“What keeps customers coming back is that they trust our expertise, our pricing and our motivation for being in business,” Boynton added. “If we abuse that trust, we’ve lost them as customers.”
Lynn said that dealers who don’t “fit into” that camaraderie mindset, don’t often last long in the Portland retail scene. “The stores that get chewed up by Port- land are the ones that aren’t nice, that put
go to Rhythm Traders or take lessons and play guitar. We’re still growing and doing more remodeling. I’m picking up a couple new brands, and I’d like to have twice as much inventory a year from now, at least with guitars and pedals.” For Lynn’s part, he said he hopes to grow his business outside of Portland and start advertising in Los Angeles and San Francisco where he sees repair deserts. “I also want to start making guitars again,” Lynn said of his former side hustle. “After repairing guitars for so long, you see what you like in a guitar and what makes one function well. I’ve had customers request handmade instruments from me several times, and I need to take the plunge.” For Boynton, he said the MLK Music Mall is bigger than any one of the owners. “I hope that our little Music Mall acts as a seed that causes other music industry busi- nesses to locate nearby so that we can really become a regional destination,” Boynton said. “There are already dozens of music venues within a mile radius of us, so if we can add to that with more recording studios, rehearsal spaces, band instrument rentals and retail businesses, then we really will have done something special.” MI
“What I love about our setup is that we’re all in completely different lanes but still music-related.” — Brad Boynton, owner of Rhythm Traders
THE FUTURE OF THE MLK MUSIC MALL Despite the MLK Music Mall just now pass- ing the one-year mark, Boynton, Failing and Lynn are already looking towards the next few years. “Since we moved here, we get three or four new customers every day,” Failing said. “A lot of them are neighborhood people who
profit above all else and they don’t last,” Lynn said. “I want to be profitable, but before that, I want to make sure the music community here is thriving. I’m not going to do well at the expense of my customers.” Failing said that longterm, businesses that are honest and trustworthy in their dealings always yield repeat business.
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