House of Guitars

House of Guitars, Inc. is a store selling guitars, percussion and other music-related items in Irondequoit, a suburb of Rochester, New York. Billed as the "Largest Guitar Store in the World," it has a prodigious collection of new, used and vintage guitars, amplifiers and other musical instruments, a large collection of music recordings on vinyl records, cassette tapes and compact discs, music videos, T-shirts and other rock memorabilia. The store’s slogan is “For the Rising Young Stars from Earth.”

History

The House of Guitars was initially founded in 1964 by brothers Armand, Bruce, and Blaine Schaubroeck in the basement of their mother's house in Irondequoit, New York. In 1972 the Schaubroeck brothers relocated the House of Guitars to its present-day location in the former Irondequoit Grange Hall building [Irondequoit. Images of America. Thomas Cole Richens and Patricia S. Wayne. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2006 ] on Titus Avenue. Since the initial relocation in 1972, the House of Guitars has purchased three additional adjacent buildings, interconnecting these buildings for means of expansion [cite web
author = entrepreneur.com
year = 2003
title = Irondequoit salutes The HOG
url = http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/111737353.html
accessdate = 2008-09-16] This had led to what some consider a bizarre 'maze' like layout, where separate store rooms containing music related equipment are connected via long hallways, sharp turns, un-level floors, et cetera.

"...'30 years of Cool' have taken a toll on the three-story stone building that once was the Irondequoit Grange Hall. The floors creak loudly under trampled carpeting, and so many bands have signed the walls that the messages are nearly illegible." [cite web
author = Curtis, Craig
year = 2008
title = the HOG
url = http://www.rochesterinsider.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080702/INSIDER45/304250016
work = rochesterinsider.com
accessdate = 2008-09-16 ]

The House of Guitars continues to be owned and operated by the Schaubroeck brothers at the present.

The store is divided into two distinct sections: the front part, facing Titus Avenue, houses all varieties of Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar and Bass guitars as well as drums, keyboards and amplifiers. The rear section, accessible from a back door near Grange St. or from the front through a short maze of corridors, houses the music collection. At first sight, the music store appears as more of a rummage sale, with nearly everything arranged in a state of disarray, however, simply asking an employee for help is an option. In addition to music on CD, cassette and vinyl records, the store also sells videos, T-shirts, magazines, posters, music books and thousands of other rock memorabilia items.

Cultural Icon/Impact

The House of Guitars (sometimes referred to its abbreviation, the 'HOG') has employed a non-traditional approach to commercial sales. One example of this is their bizarre surrealist early television commercial ads of the spanning the 1960s-1980s, shot on 16mm film which can still be viewed on local area television from time to time. [cite web
author = houseofguitars.com
year = unknown
title = page link - history
url = http://www.houseofguitars.com/
accessdate = 2008-09-16]

Several popular musical acts/bands have at one time or another shopped at the House of Guitars, including Metallica, Ozzy Ozbourne, Mathew Sweet, Aerosmith, Jon Bon Jovi, and Mötley Crüe [cite web
author = Nelson, Emily
year = 2004
title = Meet the Masters of the House of Guitars
url = http://vpwpartners.blogs.com/viewpoint_west_partners/2004/10/the_great_great.html
work = Wall Street Journal
accessdate = 2008-09-16] [cite book
coauthors = Scheller, William G. & Kay; Africano, Lilian & Nina
year = 2007
title = New York: A Guide to Unique Places
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=aN-djel3mekC
chapter = Finger Lakes
chapterurl = http://books.google.com/books?id=aN-djel3mekC&pg=PA99&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=0_0&sig=ACfU3U2YNeqTSXEzjLNMLRYQepVZvu5Sjw
pages = 115
publisher = Globe Pequot
isbn = 0762744251
accessdate = 2008-09-16]

In 1999 "House Of Guitars" in Rochester, New York was featured in "Guinness Book of World Records" They were known for having the loudest band play and the record still stands as of today. [unable to locate any sort of reference to this]

References