Music instrument store set to close despite community raising $100K to save it
By James Taylor, CBS13 Photojournalist
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DAVIS, California (KOVR) — A year ago, the Davis community rallied around a struggling local store and raised more than $100,000 to keep it open. Now, the owner says it’s suffering financially once again and is set to go out of business.
Watermelon Music is near its last note. The store first opened back in the 1970s.
“Every town should have an independent music store, I think,” current owner Jeff Simons said.
Simons started as an employee 35 years ago. Now, he’s made the tough decision to permanently close its doors.
It’s the only store in Davis that sells and rents musical instruments. They also offer music classes where countless numbers of people have learned to play an instrument over the years.
“My own son learns how to play the guitar here and we wonder how it’s going to continue,” customer Philipp Weitz said.
“My kids have been coming here for years, and it’s a little less of a town if we don’t have a music store like Watermelon,” customer TJ Green said.
Since the pandemic, the store’s finances have been up and down more than a flight of the bumblebee.
So a GoFundMe was set up last year and the community raised more than $100,000 in just ten days to keep the store open.
“All my debts were paid. I was on good terms with my vendors,” Simons said. “I thought, ‘Here we go. Let’s ramp up another 20 years.’ “
But today, Watermelon Music still struggles to make a profit.
“Nine of the past 12 months, I’ve been upside down,” Simons said. “It’s not a donation-based thing. It’s got to stand or I’ve got to let it kind of fall.”
Simons said the store can no longer keep up with the rising costs of utilities and insurance along with declining sales due to competition from internet retailers.
“The online thing is huge,” he said. “It’s just so convenient.”
No final closing date has been set, but the doors will shut for good once the building has been sold.
Some community members have discussed forming a co-op to try and keep the store in business, but Simons said he’s ready to move on.
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