SHINE A LIGHT
Backstage Takes Centerstage Backstage Music 115 Highway 12 West Starkville, MS 39759 (662) 323-3824 www.backstagemusic.com Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Allen McBroom, Partner/Grand Imagineer
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By Michelle Loeb When businessman Allen McBroom first started shopping at north Mississippi music store Backstage Music in 1980, it had been approximately two years since founders Jim Beaty and Bruce “Bird” Crain, both bass players, opened up their guitar shop in a shopping center next to a record store. “The two stores actually shared a door that connected the two businesses,” explained McBroom. “A customer could walk into one business, shop, mill around, and then move into the other business. Since one business’ focus was vaguely related to the other store’s focus, it wasn’t a bad coexistence.” The store focused on guitar, bass and drums at the time. Gibson, Takamine and Pearl were the first large brands willing to give a chance to two recent college graduates with no business experience. McBroom would soon add his own years of business acumen to the mix when he became Backstage Music’s third partner. “I would like to come into the store and hang around, and after a while, I approached Jim and I asked him to sell me the business. He said ‘no’ but offered to make me a partner,” recalled McBroom. McBroom has a long background as a business manager; he ran his first business when he was 14 years old — a dairy bar at a recreational lake. “That’s when I found out how easy it is to not make money,” he said, jokingly. Since then, he has worked in a variety of industries ranging from restaurants to garment factories to radio stations to hospitals. It’s those experiences that he draws upon when setting the tone for Backstage Music’s customer service. “In the hospital, I dealt with people who had to have what it was they were paying for, and we had to work out the business end any way we could to get them better so they could go back to work,” said McBroom. “The music industry isn’t that way. Customers will get something because they’ve always wanted to try it or because it was cool. But I try to look at them the same way as I did those who had no choice,” he continued. “If they have a desire, then something inside them is saying that they need that. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be here. So, I try to make that happen for them.” That philosophy applies not only to in-store sales, which are handled by a staff of “three and a half,” according to McBroom, but also to the AV contracting, MI repairs, PA rentals, band instruMAY 2020