Canadian Music Trade - February/March 2018 | Página 21

STEVE’S
MUSIC
TIMELINE
May 15, 1965 – Steve’s Music Montreal opens at 51 St-Antoine St. West
October 30, 1977 – Steve’s Music Toronto opens at 415 Queen St. West
April 1, 1981 – Steve’s Music Ottawa opens at 308 Rideau St.
December 2013 – Steve’s Music Greenfield Park opens at 100 Ave. Auguste
December 2014 – Steve’s Music Dollard-des-Ormeaux opens at 61 Brunswick Blvd.
October 2017 – Steve’s Music’s new Montreal location opens at 150 Ste-Catherine St. East
it was hands on and felt like I was testing
out gear in an environment not too much
removed from the sometimes grotty bars
where I’d use that gear live. To be sure, that’s
a compliment, not a criticism. I loved that
store without reservation, and I’m certainly
not alone among performing musicians.
The Montreal property Steve’s had long
inhabited was sold to a condo developer in
2012. “To make a long story short,” Kirman
says, “there was a developer that bought the
property. Then the province put a freeze on
(that) to try to stop the development.”
Ultimately, the government expro-
priated the premises for the purpose of a
potential expansion of the nearby Palais
des Congrès. Steve’s was notified of this in
March 2017. “As a result, we had to find an-
other place to do what we do best – what
we’ve been doing for the past 52 years at
the old location, but if it didn’t happen now,
it would have happened a year or two from
now,” Kirman adds.
“Obviously, a lot of my emotions, blood,
sweat, tears, and efforts have been put
into this location,” says Sheldon Sazant, the
general manager of Steve’s Montreal. Sazant
began his career at Steve’s as a part-time
employee in 1978, moving boxes up in the
warehouse, and essentially grew up in the
store. The move has understandably been
an emotional experience for Sazant and
some of his longtime colleagues – especially
Michael Kirman.
“A lot of my dad’s experience is in
this [old] building,” Kirman shares candidly.
“We’re trying to get the spirit of that into
the new business. We’re trying to keep our
heritage, but we’re also definitely looking
towards the future.”
bit of surprise and panic, but having said
that, it was also enlightening and exhilarat-
ing. Obviously the family had two choices
– close the business, or continue. Thankfully,
they chose to continue the business and the
legacy of the store, and hopefully we’ll be at
this new location for another 52 years.
“It was a mix of emotions,” Sazant tacks
on, “but we embraced the challenge.”
In looking for new digs, the criteria
were to find something downtown and
relatively close to the previous store, easily
accessible via public transit and local high-
ways, and boasting an overall footprint akin
to that of its longtime location. “I didn’t want
to shrink the business and I also wanted to
modernize it, and have a little more of an
open concept,” Kirman shares. “Just finding
something here that’s 10,000-square-feet is
almost impossible,” he says – but they did.
Taking over the new space when it
was essentially a concrete shell provided
them the opportunity to work closely with a
Montreal-based design firm, Loda Design, to
create a retail experience that, though up-
dated for a new generation, still maintains
the cherished environment and vibe of the
previous store. “We brought in the photos
we had in the old store,” Sazant explains – “a
cash register Steve started his first business
with, and we’re going to display photos of
the old store so that people have that nos-
talgic vibe.”
Loda specializes in retail, he explains,
and Steve’s Music’s contact there is actually
a musician and a store customer. “So they
understood the business and spent a lot
of time doing research to ensure we’re
preserving the feel of the old store in a new
environment,” Kirman notes.
The key to the design was balancing
those elements – creating an open concept
feel and providing a more efficient and
pleasurable shopping experience without
sacrificing the familiarity and character that
has made Steve’s a go-to for musicians of all
kinds for so many years.
Totaling nearly 10,000 sq. ft. over two floors,
the usable retail space in the new store is
similar to that at St-Antoine. On Ste-Cath-
erine St., they have a roughly 200-sq. ft.
warehouse, but the main office and the vast
majority of the warehouse space have been
relocated to their distribution centre and
central warehouse on the West Island.
Even after the Ste-Catherine St. loca-
tion had opened, Steve’s was still using its
previous locations for rentals, service, and
liquidation services until the expropriation
was formally complete.
Ultimately, the Ste-Catherine St. space
The new store, located at 150 Ste-Catherine
St. East, officially opened in October 2017
and, although it’s been a big change with
its fair share of frustrations and emotions,
both Kirman and Sazant see the move as a
tremendous opportunity.
Sazant says his initial reaction upon re-
alizing the move was necessary was: “A little
CANADIAN MUSIC TRADE • 21