Kauffman Music closing

Kevin Spradlin

CUMBERLAND — Citing a lagging economy and a desire to strengthen family ties, Kauffman Music announced Monday it will close its doors effective June 30.

The musical instrument and supplies store has been located at three different locations on Baltimore Street since it opened in 2000 on the downtown mall. Proprietor David Kauffman said residents have less expendable cash in today’s economy.

Kauffman, band instructor at Mountain Ridge High School, said his wife, Jennifer Kauffman, has been handling the burden of operating the music shop since he began teaching four years ago.

“We wanted to make the change at a time where we would still have an opportunity to address the changing schedule that begins next year with having a child in middle school,” said David Kauffman, father of West Side Elementary School fifth-grader Kaitlyn and second-grader Sam. “A lot of people need to realize that my wife has been, for all intents and purposes, running the store while I’ve been teaching in Frostburg. My wife has really been bearing that burden for the last four years.”

Kauffman said there can be a lesson learned from store closings such as his and others, including Timeless Treats at the Shops at Canal Place. He said there needs to be an overhaul to how local residents make their shopping choices.

“With the type of information exchange that we have now, people are much more bottom line-only shoppers,” Kauffman said. “When I have customers who tell me that they just bought a drum set online and saved less than $20 than what I had on the floor ... people don’t understand that the money that gets reinvested in a community needs to be spent first in the community.

“I fully comprehend and understand the thinking behind a consumer who wants to shop that way,” Kauffman said. “What I can say is that when we only think about today, we risk what will happen tomorrow. If anything comes out of this, I hope it encourages people to understand the local business community needs the local population to support their efforts.”

Brenda Smith, economic development coordinator for the city of Cumberland, said chain retail stores have their own benefits.

“What it comes down to (is) people look more for convenience,” Smith said.

Shoppers already at a big-box store for one item, she said, are easily swayed into picking up other essentials — even if that means avoiding locally owned businesses.

“It makes it difficult as a smaller retailer to be able to capture that audience,” Smith said, because large chain stores “have such a broad base of inventory.”

Kauffman Music had “a lot of people who were loyal customers, and we’re very appreciative of those people,” Kauffman said, but “there weren’t enough.”

Kauffman said Timeless Treats closed in early 2008 in similar circumstances.

“They had a wonderful product, wonderful service,” Kauffman said, “just not enough people coming through the door. Again, it’s hard to force yourself to look at the big picture all the time. But when we value something, we have to understand how to support it. So I would hope that, whenever possible, that people will decide to use local vendors. ... My wife and I — I’m very proud of this — for the last nine years have made a very conscious effort ... to buy what we need from local vendors.”

Smith said a Main Street Maryland program report noted that for every $100 spent in a locally owned store, $45 is reinvested in the community. For the same $100 spent at a larger, chain retail store, only $14 is reinvested locally.

Smith said the Western Maryland Business Resource Center, located at 113 Baltimore St., is available to help existing and potential business owners with marketing ideas and other ways to stay in business. Pamela Rose, business counselor, can be contacted at (301) 722-2773.

Kauffman noted that events at Windsor Hall will not be affected, as it is operated by Queen City Performing Arts Development, a nonprofit entity apart from Kauffman Music.

Contact Kevin Spradlin at kspradlin@times-news.com.