![]() ![]() “Obviously venues suffered deeply and the musicians just catastrophically,” says Meara McLaughlin, MusicPortland’s executive director. While some - particularly manufacturers and retailers - have flourished during the pandemic, those that rely on public gatherings continue to struggle. Hank Failing’s story is a microcosm of the uneven recovery of Portland’s music economy.Īccording to MusicPortland, a nonprofit advocacy group, the overwhelming majority of the city’s more than 800 music businesses are small and independent. “That sounds a little nuts, but Instagram is so easy to show people stuff.” Amid concert hesitancy, venues continue to struggle “Eighty-five to 90% of all of our business starts on Instagram right now,” Failing says of the increase he’s seen in online window shopping from customers still hesitant to browse inventory in-person. He opened Hank's Music Exchange, a 350-square-foot used instrument and gear shop in Southeast Portland, in January of 2022. Hank Failing is a first-time business owner. Two months in, business is exceeding his expectations, but it isn’t exactly back to normal. In January, Failing opened his own used instrument shop - Hank’s Music Exchange. “She’s one of those people that’s going to be in a really bad place if she gets COVID.”īut the emergence of vaccines changed his mind about working in a storefront. ![]() “Our situation is different just because my wife has had a double lung transplant,” Failing says. He left the music retail workforce due to health concerns at home. Meeting customers where they’re atīusiness was booming, but, like millions of Americans, Failing soon found himself unemployed. ![]() Others took up learning an instrument for the very first time. But Failing says many musicians who were stuck in their homes decided to upgrade their equipment. The city’s economy, as a whole, was in a terrible state. “Shops couldn’t keep enough inventory in stock,” says Failing, who’s worked in Oregon music stores for nearly 25 years. ![]()
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