GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado – Fortunate for many years to have two great little music stores, Glenwood Springs is now home to one great big music store.

The long-established Roaring Fork Music and Glenwood Music stores, both formerly located in downtown Glenwood Springs, recently merged their operations under the Glenwood Music banner.

The new store is located in the Roaring Fork Marketplace at 3102 Blake Ave. (near Wal-Mart), in the space formerly occupied by Blockbuster Video.

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“We really weren’t competitors before,” said co-owner Joe Rodgers of his new partnership with longtime Roaring Fork Music owner Eddie Wilson.

Both stores had developed their own niche over the years.

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Rodgers brought his certified electronic music and audio equipment repair expertise to Glenwood Music when he bought the retail business from longtime former owner Larry Gruber in 2010. Gruber had operated the business for 15 years.

Wilson, as the owner of Roaring Fork Music for the past 15 years, had developed a clientele selling and tuning acoustic pianos, as well as renting, repairing and servicing band instruments and providing support for school music programs in the valley.

“I approached Eddie last fall and put some ideas on the table,” Rodgers said. “We figured, why pay two rents when we could go in together and create one full-service music store.

“The community had really supported both of us to the point that we needed to expand, and this just made sense,” he said.

Now, Wilson quips, “We work on everything from piccolos to pianos, and everything you can think of in between.

“The nice thing is the collective knowledge we have here,” Wilson said of the five-person staff at the new Glenwood Music. “Everyone is a technician, and we have a great sales floor.”

Kevin Ware remains as retail sales manager, and coming over with Wilson from Roaring Fork Music is Travis Lucero. Also joining the sales team is Rodgers’ fiancee, Annie Lee.

A certified massage therapist, Lee even has a massage table in the back of the store, complete with a built-in music system for relaxation.

“The music stores that are doing good are the ones that are doing something a little different,” Rodgers said. “We want to create an atmosphere where people want to come and hang out.”

The new 4,600-square-foot store space includes a large showroom for instruments, sheet music and accessories. The back area includes three classrooms that can be shut off from the main store in the evening for the wide array of music lessons that are now offered.

A separate service and repair workshop allows Rodgers and Wilson to do their work free of distractions.

The merger brought together the best of both music store worlds, Wilson said.

“The merchandise we have, we have because we like it,” he said. “We want our customers to have the best. It’s equipment we could take home and be happy with ourselves.”

With the growing live music scene in the Roaring Fork Valley, including the new PAC3 in Carbondale, Glenwood Music can also provide any routine or emergency service needs for the bands that are coming through town, Rodgers added.

“We like doing that kind of stuff,” he said. “It carries on our theme of ‘musicians helping musicians.’ Now, we’re taking it to the next level.”

Glenwood Music is also a live music venue by its own right, featuring bands every Thursday night from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. A special open mic night is set aside on the last Thursday of every month.

A new website, http://www.glenwoodmusicinc.com, has also been established. It will eventually include the Thursday night music line-ups, have a question-and-answer forum for service needs, as well as other features, Rodgers said.

Although in business at the new location since mid-December, an official grand opening for the new store is planned for early June. It will include, of course, live music.

jstroud@postindependent.com