LEARNING FROM THE MASTERS Sean said he and Arika applied many valu- able lessons from their past retail experience when opening Recycled Rock and Roll. “As far as running the business at Sam Ash, it was a great group of people and a great company to work for, however we didn’t receive a huge amount of actual training or prep,” Sean said. “So, a lot of the stuff we learned how to do, we just had to kind of figure out on-the-fly — which, honestly, I think is one of the best ways to learn. You get to be very hands-on right from the start. I think it makes you learn a lot quicker, and inadvertently helped us prepare for running our own business. Not to mention, working in retail, we had a lot of side gigs to help make ends meet. That also very much prepped us to be hustlers.” Sean and Arika said they both hope to see Recycled Rock and Roll continue to grow — especially thanks to the suc- cess of its popular open mic nights, which have transformed into a monthly can’t-miss event that now includes local food and goods vendors.
Some 20 years later, Arika has expanded Recycled Rock and Roll’s offerings to in- clude art and jewelry from up-and-coming artists around the world. “I source products from all over,” Arika explained. “I have a girl who makes custom bags and hats, so no one else has them. I try to get one-of-a-kind things. I just re- cently contacted another artist that does atomic art, and I’m trying to get some of her prints in the store. Right now, we have a guy from London that does sketch art of famous artists.” Also gracing the showroom’s displays are some of Sean’s own unique creations, crafted out of instruments that were beyond repair. His first design? A lamp made out of a broken guitar that couldn’t be fixed. “We’ve also made necklaces and other items by recycling pieces of instruments that could not be fixed,” Sean said. “For example, we sell necklaces that feature keys from old woodwind instruments, like flutes and clarinets. Those are a hit when it comes to holiday gifts for music teachers or musicians.”
“We started the open mic nights shortly after we opened up the storefront,” Sean explained. “We used to have them right here in the shop. We would move all of the clothing racks and store furniture to the side walls of the showroom, and we’d have a big 25% off sale in-store that same night — which we still do. Lately, we’ve had to move the actual open mic portion of the event to the church about four doors down because they were get- ting too crowded inside of the shop. They are continuing to grow each month, and I think we might have to keep looking for bigger spaces.” Above all else, the Armendariz’s said they’ve enjoyed turning their side hustle into a local haven for musicians and music lovers in their community. “We have so many people come into the store and say, ‘This is my favorite store. I’m so coming back.’ It’s really fun,” Arika said. “It’s great because we can talk music all day, operate our business how we want and not have to worry about someone over our heads. It’s more fun to be us.” MI
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