slightly worried about making ends meet as it was, so why not go out on our own, start our own business and see where it takes us.” Almost four years later, Recycled Rock and Roll in Rancho Cucamonga, Califor- nia, has become the neighborhood spot for quirky, vintage music-themed clothing and jewelry, B&O repairs, used gear and even a monthly open mic night. Arika, Sean’s wife, who also worked at Sam Ash Music, transformed her success selling vintage and music-related items on eBay into stock for Recycled Rock and Roll, while Sean leveraged connections he made at Sam Ash to strengthen the store’s school instrument repair business. Today, Sean repairs instruments for some 30 different schools in the Rancho Cucamonga area. “There’s the school instrument busi- ness and then we also have all the private customers who bring their instruments in for repair,” Sean said, adding that the growth of the repairs business has been all “grassroots.” “When we opened the shop, I had three different school accounts,” Sean contin- ued. “A few schools came to us because they were recommended from some of the teachers, and we found a few by setting up little booths at different festivals. We also had some schools find us because they were looking around and trying to find somebody to handle their repairs. So, the repair business grew from all kinds of dif- ferent sources.” A RETRO FLAIR From vintage band tees to used acoustic guitars to music-themed art adorning the walls, Recycled Rock and Roll is truly a funky shop where music fans can geek out. “I opened my second eBay store when I worked at Sam Ash around 2004,” Arika said. “On my downtime I would be posting eBay stuff, and I ended up making double what I was making.”
Sean and Arika Armendariz, who both worked at Sam Ash Music, turned their eBay side gig into Recycled Rock and Roll, a brick-and-mortar shop in Rancho Cucamonga, California, that specializes in vintage music-themed items and B&O repairs. The Side-Hustlers BY KATIE KAILUS Sean and Arika Armendariz
I n early 2021, after 15 cumulative years as a Sam Ash Music employee, Sean Ar- mendariz was facing a tough decision: take a hefty COVID-induced pay cut as the general manager of Sam Ash’s Puente Hills, California, location or turn his wife’s
eBay side-hustle — and partner it with his own repair expertise — to start a business of his own. “We thought, ‘we might as well try go- ing out on our own,’” Sean recalled. “The pay cut was the final catalyst. We were
40 I MUSIC INC. I MAY 2025
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