The beat has gone on for more than 30 years, but it’s time for Kent and Sheryl Smith to take a rest.
The Timaru couple have owned Newman’s MusicWorks since February 1993, but at the end of this month , they will close the doors of their Stafford St store for good.
Mr Smith will continue his work as a piano tuner and instrument repairer from a home-based workshop, but the decision marks the end of the brick-and-mortar retail store.
The business has been part of Mr Smith’s life since he left Timaru Boys’ High School in 1970 to work for Newman’s Pianos as an apprentice piano tuner with Steve Newman.
Established in 1952 by Mr Newman’s father, the business had operated on the opposite side of lower Stafford St, at No 92, before it moved further north to No 272, the current site of clothing retailer Glassons.
When Mr Newman and his partner Betty Manning decided it was time to retire, the recorded music side of the business was taken over by local retailer Chapters and Verses, and Mr and Mrs Smith purchased the remainder — musical instruments, sheet music and piano tuning and instrument repairs.
With pianos still the mainstay of the business, the couple opened at 117 Stafford St.
‘‘Those were the days when a piano was pretty much all you could get.
‘‘We’d have six to 10 pianos on display, so we needed to find somewhere affordable, of a reasonable size.’’
The electronic organ boom came along, also requiring significant amounts of space for display, as well as space for strings, brass, woodwind and percussion instruments.
‘‘We had a display of all other instruments, but pianos and organs took up a good half of the shop.
‘‘You can’t give them away now, but in those days, every house would have had a piano.
‘‘Instruments like guitars and ukuleles were certainly not as popular on the scale they are now.’’
The popularity of different instruments ebbs and flows, sometimes depending on popular music, other times for as prosaic a reason as who is available to teach.
‘‘Guitars are our main selling item at the moment. A guitar is affordable, you can get one for under $200.’’
To the likely relief of many parents, ukuleles also took over from the recorder as the primary school mass instrument of choice.
Along with learning piano from the legendary Rita Minehan, Mr Smith has been a trombonist since he was just 8 at Waimataitai School.
He said he would love to have a shop full of brass instruments — but they last a long time, so they, along with woodwind instruments, turn over at a much slower rate.
Sheet music was a mainstay of the business; Mrs Smith said that at one time they had the biggest selection in New Zealand.
Now, it was a quarter of that, with most music purchased today teaching and exam books.
One of the biggest changes however, has been the rise of the internet, Mr Smith said.
‘‘First it gave the buying public a better knowledge base of what they are doing, they can research things on their own — but it’s also created the big shop in the sky.
‘‘The younger generation don’t want to come to a store, they want to shop at home, online with a credit card.’’
Covid-19, tougher economic times, and even the recent u-turn by the Timaru District Council on plans to revive the Theatre Royal have factored in to the couple’s decision to take a breath.
‘‘I’m very disappointed with the council’s attitude towards the Theatre Royal — if we had a vibrant theatre, it would lead to other things happening.’’
The highlights of operating for so long have been selling a few grand pianos around the region, having a child come in to get their first instrument, doing an emergency string replacement or even selling a guitar pick.
‘‘That’s what’s going to be hard — it’s not selling the big stuff, it’s all the little things that people are now not going to be able to have access to.’’
Music will remain a big part of the Smiths’ life.
Mrs Smith retired from Alpine Energy Timaru Brass about six years ago and now plays bowls instead of brass.
Mr Smith is still playing, and served 21 years as president, as well as being musical director for the Bay City Big Band.
Focusing on piano tuning and instrument repairs will be easier now there is not a shop to staff for five and a-half days each week — the couple usually took just one week off a year — so the freedom from retail will be welcome.
‘‘I’ll miss the people coming in, and doing the little jobs, like someone dropping off a guitar and being able to come back in half an hour and I’ve got it good to go.
‘‘It hasn’t been a moneymaking venture, it’s been a lifestyle, and I’d like to thank everyone who has supported us over the last 31 and a-half years.’’
