By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY
Salina Post
Seeing a need, Steve Hanson took a chance and opened a music store. Fifty years later, S.M. Hanson Music is still going strong!
And, 50 years later, the music store at 335 S. Clark Street remains a Hanson family business, as Steve's son, Rick, now serves as CEO and president of the business.
The origin of S.M. Hanson Music
The story about how the store got started varies a bit, depending on whether you talk with Steve or Rick.
"There was a need for it and I talked to enough musicians, that we decided we needed to open a music store and took a chance," Steve said.
Rick, however, provided a bit more insight about opening the store.
"The Christmas before the store opened, we ran out of room in the basement for the guitars, and all of the drum sets, and that stuff, because that's really where it started," Rick said. "We had product in the basement of our family home. And so the next Christmas, you know, it was like, 'well here's the plan.'"
Steve said they got a Small Business Administration loan and built the building on S. Clark Street.
"We did all the inside work in the building, built the walls and they've changed many times over the years," Steve said. "My partner at the time taught me how to frame walls, so that's what we did."
Steve said that his experience with guitars and his discussions with other musicians about what they needed were key to getting the business off the ground. Also, it was vital to secure a dealership from a company that would trust the new store to "do a good job with their product," he said.
"That was really hard to do because you're starting out and don't have a reputation at all," Steve said. "So we found a couple of companies that we could order from and started from there with kind of generic brands and then built into what Rick's put in today: Martin guitars and a lot of Fender and Gretsch."
"I think also, in the experience that he talks about, working at one of the other stores as an instructor for several years, seeing the lack of interest in that store supporting guitars and maybe a little bit of the rock and roll side of it because they focused on band instruments, I think that sort of drove some of the need also," Rick said. "So it's understanding the need or finding a niche where you can start plugging the hole."
When the store opened, Steve already had a network of guitar players. That network was heavily populated with his students.
"That helped build the business, of course," Steve said.
Additionally, Steve had been playing in bands himself and knew a number of musicians and their music needs.
The clientele
Over the years, S.M. Hanson Music has served tens of thousands of people, according to Rick.
"Early on, it was local people and people from western Kansas. We were open on Tuesday and Thursday nights until 9, and there were many nights that Steve and Dean were still teaching come 9:30-10 o'clock, and I had customers in the store that were from Colby and Goodland and Norton. Those guys would get off work at 4:30 or 5 o'clock and drive in, so obviously, we're going to hang around and help them get what they need," Rick said.
Customers from throughout the region continue to drive in to shop at the store.
As bands traveling through heard about the store, business continued to pick up.
"Now that we ship stuff, and with the website, we're shipping stuff to both coasts on a pretty regular basis," Rick said.
Growing the merchandise base
When the store opened, the focus was mainly on guitars, but over the years, the variety of products offered grew.
"Our main focus was guitars, electric and acoustic, and some banjos. We had some percussion, but it was mainly guitars," Steve said.
Rick said that when the store opened, synthesizers were just becoming popular, as were electronic pianos.
"Steve and one of the associates here, Don, went back to Boston to the ARP factory, and for a time, between St. Louis and Denver, this store in Salina, Kansas, was the only store that was an ARP synthesizer dealer. And we had two people that were factory trained," Rick said.
The business then grew into also selling sound systems.
Despite the increased variety of products over the years, guitars remain the most popular.
"As a department of instruments, it certainly is," Rick said. "There are some other areas, such as the big digital pianos, that have grown substantially. Back in the mid-80s, I sold the first piano lab to K-State University; a Yamaha teaching lab with all Clavinovas. Of course, we've done installations since early in the '70s, and that's been an up-and-down type of business, but at any point, one installation comes in and that's the biggest ticket for the month."
Christmas gifts
Through the years, starter guitar kits and beginner-level acoustic guitars have proved to be popular Christmas gifts purchased at S.M. Hanson Music.
"This time of the year, we'll have packages that are really aimed at giving that first-time student, whether it's a youth or young adult or adult a good chance of learning how to play," Rick said.
Music lessons
Ever the music teacher, Steve still gives guitar lessons, and both guitar and percussion lessons are offered through the store.
"This store still gives guitar lessons and percussion lessons. Dean Kranzler's (percussion) been here 50 years, 50 and a half years," Steve said.
Bass, banjo, and piano lessons also are offered.
Rick said the best way to sign up for lessons is to go to the store's website (smhansonmusic.com), click on the "Lessons" link, and fill out the form.
Why guitars?
Steve attributes his passion for guitars to the King of Rock and Roll and other performers of that era.
"I heard Elvis Presley. There were bands back then: Gene Vincent, Elvis, Bill Haley and the Comets, and I remember doing a band contest at what is now the Stiefel Theatre at that time. We were doing Bill Haley and that kind of music," Steve said.
He also remembers going into a local establishment that had a jukebox and playing the same Carl Perkins song over and over.
While playing with a number of bands over the years, Steve now focuses his talents on playing at churches at Christmastime and at the Smoky Hill River Festival and its musical kick-off, Festival Jam.
"I still look forward to that for sure. Festival Jam that Rick and I created 36 years ago is the biggest showcase in the country. You can't help but love being backstage with 105 or 110 musicians that come in to play for Festival Jam."