Business Spotlight: Music Go Round

Ann Wood and Jeff Perkins opened Music Go Round in Lilburn in 1997. The pair have played music together for over 20 years around Atlanta and across the Southeast. About the time that they wanted to start settling down, an opportunity to open a music store was thrust upon them halfway between Athens and Atlanta. For the past 15 years the duo has been selling used instruments and equpment to musicians. I recently sat down with Ann to talk about Music Go Round.

Patch: What is the best aspect of owning Music Go Round?

Ann: There's a lot of great things. I would say the number one thing is watching the progression of musicians. We see some of our customers at 13 getting their first guitar and next thing you know they're playing on Conan O'Brien. That stuff is really exciting and cool. We also get to see rare and unusual pieces come through our store.

Patch: What is the most challenging aspect of owning a music instrument business?

Ann: Because we're used you can't call up and order gear from the used gear warehouse so the challenge is getting the kind of gear that our customers want in the door, and we work really hard at doing that. Also we try to strive to let people know that instruments depreciate in value only once so it makes no sense to spend money on a new one.

Patch: What makes your business unique?

Ann: We're all used. There's really no store that I'm aware of in the state of Georgia that does just used. I mean we obviously carry guitar strings and cables, but every item was bought from an individual and then fixed up and resold at a fraction of the original price. We also repair instruments and offer lessons. We've also created a system called our wish list. Our customers tell us what they want and we try to find it for them. A customer may come in and say I really want a 1980s Japan-made Fender Strat, and we're going to try and find it for them. We can do this because we buy between 300 and 400 pieces each week. So in sheer volume we have all sorts of stuff come through our doors. We also offer an in-person trade program. So if a mom comes in with a keyboard and a guitar and her kid is starting middle school and needs a trumpet we can accomodate her with a fair price.

Patch: What makes the Lilburn community special?

Ann: The thing I love about the Lilburn community is its multicultural aspect. A lot of times I'll call our store the model U.N. because people from all over the world come to see us. That's one of the things I find really great about music in general. It sounds so corny but music really is the universal language. You really see it in action in the store. You've got some guys from Africa buying a p.a., and some guys from Mexico buying a bass guitar and a guy from China buying a violin and then some rocker with spiked hair comes in, and it's just a beautiful mix.

Located at 4153 Lawrenceville Hwy., Music Go Round is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. and Sunday from noon until 6 p.m. For more information, including the ability to look at inventory and buy items online, visit their website at http://musicgoroundlilburn.com/