Today we’d like to introduce you to Steve Jones.
Steve, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’ve been a musician for a long time but I was also an I.T. guy. I worked at Compaq for 13 years. Hoped it would be the last job I ever had. Then I was laid off. I had friends that owned a Pawnshop/music store. More pawn than music. They asked me if I wanted to help out during the Christmas season. I had no real job prospects at the time so I figured I would give it a try. I really enjoyed being around the music. I found that they didn’t know a lot about some aspects of the products they sold: P.A. demos were not really hooked up correctly and a few other things. I get a little geeky on things that I’m into. Other than that, I just followed orders for a while.
As I got comfortable I started to do more merchandising and presenting more of my own ideas and I just stayed. As the music section grew we expanded the building and we had a great musical rep that suggested that we do something more to distinguish the fact that we are a serious music store, not just a pawn shop. So we named the music store Kat’s Guitars and changed the front of the store to make it almost look like it was 2 separate businesses. Then we began to advertise Kat’s Guitars. We also expanded the store some more, adding a second floor, all music.
By this time I had become the guy in charge of Kat’s Guitars and pretty much free rein to purchase the products I wanted. Eventually becoming the manager and buyer. I did a lot of reading about what was hot and combined with things we were already doing well, guitar repairs and upgrades, and it started to come together. We formed our own identity. We needed some things to make us stand out over the big box chain stores like Guitar Center. So we upped our stock of parts.
For example, we stock over 400 guitar pickups. Other stores may stock 20 or less. Then I saw that guitar pedals were hot. There are so many out there. So upped that to a few hundred as well. And then we became the exclusive dealer for many brands in the Houston area. So if you wanted to try one you had to come here. And that’s another thing, we encourage our customers to try them. You can’t do that online. So we are not just competing with Guitar Centers but big online sellers as well. But nothing beats being able to try stuff before you buy it. And we work really hard to be price competitive as well.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We still have a huge sign out front that says AllPawn, with a slightly smaller one that says Kat’s Guitar below it. We share the LED sign with AllPawn. The problem is that many people still drive by us on their way to Guitar Center because they don’t believe there is a real music store here. Every other day a person comes in for the first time and sees hundreds of new and used instruments, parts and accessories and their jaw drops. They can’t believe it. They tell us they still thought it was just a pawn shop with maybe 4 or 5 rusty stringed guitars hanging in here. They just didn’t feel like driving any further and they hoped we might at least have some guitar strings or drumsticks. They become regulars from that moment on. And they tell their friends. That is a struggle for us all the time. We know if we can just get people in here once that they will be customers for life.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Kat’s Guitars – what should we know?
We work harder to keep customers. We do something called a setup on every guitar we put on display. We basically make them play better than they do from the factory. Normally a setup would cost you around $40-75. We offer that service but also do that to every guitar. No other music store that we know of does that.
So when you pick one off the rack, it plays and feels better than the same guitar from somewhere else, especially online. We also have several employees that have been here for years and know what they are talking about. Some other big stores around here have constant turnover. Very little experience. We even have band and orchestra equipment. We do lessons for several instruments. We repair amps as well as guitars. We’ll help set up and design your pedalboard.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
It’s still customer service. You can’t please everyone but we try really hard. And uniqueness. The big chains may have a few more drum kits or something like that but when it comes to parts. upgrades and accessories, no one else is close. Tubes to keep your tube amp running we stock a lot so you don’t have to order online and wait for them.
Pricing:
- Guitar setups starting at $40
- Pickup installs for a pair of pickups: $40
Contact Info:
- Address: 25907 Interstate 45
Spring, Texas 77380 - Website: katsguitars.com
- Phone: 281-363-2110
- Email: info@katsguitars.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KatsAdmin/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/katsguitars1
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
