Homewood Musical Instrument Company prepares for new location

Bob Tedrow is packing up boxes and saying goodbye to a building he has helped fill with music for nearly 30 years. 

Homewood Musical Instrument Company, located at 3027 Central Avenue, is in the process of making its move down the street to 1712 28th Avenue South. Tedrow said he expects the move to be finished sometime in August.

Tedrow said the new location is "considerably newer" and bigger than his current location, and he's looking forward to having more room for teachers and students. When he decided on the location, though, Tedrow knew he had to stay in Homewood.

“We’re looking forward to having a bit of elbow room,” Tedrow said.

However, with so many years in one building, Tedrow said there will be plenty of things he'll miss once the move happens. His Central Avenue store is where hundreds of people came for instruments and lessons, where his children came to watch their black-and-white TV and where he watched Central Avenue grow and change.

While Homewood Musical Instrument Company is one of the longest tenants of the building, which also contains Nabeel's Cafe and Market, it was preceded by many other Homewood businesses. Tedrow said his shop was originally a Hamburger Heaven in the 1950s.

“To this day, old people will come into the shop and tell me about what it was like when this was a hangout spot,” Tedrow said.

At other points in its history, Tedrow said 3027 Central Avenue was a beauty salon, an upholstery shop, a comic book shop, an ice cream parlor called Sundaes at the Park and Southside TV Repair. Since he's done "not one lick" of renovations while a tenant, Tedrow said there are still a few remnants of the former tenants.

“When the weather is just right … [in] the glass, you can see the letters E-A-U-T-Y Salon,” Tedrow said. “It’s like finding an old car with all the original licenses and repair receipts inside of it.”

There are no definite plans for a new tenant once Homewood Musical Instruments vacates the property. Rich Campbell, who represents the building's owners, said there hasn't been time yet to determine that. Over the next few weeks, Campbell said the owners will begin to identify “who’s best for Homewood, who’s best for that area of the community.”

Campbell said major factors include the neighboring businesses and the walkability of the Central Avenue area, and the presence of Central Park across the street means the property is "just begging" for a good tenant.