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When Don Ulrich decided to expand his Yenney Music store by opening a location in Centralia in 2005, he had no idea at the time that it would be a fortuitous decision in the years to come.
Ulrich saw that the Twin Cities area was growing and thought he could gain footing in an area that already had two other music stores at the time, including one that was run by a former employee of his. Plus, every pawn shop in the area also sold instruments. See, Ulrich was getting customers from this area traveling up to Olympia to rent instruments and equipment from him.
“There was a lot of competition but we did well because we had a good reputation from Olympia,” Ulrich said. “A lot of people down here knew us.”
His decision to expand paid off. Ulrich was forced to close his Olympia flagship store on May 29, 2020, because of the lack of business caused from the pandemic. He now solely operates the Centralia store on South Tower Avenue, changing the name from Yenney Music Centralia to Hub City Music & Sound in June.
“We didn’t need that name anymore and we wanted to rename it to make it feel like it’s more a part of this area,” Ulrich said.
It’s not the only thing that’s changed in the store. Ulrich and his employee, Travis Dietz, have been remodeling both the interior and the storefront. The front door, which used to be on the right of the storefront, is now located in the middle with a concave entrance and big windows on either side. Above the doorway and front windows are a dozen smaller, new windows to let light in; which is how the building used to be when it was first built.
Renting instruments and equipment is the reason Ulrich expanded to Centralia, and it’s still a huge part of Hub City Music & Sound’s business. Much of it comes from school kids needing to rent an instrument for band, but Ulrich said he gets a lot of adults, too, who maybe want to try learning something new but aren’t ready to commit to buying an instrument yet.
Hub City Music & Sound only rents band and orchestra instruments, along with PA system equipment and wireless mics for karaoke, weddings, etc. It does not rent guitars out yet, though Ulrich said he may make plans to do so in the future. There are a lot of parents who have kids who want to play guitar but are reluctant to spend money on something their kid may get bored with after a couple months, he said.
“If there are kids or people out there who want to learn how to play a trumpet or clarinet and want to rent an instrument, we’d rent to them,” Ulrich said. “We haven’t set up a rental system for guitars yet. I wouldn’t say we’d never do it, we just haven’t figured out a good way to do it.”
In addition to rentals, Hub City Music & Sound sells dozens of instruments, including a wide assortment of electric and acoustic guitars, violins, cellos and even electric pianos.
The company hasn’t been immune to the effects of the pandemic. It was forced to temporarily close in March, and in April was allowed to complete the construction work to the storefront. The business reopened for customers in May with curbside sales. On June 1, the business reopened for in-store customers, the same day it changed its name to Hub City Music & Sound.
“We just have people wear masks and we don’t let too many people in at once,” Ulrich said.
The amount of customers has dropped significantly, Ulrich said, mostly due to kids not being in school and participating in school band and orchestra. The good side of it is that keyboard, drum and guitar sales are doing well right now because more people are working from and staying at home now. Plus, most of the things people do for entertainment, such as visiting restaurants, bars and going to events, have all been canceled.
For anyone wanting to rent instruments but may be worried about the safety of using a used piece of equipment, Hub City Music & Sound is one of the few music stores in the state that has an ultrasonic cleaner for brass instruments. It used high-frequency pressure waves to knock free any liquid inside an instrument.
“It just blasts it out,” Ulrich said. “It’s amazing.
Ulrich also sanitizes the mouthpieces and shrink wraps them in plastic. Hub City Music & Sound is located at 113 S. Tower Ave. in Centralia. It can be reached by phone at 360-807-8940, or through Facebook messenger at facebook.com/yenneycentralia.
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Reporter Eric Trent can be reached at etrent@chronline.com. Visit chronline.com/business for more coverage of local businesses.
