A COMMUNITY IN HARMONY When Brad Boynton envisioned a new life for the building that housed his drum shop Rhythm Traders, it planted the seed for something bigger: the MLK Music Mall. The Portland, Oregon-based destination, which turns one this month, now houses three MI businesses under one roof — Hank’s Music Exchange, Eastside Guitar Repair and Rhythm Traders. In an era when many indies are leaning heavily into digital, these businesses have found success by doubling down on what makes brick-and-mortar so special: a vibrant community. WORDS BY Katie Kailus PHOTOS BY Fritz Liedtke I n 2023, Brad Boynton, owner of Rhythm
forward-looking: a collaborative music hub where MI businesses could thrive together. “We realized we didn’t need all that space,” Boynton explained. “We were making do with shorter hours, leaner staff and smaller inven- tory. We learned you don’t need 20 different cowbells or 50 djembes to make the sale. These days customers do their research online and often know what they want before coming in. Supplier websites are great for this. So, we downsized our footprint and created ad- ditional retail space next door.”
Traders, recognized that maintaining a 6,000-square-foot drum shop in the Port- land, Oregon, building he owned was no longer an efficient business model. The oversized space wasn’t driving sales or giving him a competitive advantage against online retail- ers and big-box chains. So, Boynton made the strategic decision to cut his retail footprint in half. But the move wasn’t simply about reducing overhead. It was about reallocating space to build something more sustainable and
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