When a young Paul Phillips began shelving vinyl 45 rpm records in 1977 he had no way of knowing that he was beginning the journey of the rest of his life.

While sweeping the back room of Whitmore's Music Center he never would have guessed that his crush and courtship of Paula Whitmore would form his vocational future.

"Well," he said. "I married the boss's daughter in 1978 and that was it."

It wasn't until 1985 that Phillips purchased the business from his father-in-law.

Today, at 475 W. Tulsa St. in Siloam Springs, the longtime local staple for all things musical no longer exists out of necessity.

The shop doors that swing open Monday through Friday from noon to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. remain unlocked to customers because of Phillips' desire to keep the family business thriving.

The majority of the local music shop's business has migrated from walk-in sales to Internet sales.

"The Internet business is really what has carried us through the past couple of years," Whitmore says. "Still though, we have people come in. There are a lot of customers that have been doing music here long before I came along."

With changing times, Whitmore's Music has evolved into receiving the majority of its money from selling online accompaniment music tracks. They have also added Music on Demand - a program that allows Whitmore's employees to purchase, access, print and play back any music requested from the Internet.

"We ship stuff all over the country," Phillips said. "To be honest, we're actually getting out of the piano business. As hard as it is to do that, it's just not profitable anymore."

The sorrow over leaving the piano business stems from thefact that Whitmore's originally started as a small piano operation in the 1940s. In addition to teaching at John Brown University, the original owner, Paul Whitmore, worked as a piano technician.

In the 1950s and 60s Whitmore tuned and rebuilt pianos. As the side job grew, he was able to begin selling pianos. In 1968, he started the business that eventually came to be known as Whitmore's Music Center.

Today, Whitmore's has one of the largest selection of print music in Northwest Arkansas. Instruments of every shape and size, both new and used, accompaniment tracks, amplifiers and musical instruments can also found in the shop's showroom.

"If you do the math, we will be finishing our 24th year of running the business pretty soon," Phillips said. "I actually still see people come in that I saw back when I started in 1977."

Whitmore's was originally located across from the old post office in downtown Siloam Springs. It later moved to a spot near Bell's Office Supply. In 1997, the business relocated a final time to where it now sits on Tulsa Street.

No type of customer is considered an unusual shopper at Whitmore's. Phillips is just as accustomed to seeing elderly couples browsing sheet music as he is to talking to young kids trying to form garage bands.

"That's what we're here for. I feel privileged that this is something we can provide for Siloam Springs," Phillips said. "A lot of days when you come in here we'll have kids in the back with the amplifier all the way up. I love having them here, I love that they feel comfortable enough to do that and that this can be a place for them to gather."

Over the years, Phillips has personally outfitted up-andcoming band members with their first instruments. There are some families that he can trace back sales through the generations.

Though the business is beginning to move away from piano sales, the large instruments can be found smattered throughout the store. Drum sets strewn across the store's front room frequently meet the wooden end of customers' thrumming drumsticks. Clarinets sit nearby new reeds,

ready for purchase. Multicolored acoustic and electrical guitars hang from overhead hooks with strings ready to strum.

Method books and page after page of educational music are also available within Whitmore's stock.

"We have a huge number of kids come through here and that really is what drives me," Phillips said. "That's what it's all about."

For more information about Whitmore's Music Center call 524-3323. The store's online shop is available at www.whitmoresmusic.com.

Business, Pages 6 on 07/29/2009

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