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Sound of music goes on: Bringe Music marks 50 years

By JON WILSON
Published November 8, 2006

Guitars line the walls at Bringe Music, which started out on Central but is now on First Avenue N.
	[Times photos: Cherie Diez]

ADVERTISEMENT Sales associate and school representative Dan Torregrossa helps Jim Hatchcock try out a guitar.

Cherry-red congas stand guard at the front door. Close by are some percussion pals with funny names: ice bells, Vibraslaps and egg shakers.

Guitars by Fender, Ibanez and Guild cover the west wall. Keyboards and sheet music fill another room.

Hang around long enough and you might meet Daisy, the dachshund, or Samantha, the Maltese-Shih Tzu mix.

Bringe Music Center, which might be the oldest continuing music store in St. Petersburg, is celebrating its 50th anniversary, still using its half-century-old success formula: lots of instruments for sale and rent, outreach to the community - especially young musicians - and keeping a store that feels like home.

Co-owner Lynn Weigand says she often greets people who tell her, "You know, this store is where I got my first (guitar, trumpet, drum set - fill in the blank).

In 1956, Walter Bringe (pronounced BRING-ee) and Wallace Wilsey opened at 818 Central Ave.

The first store - no surprise - was called Bringe and Wilsey.

At least four other similar shops within a couple of blocks gave St. Petersburg a miniature "Music Row" downtown. Bringe survived.

"When I first started, Mr. Bringe was working at his little bench," Weigand said. By then the store had moved to 3956 Central Ave.

Bringe, a violin maker who also worked on other instruments, sold the business to Bill Findeison in 1978, but stayed on to help out. His presence gave Weigand a personal connection to the store's beginnings. She said she started as a "counter girl" on Sept. 7, 1981.

In 1982, Findeison, moved the store to its current location at 2129 First Ave. N. Weigand and Joan Clinger bought the business from Findeison in 2000.

A Web site - www.bringemusic.com - suggests the leap in Bringe technology from the 1956 days of adding machines and spikes for receipts and memos. An e-mailed newsletter keeps friends and patrons informed.

But in many ways, not much has changed.

"We like to think of ourselves as a neighborhood hangout," said Weigand, who plays trumpet and admits to "fooling around with the piano."

The building, which is in Historic Kenwood, dates to the 1930s, according to property records. Old directories show it was used at first as a hotel. What had been the upstairs rooms became teaching studios. Weigand thinks there's a good chance the place may have a ghost.

If so, the spirit has to compete with good vibes. It's not unusual to hear a customer picking a guitar riff or trying out a keyboard. And there are the Saturday Afternoon Music Salons, family-oriented events in which local musicians perform for free.

The next one is 3 to 4 p.m. Nov. 18. The St. Petersburg College Jazz Band will play.

The store traditionally has catered to middle- and high-school musicians, renting instruments and offering lessons. Findeison was band director at Lakewood High School before buying the business.

He also began an enduring tradition: the Second Time Arounders, an adult band whose veteran members march and take part in shows.

Rental instruments for bands are the biggest part of the business, Weigand says. The store has a network of business affiliates across Florida whose customers want to rent; and those stores get the instruments from Bringe.

Meeting an ongoing demand and reaching out to the community has been a successful formula.

The neighborhood hangout brought in revenue of nearly $4-million in 2005, according to a trade magazine.

It was enough to rank Bringe Music Center among the nation's top 200 music stores - for the 10th straight year.

[Last modified November 8, 2006, 07:25:06]