IF YOU GO
WHAT: Lester's Rock N Roll Shop
WHERE: 1123 Central Ave., Middletown
PHONE: 513-997-9621
HOURS: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays
MORE INFO: www.facebook.com/lestersrocknrollshop
Chris Lester lives to rock and hopes area residents feel the same.
The lifelong Middletonian opened Lester's Rock N Roll Shop this week at 1123 Central Ave. in Middletown, selling everything from guitars, amplifiers and drums to rock T-Shirts and vinyl records.
"There's always been a music store in Middletown and all of sudden there's not now and there's a lot of musicians," said Lester, who plays guitar in Amy Sailor Band. "We definitely need a place to buy strings and picks and guitars and amps."
The new business also offers lessons in guitar, bass guitar, drums and piano and can handle guitar repairs, set-ups, re-strings and refinishing, as well as amplifier repairs.
Guitars start at about $100 and Lester said he wants to be known for offering vintage guitars because no such place exists locally anymore.
“I’m trying to cover all spectrums as far that goes: bass, acoustic, a little bit of everything,” he said.
With record-collecting becoming increasingly popular, it also made sense to offer vinyl albums for sale at the store, everything from Aerosmith and the Allman Brothers Band to Frank Zappa and ZZ Top. There’s also a large selection of punk and metal albums, which also are seeing a resurgence is sales, Lester said.
Lester’s Rock N Roll Shop also carries both vintage and new skateboards, longboards and skating equipment.
“There always was a skate shop in Middletown when I was a kid so I wanted to open a little skateboard shop down here and have that, as well, because there is a skate park in town,” Lester said.
Lester said it means a great deal to him to be able to open such a business.
“Downtown Middletown is looking better than it ever has since I was alive, so it’s really cool to be part of that,” he said. “This end of Central (Avenue) is looking really good.”
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