VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A 46-year-old music store in Virginia Beach has been the go-to spot for musicians in Hampton Roads — the owners are dedicated to two things: Service and selection.
The perk of working in a music store is being able to jam on the job, its no coincidence that most of the salespeople who work here were customers first.
Like Virginia Beach resident Jacob Campbell, who started shopping at Alpha Music when he was a teenager.
“Alpha has always carried some of the coolest gear. Wherever I was playing bass with my teenage bands, just coming here to see my dream bass amps that I couldn’t find anywhere else was just such a blast," Campbell recalled.
Watch related coverage: Popular local radio DJ celebrates 50 years in Hampton Roads
He loved it so much, he got a job here.
Eric Burgess has a similar story. The Norfolk native started working at Alpha in 1980, just a year after it opened.
“I’ve sold people their first drum set, and now they bring me their kids and say, ‘I want you to sell him his first drum set," Burgess said.
The Lake Taylor High graduate would work at the store after school, learning how to set up speakers for bands while selling instruments.
Watch related coverage: Peninsula students audition to jam in new jazz band
The drummer says Alpha has always been about service, recalling his first date with now-wife Ginny when he took her to a club to see a band.
“The sound man comes up to me and says, ‘My speakers are blown.’ Okay, I got ya. I left my wife at the table with my bandmates, took the sound man, came back to Alpha, got new speakers, went back to the club, and put the speakers in his boxes," Burgess said.
And the show goes on...
Eric has worked at Alpha Music for most of his life, and in 2015, he and Ginny bought the store. All these years later and service is still striking a chord with customers.
Watch related coverage: Local artist brings colorful creations to young patients at CHKD
“Every guitar we sell, we offer a lifetime maintenance program. It’s free. Bring us your guitars as many times as you want it done, no charge, and it’s always playing perfectly," Burgess said proudly.
In the age of online buying, he says what has also kept them in business for 46 years is selection, with 400 guitars to choose from.
“We’re on the Internet, and we have a website, and it's a wonderful thing, but it's so much better to sit down and feel an instrument or feel a drum or get someone’s advice about why my drums don’t sound right. Can you help me?” Burgess said.
Still local and still thriving, Alpha Music and its band of merrymakers are positively Hampton Roads.
“I work at a big toy store. I get to be in my thirties and hang out in one of the coolest places in Hampton Roads every day,” Campbell said.
