Elderly Instruments
“We need to make a living, and we need to sell things, but we find that if 
If we said you could visit a music store that filled three entire connec ted buildings encompassing 35,000 square feet and holding over 5000 musical instruments in their inventory, would you want to go there? Then beat a path to Elderly instruments! As a Deering Master Dealer they have a minimum of 30 different Deering banjos and at least 10 goodtime banjos but their entire inventory of over 5000 musical instruments includes banjos, guitars, mandolins, fiddles, Appalachian and hammer dulcimers, autoharps, and exotic instruments like the Stroh violin and harmoniums, which, we were told, are a type of pump organ. There is an entire ROOM filled with instructional material and recordings. You can add to this a repair and setup department with 10 full time employees who work on fret ted instruments. You need not have purchased your fret ted instrument there to use their expertise.
The name itself, “Elderly Instruments”, intrigued us, so I asked how it came about. When Stan and his friend first star ted the business, they were two young people fresh out of college in their early 20’s. They chose to begin buying older instruments…elderly instruments…and thus the name was born!
Stan, a New York City native, is a man with a great sense of humor. When asked how long it took to feel as if Elderly Instruments was going to “make it”, he replied, “Hey, it took 25 years for any email to come in!” The first year brought initial satisfaction and people were hearing about them and visiting, but, he continues “…although we were quite small to begin with, we were always in growth mode, which never feels like you have gotten to where you hope to go…” But, the customers’ response speaks loudly, and today “We tend to be a destination store for a lot of people…” Their location is in the Old Town section of Lansing, an area of the city which was the site of the original State Capitol building until the 1870’s, is being currently re-vitalized. Stan says “…although location is not that important to our business, it’s really nice when out-of-towners come by and can enjoy some of the other unique businesses in our area.”
Starting in 1971 with older instruments, the store inventory expanded to “new as well as used instruments and banjos were always important to us.” So, why Deering banjos? “Deering is the only company that carries great instruments for beginners and true professionals. They have wonderful bluegrass banjos as well as open back, not to mention 6-string banjos and electric banjos. We want our customers to know that they can get whatever they want here, and for banjos, Deering fills that bill better than any other company…Great workmanship, reliability and sound, as well as top value for the money spent. They also cover a huge range of prices, so there is something for everyone. Deering really knows banjos, that’s pretty much all they do, and it shows.”
Customer awareness is paramount to the continued success of any business. What has Elderly Instruments used to bring about 35 years of growth? “We do a lot of direct mail advertising, sending catalogs to our customer list, as well as periodic offers. We try to direct all our customers (both local and out-of-town) to our web site, since we can best represent there the breadth of our offerings. The great thing about the web, after being in the mail order via catalog business since 1975 is that we can provide close up photos and detailed info about an item.
For banjos specifically, we try to keep a presence in all the banjo, bluegrass, and folk magazines, as well as select web advertising. Locally, we do some billboard advertising as well.” Stan says that attendance at the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchandisers) trade shows “is essential for them to make direct contact with many of our suppliers, as well as to find new ones.” And, it was at a 1974 Chicago NAMM show that Stan first met Janet and Greg Deering. Elderly Instruments is one of the Deering Banjo Company’s oldest dealers to this very day.
Again, with his wry sense of humor, Stan tells us the changes the store itself has undergone over the years. “When we ren ted our first space, there was shag carpeting everywhere. Remarkably, I don’t think we bothered with a vacuum cleaner for a couple of years. What can I say---it was the 1970’s, and all the dirt and old strings would just hide in the shag carpet. And we used to construct “pegboard” walls to hang instruments from. It was pretty basic, ‘kinda’ dirty, and not great looking. But it was cheap and functional.” That first location was in a building filled with lots of small shops. They eventually took over the entire bottom floor and the inventory filled the aisles to “elbow room” tightness. Today, visitors are trea ted to a very different picture. “We’ve gone from that to slat wall, nice carpeting (…and I bet they even vacuum now!), store displays and so on, and we’re real glad we did. Most people who are going to buy a musical instrument nowadays are of course going to be more comfortable in a clean and attractive environment. And it’s a lot more pleasant for us to be around too.”
Cynthia Bridge, a long time employee and the purchaser at Elderly Instruments, gives us even greater detail on their growth. They eventually moved from that East Lansing location to an “old Odd Fellows building oozing with charm” in the Old Town section of Lansing, MI. Soon they outgrew this building and had bought the one next door to accommodate the overflow and they had them connec ted. The showroom actually is loca ted in the original Odd Fellows building. This kind of growth is a testament to the strong focus on customer care that is a trademark of Elderly Instruments.
Deering Banjo Company prides itself on good dealer support with catalog inserts, website listings, phone referrals, etc. Has that helped Elderly? “Your excellent advertising really supports us. I just happened to look through Banjo Newsletter yesterday and saw at least 3 Deering ads! We always appreciate referrals. And of course, the fine and friendly staff,” says Cynthia Bridge, the purchaser Elderly Instruments. Stan chimes in saying, “…they’ve got great people working there who take care of their customers!”
The world of biochemistry’s loss has been the musical business world’s gain! Stan says “When I realized I did not want to be a biochemist after all I dropped out of graduate school and, with a friend, we star ted ted in those days,” Stan quips. He continued, “And in the music business it certainly helps to both play and know something about the instruments. When we star ted I could play banjo and guitar plus a little of other instruments, and there was a sharp learning curve to pick up details of construction and repair. Then it was also necessary to learn how to run a business—deal with suppliers, keep books of some sort, find out where the suppliers were, and so on.” looking for old instruments.” But the “rigors of graduate school may have made running a business a bit easier,” he says. “A general sense of orderliness is very helpful. It also helps to be good in math since calculators barely exis
From the young New York City high school boy who was inspired by the Clancy Brothers, Tommy Makem, Pete Seeger, Pete Wer nick, Bill Vernon, WBAI radio, and the entire Greenwich Village folk scene, Stan Werbin has grown into a successful music dealer of over 35 years. Combine this with an employee roster of 100 plus total employees ( a good number of whom have 20+ and 10 to 15 + years of experience), and 15-20 teachers, those who visit Elderly Instruments in charming Old Town East Lansing, MI, are in for the time of their life!
