By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Great Bend's downtown music store almost made it to its teen years. Dan Heath and Brian Bellendir opened A440 Musical Instruments, now at 1207 Main Street, in October 2011. The doors officially close for business this Friday, but Heath said past employees and the public are invited to a special Customer Appreciation Day on Saturday, Aug. 10, beginning at noon.
"Hopefully, folks will just show up to play guitar or sing a bit," he said. "We're going to have refreshments and door prizes and just say 'thank you' to the people who have kept us going for 13 years and 'goodbye.'"
The move to close the business has not been an easy one, but Heath called it a necessary one after longtime manager Lyle Jones moved out of the area.
"He'd been the manager here for six years, and he ran the show," Heath said. "Brian and I are just not really wanting to do it. Finding somebody that's young and energetic and knows music, people, retail, and repairs, that person just doesn't exist. We were lucky to have him but he has moved on to greener pastures."
Heath said some people his age will simply buy a Corvette during their mid-life crisis. For him, it was opening a music store. He and Bellendir played in a band together, and Bellendir saved money by learning how to repair instruments. The passion for music turned into a business.
"It's been awesome getting musicians started," said Heath. "That's been our thing is putting instruments into the hands of kids and people wanting to learn. We've been doing that for a long time. It's going to be really sad not being here, and it's going to be kind of hard on folks because now they're going to have to count on out-of-towners to take care of it. We just don't have it in us anymore. Hopefully, somebody will pick it up. It was a good business."
A440 continues to liquidate its merchandise with sales of 40-50 percent off all merchandise. The store will remain open today and Friday from noon to 5 p.m. The sale will continue on Customer Appreciation Day.