S HINE A LI GHT Ray’s Midbell Music 4230 S. Lancelot Lane Sioux City, IA 51106 (712) 276-0351 www.midbellmusic.com Mon. – Fri. 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. Sat. 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Mike Guntren, President
CREATING A BETTER-SOUNDING SIOUXLAND
A ribbon cutting at Ray's Midbell Music's previous location.
By Michelle Loeb
Ray’s Midbell Music is the thriving descendant of a multistore chain that started more than 80 years ago, when Jess Middaugh and Sam Campbell combined their talents, and their names, to create the original MidBell Music Company. “From my father’s humble beginnings with the company, he slowly grew the business since 1972, and over the past 50 years, we’ve seen several local competitors come and go,” explained Mike Guntren, who has been with the company since 1997, and president since 2016. He is in the final stages of buying the business from his now-retired father and mother, Ray and Karen. “I was very fortunate to have my parents’ support and wisdom for much of my career, and I’m so grateful I got to work alongside dad for so many years,” said Guntren, who had been lending a helping hand at the family business since he was a child. That lifetime of experience, as well as Guntren’s background as a saxophonist who studied music and business at Morningside College, and of course, the love and support of his wife, LeAnn, and their three daughters, made his transition into company leadership as easy and seamless as possible. “They say the best succession plans are so gradual the change in ownership is almost imperceptible to clients and team 44
Ray’s Midbell Music offers a wide variety of products, but school music has always been the “core of who we are.”
members. I really hope this has been true with our business,” said Guntren. Since taking over the day-today operations of the store — “putting me in charge of people I had worked under as a 10-yearold helper,” Guntren mused — he has worked to expand the store’s footprint and its expertise, without sacrificing the customerfirst approach that has made Ray’s Midbell Music a success for generations. For example, in 2006, the Guntrens secured an SBA loan that allowed the store to move out of the aging strip mall it called home for more than 15 years. “We built our own 10,000-squarefoot building in close proximity to our community’s major retail and dining areas, which greatly increased our traffic and sales,” explained Guntren. “We imple-
mented guest-friendly store displays, created instrument try-out rooms, acoustic areas complete with humidification, and all the right lighting and ambiance for real retail.” What was a school band store with a few guitars and keyboards soon became a full-line music store, selling Yamaha keyboards and Clavinova pianos, as well as top guitar brands like Fender, Taylor, Alvarez and Epiphone, in addition to expanded orchestra, drums and percussion departments. The store’s inventory expanded beyond basic student band and orchestra instruments to include a large inventory of intermediate and professional options. “School music was, and still is, at the core of who we are, and serving school band and orchestra is our lifeblood,” said Guntren. In fact, helping
students advance into next-level instruments is a key part of Guntren’s plan to grow the business. “We believe upgrading as many advancing students as possible from their student instrument to a better-sounding, and betterplaying, intermediate or professional-level instrument can be a catalyst for students to take their playing to new heights,” he said. “We’re always leaning on industry friends for creative ways we can keep kids excited about playing and providing better instruments that help them reach their full potential.” Guntren added, “Our mission is to create a better-sounding Siouxland!” In addition to expanding the store’s product offering, Guntren was also able to expand the lesson program to accommodate more than 200 students per week, taught by 10 independentAPRIL 2021
