By Carol McKinley, Denver Gazette | Chuck Schneider was eight years old when his dad bought him his first clarinet — a Buffet model with nickel-plated keys made in France and sold in America. The freelance jazz musician graduated to fancier horns, but he stayed loyal to the Colorado mom-and-pop music store Kolacny Music Co. where he first fell in love with music when Elvis was King.
“I ran down here when I found out they were closing. It’s like a dagger to my heart,” said Schneider, 74, of the longtime Denver store at 1900 S. Broadway. “It’s a shame and a disgrace that it had to be this way.”
Kolacny (pronounced ko-LASS-nee) Music Company, circa 1930, is playing the blues.
“You shouldn’t be here today at 93 years,” 30-year-employee professional saxophonist Max Wagner told a reporter. “This shouldn’t be the story. You should be here seven years from now, writing about the 100th anniversary celebration,” he said, with an apology for being emotional.
Kolacny’s announcement came just weeks after Universal Music, a 63-year-old mom and pop music store in Thornton, also closed. Lakewood’s Rockley Music Center called it quits in 2019 after 73 years.
What is the deal with the number three?
The three stores had 219 years between them, all closing within three years of each other.
“This happened really fast,” said Pete Dunnewald, who bought Flesher Hinton from the Flesher family three years ago and is the last metro store standing.
To keep the Wheat Ridge store afloat, he dipped into his own savings.
“Clearly with stores closing, the mom-and-pop music market is unstable,” he said. A saxophone tuned up in the background, a sign of life.
Flesher Hinton is left to lock horns with Amazon, a feat that Kolacny Music could not sustain after being crippled by COVID shutdowns and the collapse of elementary school music programs.
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Read the rest of this sad story here:
https://denvergazette.com/life/denver-kolacny-music-company-closes-after-93-years/article_0ccaf868-2599-11ee-8a49-27d638960c6d.html
Photo: https://www.facebook.com/kolacnymusic/
July 27, 2023| Music-Related Business| Barb Dye