We Are Taking A Day Off To Enjoy Muskoka

WE ARE TAKING A DAY OFF, AND WE WILL OFFER NO APOLOGY - IT'S TIME TO BE TOURISTS FOR A DAY OUT OF A SUMMER SEASON

     IT HAS BEEN A GOOD SUMMER FOR BUSINESS. I HOPE IT HAS BEEN AS POSITIVE FOR ALL OUR OTHER MAIN STREET, AND GRAVENHURST BUSINESSES. WHEN WE EXPANDED THE BOYS VINTAGE MUSIC AND COLLECTIBLES SHOP, WITH A COUPLE OF ROOMS FULL OF ANTIQUES, WE KNEW THE ODDS WERE STACKED AGAINST HAVING A SUMMER TO BRAG ABOUT. IT'S HOW WE OPERATE, US CURRIES. WE ARE CAUTIOUS TO THE EXPONENT OF TEN, UNTIL WE KNOW ALL THE NUANCES OF THE PREVAILING MARKETPLACE. IT HAS TAKEN THE BOYS SIX YEARS TO FIGURE OUT MAIN STREET RETAIL. IT WAS A LOT EASIER LEARNING ALL ABOUT ANTIQUE AND VINTAGE INSTRUMENTS, DRUMS AND SOUND EQUIPMENT. THEY FOUND OUT EARLY IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY, TO DO THE "TURTLE," AND PULL THE HEAD OUT OF HARM'S WAY, WHEN CONTROVERSY REARS-UP. WHEN WE ASSISTED THEM THIS YEAR, TO EXPAND INTO ANTIQUES GENERALLY, AT THE FORMER MUSKOKA THEATRE BUILDING, ACROSS FROM THE OPERA HOUSE, WE HAD THE SAME POLICY. KEEP OUR HEADS DOWN, AND AVOID ALL…..AND I MEAN ALL INTERACTION WITH THE POLITICS OF THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY. I'M SORRY TO SAY THIS, BUT WE WILL NEVER CHANGE OUR MINDS ON THIS, AS PRESENTLY WE'RE TOO BUSY DEALING WITH CUSTOMERS, TO WORRY ABOUT INTRUSIVE ADVICE ON HOW TO GET AND KEEP CUSTOMERS SHOPPING IN THE DOWNTOWN CORRIDOR. CUSTOMERS JUST WANT US TO DO OUR JOB, AND KEEP THE SHELVES STOCKED, AND THE ANTIQUE FURNITURE COMING IN WEEKLY. WE ALL FEEL SUCCESSFUL WHEN CUSTOMERS LET US KNOW THE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE AT THE STORE WAS ENJOYABLE. EVEN IF THEY DIDN'T BUY A RECORD OR A GUITAR STRING, IT'S PLEASING TO KNOW WE'VE PASSED MUSTER IN THIS REGARD. WE'VE HAD A FEW LOCAL MERCHANTS IN, TO SEE WHAT WE'RE ABOUT, AND THAT'S FINE. IT'S NOT LIKE WE EXPECTED TO BE CONGRATULATED FOR INVESTING IN GRAVENHURST'S MAIN STREET. THE BOYS DIDN'T GET IT SIX YEARS AGO, SO WE WEREN'T REALLY EXPECTING A BASKET FULL OF FRUIT, OR EVEN A PAT ON THE BACK. WE DON'T NEED IT. AND WHEN WE READ ABOUT ANOTHER DOOM AND GLOOM WINTER SEASON, AND HOW GRAVENHURST IS GOING TO DISAPPEAR INTO THE ABYSS OF IRRELEVANCE BECAUSE OF THE LACKING ECONOMY, WE'RE STILL GOING TO SHOW UP FOR WORK WITH BELLS ON, AND SURVIVE AS WE HAVE BEEN FOR MORE THAN HALF A DECADE. AS FOR THIS SUMMER, WE ARE ENORMOUSLY PLEASED WITH THE END RESULT, AND WHILE WE MIGHT ARGUE WE COULD HAVE DONE BETTER, THE FACT IS, ON A TIGHT BUDGET, WITH MINIMAL ADVERTISING, WE HAD JUST THE RIGHT VOLUME TO MAKE IT COMFORTABLE ALL ROUND. HAVING TOO MANY CUSTOMERS IN THE ANTIQUE BUSINESS, ISN'T THE HARBINGER OF FINANCIAL SUCCESS. WE LIKE TO VISIT WITH OUR CUSTOMERS, AND THIS SUMMER, THE GREAT PART, WAS THAT WE CONNECTED WITH CUSTOMERS WE HAD, AT OUR FORMER SHOP, ON MANITOBA STREET IN BRACEBRIDGE IN THE EARLY TO MID 1990'S. THIS WAS A BONUS. WE MADE A LOT OF CONTACTS WITH OUR COTTAGER FRIENDS, AND MANY COLLECTORS WE HAVEN'T HEARD FROM IN AWHILE…..SINCE WE DECIDED TO TAKEN ON RETAIL ONCE AGAIN, AND MINIMIZE OUR ONLINE SALES, WHICH WAS ADDING UP TO WAY MORE WORK THAN WE WANTED IN OUR RETIREMENT YEARS.

