On downtowns and downturns On downtowns and downturns (January 13, 2006)

By Don Frances

I'VE BEEN on the market for a new guitar for a while -- an acoustic with a pick-up, maybe a built-in tuner. So on a recent lunch hour as I walked down Castro Street, and noticed the "Going out of business sale" sign out front of Sonica Music Co. I stepped inside to look around.

There I found Mike Macgirvin, owner of the store, standing behind the counter and looking unhappy. The place was bustling. Nobody wants you when you're down and out -- unless you're holding a liquidation sale.

I asked Macgirvin when the store was closing. "I don't know," he said. I asked if he had an acoustic with a pick-up.

Alas, there was only one: a beautiful Crafter that was out of my price range, even after the markdown. I bought a couple packs of strings, and tried not to be tempted by the many well-priced amps, or the thousand-dollar drum kit.

Despite the deals, the closing of Sonica isn't cause for bargain hunting but for reflection. Some version of the store has been in Mountain View for half a century, providing instruments and music materials to people from all around. My wife, who grew up in Los Altos, remembers going there as a child to buy sheet music for school auditions. As Molly Tanenbaum reports (see page 1), the fond memories, and regrets at the store's closing, are easy to come by.

But nostalgia doesn't pay the bills. It's no secret that the influx of large chain stores has many mom-and-pops on the ropes. And as they go, they're taking the downtowns with them.

So far, Mountain View's downtown has remained relatively strong thanks to its restaurants (you can't big-box a Thai eatery). But city officials are worried about the lack of economic diversity along Castro, and offer numerous tax breaks to anyone wishing to open a retail store here. Even so, as Longs Drugs, Best Buy and all the others continue to move in, the number of independent stores seems to be decreasing all the time.

Many believe this is a horrible trend, and I'm among them. How can the little guy make a living in a corporate-dominated economy? Where is the personal, human-scale service at Wal-Mart? Of course, the smaller stores always offer better service, and therein lies the challenge for mom-and-pops: How many of their customers will forgo savings in favor of better service, human contact, and a sense of community.

It's a tough spot for them, and I'll bet the pricier the merchandise, the worse it gets. Jewelry, bicycles, computers, guitars -- the savings at larger outlets for these items can be in the hundreds of dollars. But even as we bemoan it, many customers, when faced with a choice between supporting local business, in all its abstractions, or a few hundred bucks, take the latter.

I'm not casting any stones. Last week I went to Guitar Center in San Jose, where I found an Ibanez with a built-in tuner for $150 less than the Crafter.

Since then, the Crafter got marked down again into my price range. Last I checked it was still hanging there, along with several other handsome instruments at huge discounts. If you ever wanted to visit Sonica, you better hurry. ...
SO ARE the days of the porch-front community gone forever? I hope not, but it sure seems like people are using different, grander means to get together. Take the Community and Interfaith Celebration Honoring the Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., to be held Sunday, Jan. 15 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church in Palo Alto. Last year, organizers say, the event attracted more than 350 participants from all over the lower Peninsula. This year's featured guest: CBS 5 news anchor Dana King. The program also includes other local speakers, a "community and interfaith choir" led by the Rev. Isaiah Jones, and refreshments. MLK Day, by the way, is Jan. 16. ...

Channel 5 seems to be taking an interest in our region of late. In a Wednesday airing of "Eye on the Bay," the show's reporters combed the Peninsula in search of a decent meal for under $10. Naturally, their quest led them to Colonel Lee's Mongolian BBQ on Castro Street. Congrats, Colonel, you deserve the publicity.
Don Frances is editor of the Mountain View Voice. His column will appear on a semi-regular basis. Send any items, tips, nods or feedback to dfrances@mv-voice.com.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.