About Street Legal Guitars
 

Greg used to come in to the store every now and then, usually just to buy parts for guitars he was repairing. We would only chat briefly, mostly just courtesies between 2 people working in a similar field. I would usually extend good deals on parts as a gesture of good will - Not because I thought he needed it, I just liked the guy, his demeanor. You work retail long enough, it only takes half a second to know whether or not you’ll connect with your customer. Over time, we started to chat a bit more when he would visit, but nothing that ever developed in to any kind of real friendship. Just small talk, really. The courtesies were beginning to draw out, but that was about as far as we went.

I remember when he came in to the store the last time and told me they were closing down. He didn’t seem too concerned about it, either. It was more of a “Well, it was cool while it lasted” kind of vibe. He was just going to focus on guitar repair and even told me about a new name he was going to use. That day, and many days and nights following, I thought about at great length and began to tie it in to some of the ideas I've always had about creating a kind of 2.0 version of your typical guitar shop. Something more mobile, more service and relationship-oriented. Not more exclusive, per se, but more focused and personally accessible. I spent many days and nights thinking about this, including the days I was working in a different shop. It wasn’t until he came several weeks later that I expressed interest in taking over the Street Legal name and I felt it was perfect for the things I was trying to do. He said, kind of chuckling “Sure, yeah. But, why would you ever want to use a name that made no money”?

We’re trying to do things a little different around here. I started working retail when I was 15 years old, and worked part-time in and out of the service industry until I went in to the entertainment industry for more than a decade. I revisited my retail background on the side during this time and I was fortunate enough to service a clientele that was impacting popular music of all genres all over the world. I quickly realized how satisfying it was to share my passion for unique and vintage musical instruments and music creation and deliver it to these people who were out there doing it.

The traditional retail model is not enough - it never was and it never will be. We want to get involved, to facilitate what our clients are seeking to accomplish in ways that go beyond a transaction. We seek to develop relationships that can yield positive results that grow and continue. We like to solve problems, big and small. We take pride in being a factor to someone’s success, not because of the desire for recognition, but because everything is better when people are out there doing cool shit.