CRESTVIEW — UpBeat Music owner Dick Reinlie says providing attentive, personalized services keeps his musical instruments store relevant in the Internet age.
A national industry magazine's recent recognition validates his business plan.
"We focus on the service more than the selling," Reinlie said. "That's the nature of the beast. You can buy instruments online. What the Internet can’t do, that’s what we try to do."
That service attracted the attention of Music Inc., a trade magazine that features the two-year-old Crestview business in its September issue.
"It's good to get recognized," Reinlie said. "It's good for the morale of the employees and our customers like it."
That doesn’t mean he’s has abandoned the Internet.
“Reinlie is leveraging the Internet with a more specific purpose: attracting local sales,” the Music Inc. article stated. “He’s steering online sales back to UpBeat Music and using the Web to catch the eyes of local business by paying for Google AdWords only within a 50-mile radius.”
IN THE TOP 100
UpBeat has been named a NAAM — National Association of Music Merchants — Top 100 Retailer both years it’s been opened. One judge, Kathleen Costanza, is also a writer for Music Inc., and thought the store's story would make interesting reading.
"I was surprised when I got a phone call from them," Reinlie said. "I said, 'Why us?'"
Music Inc. cited the shop's regionally targeted marketing and services including music lessons, instrument repair and community involvement as a business model other small-town music stores would find relevant.
One of the store's customers is Crestview student Austin Carrico, a Niceville High School freshman who takes trumpet lessons from UpBeat instructor Gérard Quiquerez and plays on the Eagle Pride band.
OUTREACH
"My teacher, Mr. Gérard, is excellent," Austin said. "I wouldn't be in the band without him."
The shop's community outreach includes helping launch a troop band for Crestview Boy Scout Troop 773, which in addition to Austin, includes several scouts who are also in the Crestview High School band.
Facilitating local band students' instrument ownership through a rent-to-own program — "In case they don't stick with it," Reinlie said — is another of the store's services.
And should a student damage an instrument, Lee Emerson, UpBeat's band repairs expert, is available.
"It's hard to completely ruin an instrument," Reinlie said. "But if you mangle it, we can put it back together."
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: UpBeat about Music: Crestview store receives trade recognition (VIDEO)