The Cupertino Courier

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Rent hike, declining sales force the closing of local music store

By Cody Kraatz

Massoud Badakhshan chose a Washington Avenue storefront across from Macy's and the Sunnyvale Town Center as a temporary home for Haight Ashbury Music Center about 10 years ago, after a fire took the original San Francisco store offline.

He fixed it up and decided to stay, but now, with the redevelopment of downtown Sunnyvale coming down the line, the owner of the property has raised the rent from $6,100 to $15,000 per month, about one-third of his gross monthly sales, he said.

It's more than he can afford, so he said he's closing shop by Jan. 19, and liquidating everything because he doesn't have room in his San Francisco shop, which will stay open.

"We just really don't make that kind of money in this store," said Badakhshan, an Iranian-American and San Francisco resident. He cites the economic downturn that hit Silicon Valley about five years ago and the turmoil of the downtown redevelopment as factors for a 40 percent decline in sales.

Unlike some, he is not excited about the change that seems to be in the wind downtown.

"They think this is going to be another Santana Row, so we're not paying enough rent. It's unfortunate, but that's the way they feel."

David Bider, president of Menlo Park-based Cypress Investments, who is brokering the lease for the property, said that the new rent is reasonable and that Badakhshan had been enjoying a below-market-rate rent for many years.

"[The property owners] would have loved to have kept him," but the music store's business is simply not strong enough, said Bider, who, as of Nov. 19, had not received any calls about the 8,080-square-foot, two-story space since a sign went up the previous week.

"The economy's tough right now," he said, adding he was not optimistic that he would receive multiple offers. "We're in a wait-and-see mode."

Will be missed

Some customers said they are sad to see the store go, while others were nonplussed and said they would just find another place for lessons and gear.

"It's sad," said Blake Williams, a downtown Sunnyvale resident and editor of the Sunnyvale news page of Topix.net.

"It had a very local feel to it. They're walking distance from my house practically, so when I first moved to Sunnyvale five years ago, I was excited to find a mom and pop right downtown."

He's played guitar on and off for about 20 years, though he's too busy now to play much. He likes the older, mellower clientele, as compared to a store full of teenagers wailing on electric guitars with distortion pedals.

Rick Williams, store manager for more than seven years, said that atmosphere draws many regular customers. Stringing a red electric guitar and calmly tuning it, he mused about the future.

"I'll probably stay in the industry somehow. I've been doing this for 34 years, so it's all I know," he said, noting that retail is a rather portable skill. "I just happen to love guitars, playing 'em, fixing 'em, all that stuff. I guess you could say it's just my thing."

The store seems to have enough instruments and variety to supply whatever a player's "thing" might be.

One wall is covered in glimmering, spotlighted axes--electric guitars--from the big names. Bongos, didgeridoos, drum kits and exotic percussion instruments fill a back corner, and keyboards and guitars have two glass-walled rooms to themselves.

With all the stock in the store, it's hard to believe it's liquidating, said Joy Price, a Redwood City resident who came shopping on a friend's recommendation.

"They've got to bring their prices down more," said the bass and keyboard player. She normally shops at Gelb Music in Redwood City and said the prices there are better than what she had seen at Haight Ashbury so far.

But more important than price sometimes, she likes a local neighborhood store where the sales staff knows regulars by name and knows the equipment inside and out. Haight Ashbury may be that for some, if not for her.

Unfazed by the impending closure, Jay Moody, 80, said he came in to learn to play a guitar he bought here several years ago. He couldn't name exactly what he'd like to play, but said it wasn't rock 'n' roll.

The store may close, but he will follow his music teacher--assuming the lessons work out--wherever he finds studio space. Moody isn't picky; he just wants to play.

For more information, visit www.haight-ashbury-music.com.