Brian Kelly -All Rights Reserved