inviting and homey for all who enter. “The store has a very light feeling to it, and our customers say they are very comfortable here,” said Berry. “They trust us and they love to come here.” In addition to various areas selling keyboards, PAs, band instruments, sheet music and guitars, the store is lined with glass rooms where customers can try out instruments. To maintain a community feel, customers cannot only see inside those rooms but also hear them. “It’s a music store, not a library. So, it’s a cacophony of sound. Our customers make it lively,” said Berry. The store currently operates with a staff of 10, as well as 24 teachers who teach approximately 700 students per week. In addition, the store is active with the local schools and families, helping to fund the Fremont Afterschool Program that was a response to band program budget cuts, as well as repairing donated instruments to give to children who can’t afford their own. Allegro Music’s fully staffed band-and-orchestra repair department is something that Berry has really focused on over the last six years, along with the rental program. “I think we have the best band-and-orchestra repair shop in the Bay Area,” said Berry. “People come from all over to see us and get their repairs done.” Through programs and services like these, as well as participation in community events, memorable TV commercials and a robust social media presence, Allegro Music has remained a key part of the music-making community not only in Fremont but in the entire Bay Area, servicing an area that houses upwards of 300,000 people. Through it all, the one constant that has held everything together has been the steady leadership of Charlotte Jansky. “Charlotte is the rock of Allegro,” said Berry. “She doesn’t think of herself as a woman business owner. She just thinks of herself as a business owner, and that’s how it should be. I get more upset when people just assume I’m the owner because I’m MUSIC & SOUND RETAILER
a man, even though she is a professional-looking woman, but Charlotte cares more about the customers and she enables those around her to run their departments and do their jobs. It’s like a family here,” he concluded, “and it has been a great way to spend my life to work here.”
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