A DAY TO TRAVEL, EAT, AND RELAX

     We have decided to close our doors for the next two days, in order to catch a brief respite before the first week of September. We've had a few people question how we could be tired after only two busy months out of the year. Considering that we're only a part-time "seasonal" business, to some observers, it would seem a small price to pay, staying open on holidays and Sundays. One hundred percent of these people, have no idea, how much work is involved with Andrew Currie's Music and Collectables. It is a hugely demanding enterprise, because the boys are attached to many other freelance work situations, and also give drum and guitar lessons most week-nights. They come home at nights, absolutely exhausted, and of this I can attest, to just how committed they are to the business they created. It started off admittedly as a kid's dream. Five seconds after opening, they became adults, in a highly competitive business environment. They picked one of the more difficult industries to get involved, because their knowledge has to be thorough, and their ability to play the instruments they sell……of a professional calibre. 

     When they began their business together, six years ago now, they had to deal with a thousand shortfalls. They didn't have a bundle of money to invest. They didn't have one penny of a bank's credit, or a kind benefactor to hand them guitars to sell on consignment. Robert and Andrew had to work hard and long, and be as resourceful as possible, to make rent, and have a little money left over to hustle up inventory. I can't tell you how hurtful it was, and still is, when someone will make a stupid comment, about the fact we don't have as much inventory as shops in the city. They will offer the critique that we are inexperienced, and don't understand the music business, they way they know it……again based on their overview of urban area business enterprises. And someone will occasionally attempt to assess their business, as a modest affair, that is more of a hobby than a profession anyway. It's hard for my mannerly, gentlemanly lads, to keep comments to themselves, even though they feel insulted and hurt by these cutting remarks from patrons, who feel it important to raise themselves above others, if only in their short-sighted minds. I've had many chats with the boys recently, about letting this stuff slide. As I have told them many times before, the number of these interventionists is few, compared to the patrons who love to visit with the boys, and enjoy the hometown atmosphere. And of all things, they are a hometown business first. It's how they designed it to function. It was never intended to copy a Toronto music store. It has become a meeting place of music lovers, from all over the continent, (no kidding) and you never know what well known musician you're going to bump into, pawing through the vintage vinyl, or strumming an acoustic guitar in the sound studio.

     Our boys were born and raised in Muskoka. Some call them Muskoka-billies. They are the kin of original Muskoka pioneers, from the 1870's. They can walk into the Muskoka Lakes Museum, in Port Carling, and see their great-great grandfather's dug-out canoe on display. They can go to the antique and classic boat show, and see the Ditchburn, "The Shirl-evon," that once belonged to their grandfather, Norm Stripp, one of Muskoka's legendary wooden boat restorers. And when on occasion, some mouthpiece questions them about their knowledge of Muskoka, or insults our region for any of a number of reasons, they will recoil, as if about to pounce. They are as proud of Gravenhurst and Muskoka as they are of their family. There was a time, most recently, when they were talking with a friendly customer, who happened to be boasting about her Muskoka roots, as if she was talking to a couple of city kids who decided to open a local guitar shop on a lark. I remember Andrew's eyes twinkling, when he told me, that he waited for the right moment, to tell the young lady that….."well, I'm related to Muskoka Wolves." According to Andrew, she nearly jumped out of her skin, with that very special mention of wolves. No, the lads weren't raised by wolves. But truthfully, they are part of the legacy of "The Wolves." The girl, astonished by the reference, asked him to explain this claim to fame. "My family in the old days, were known as the Three Mile Lake Wolves." She was speechless, for those few moments, Andrew explained the connection to the pioneer family in Ufford, known as the Sheas, who often arrived in Bracebridge in the late 1800's, looking for a little rough-housing. In fact, they would link arms, and walk down the middle of Manitoba Street, looking for someone to challenge them to a fight…..or a brawl. Yes they were feared. They also represented a significant membership in the Orange Lodge, and they may have been looking for some Catholic brawlers, when they linked arms in those days. They beat a waiter at the old Queen's Hotel, because he stepped on their dog's tail at the table.

     The lady, standing in their shop, was kin. She had never met the boys. This had changed in a very profound way. Being a descendent of a Three Mile Lake Wolf was okay. Yup, they were locals for sure!

     The boys only growl when some of their adversaries leave the shop. They don't turn into werewolves or anything weird, by the first light of the full moon, but they do get awfully irked, when someone who doesn't know them, assumes they do……and affords them less consideration than they deserve. Not because of their wolf legacy, or that they might wish to fight those who mock them, but by the fact, they are of tough pioneer stock, and are loyal Muskokans and hometowners, quick to jump to its defense, when someone oversteps their right to opine in the shop. So when someone dismisses their business casually, or diminishes them as hobbyists in the music industry, I can appreciate, how difficult it is for two hard working lads, to refrain from ass kicking them out the front door. We still lock arms, us Curries, but it's more to restore our confidence, after some hurtful comments, than to initiate a donnybrook based on family history. For those who have taken the time to get to know both boys, they appreciate this wolf-like loyalty to tradition. And they turn up every Saturday morning, when their mother sends in fresh baking for our gathering of friends. This is the business our critics miss, because they're not invited.

     The Gravenhurst chapter of the Three Mile Lake Wolves, are taking a couple of days off. They are well earned, and true to our commitment, as a family, that there's more to life than money. We are going to head out on the open road, and who knows how far we'll get…….or how much fun we're going to have. We're pretty good, at cramming a lot of action into one day. It's all that's left of the summer season. We worked seven days a week till today. And we're beat. Even wolves get tired. Drop into our shop someday. If you're coming in for Saturday cookies, let us know in advance, so Suzanne can make a little bit extra.

     Thanks so much for joining today's blog. Please come and visit again soon.