ABC Music Finds a New Home in Downtown Benicia

Before moving to its new location at First and H streets in downtown Benicia, Stan Houston and wife Marianne had owned and operated for four years in the Southampton Shopping Center.

The store serves as a music academy, an instrument repair shop and a retailer of instruments, sheet music and musical equipment such as amplifiers and guitar strings.

Students range in age from grade schoolers to adults learning everything from violin to percussion — even didgeridoo is not out of the question. 

Like many businesses, the store suffered in the soft economy. “Music is not as strong as it used to be,” says Houston. After months of trying to negotiate a smaller space and reduce their rent in the Southampton Center, the Houstons gave up.

They began searching for other locations — no easy feat since a new location had some prerequisites. There could not be an upstairs neighbor because of the noise from the music academy. A large window was needed and the space had to be smaller and less expensive than the Southampton location.

After a six-month search, the perfect spot was found and on April 1, the Houstons moved their store to downtown Benicia. They share the block with , s and  and that stretch of First Street is becoming a hotspot for youth activities.

Not only did the new location lower the rent by 60 percent, it improved the business's exposure. “Downtown people shop the old-fashioned way, they stroll with no predetermined reason to shop,” Houston says. “They are in relaxed mode, going from store to store.”

Compare that to Southampton shoppers who are on a mission to buy something specific. Most businesses there, including  and , are destinations.

Houston says he has plenty of longtime Benicia residents discovering his store for the first time. 

They tell me, 'I didn't know we had a music store,' he says. 

The couple enjoy their new neighborhood. Houston already knew many First Street business owners from his five-year stint as executive director of the Downtown Asset Management Program for the city of Benicia.

The move has been a good one for ABC Music on many levels. Marianne suggested changing the interior to a more mature color scheme of white and ecru with black accents, which matches the store front. The shop is now light, bright and airy. “It feels like a music store now,” says Houston.   

With right across the street offering live music every weekend, perhaps we'll start to see ABC's students in action.