As you walk into Exile Electronics, a small independent music shop that has been on Main Street for 10 years, you will hear two things: the sound of a guitar and some friendly chatter.
The guitar sound comes from customers either trying a guitar or testing a pedal. Chris Young, one of the owners of the decade-old store, explains that it is important that customers are allowed to try out the product before buying.
“I always joke that buying a new guitar is kind of like buying shoes or pants. I wouldn't buy them without trying,” Young said.
As for the friendly chatter, it's the conversations Young has with customers, advising them on the best product to purchase based on their needs. Young says he loves helping customers because the information can be “important to people that are starting out" as musicians.
Young’s patience and guidance have earned the shop a positive reputation in the neighbourhood. However, his kindness has often been tested in the past 10 years.
'Working on overcoming a fraudster'
One of the biggest tests happened last year when the shop was defrauded.
This all started when the shop received three big orders of DJ equipment and other musical items, accumulating up to $20,000. The shop owners followed protocol and had the customers pay in advance before ordering the expensive products. However, three months later, the credit card company said it was a “suspicious transaction” and directly pulled the money out of the shop’s account without notifying the owners.
In January 2023, the shop filed a police report. However, while the investigation was still ongoing, the credit card company pursued legal action against the shop, demanding they pay up.
Out of despair, the shop created a GoFundMe page in October, asking the community for some help.
“We have managed to pay some but unfortunately, we don’t have the remaining cash sitting around and this could be the end for the shop unless we sort it out,” they wrote on the campaign page at the time.
Not knowing what would happen, Exile's owners put all their faith into the community that they have been serving for many years.
To their surprise, the community showed overwhelming support by reciprocating the love and kindness.
“Exile is a great local shop run by nice people who don't deserve their current troubles,” supporter Tony Lee said on the GoFundMe page.
“The best music store I've ever been to! Amazing staff and selection of new gear and rare/vintage/odd equipment. Hope everything gets figured out!” said Alexander Koronczay on the page.
The community did it. The shop survived. The shop received $14,860 from the campaign — almost $1,000 more than what they initially set as a goal.
“You know, it's just a small business. It is hard as it is. The community was really amazing and came around and helped us out,” Young recounts.
Battle of the Google reviews
You know a shop is well-loved when it has a 4.9-star rating on Google. Matter of fact, when the shop received an atypical one-star rating, loyal customers who had never posted a review opted to chime up and provide positive feedback for the store.
Customers cited the staff's ability to be "down-to-earth and informative" while focusing on their needs and not making sales.
“It was a nice thing that people said that they really liked the store and they wanted us to be here. That was nice to hear cause at some point you're sort of like, are we doing this in vain?” says Young.
Facing a new challenge
Marking the tenth year of Exile Electronics, Young says the store is facing a new challenge.
“In the past 10 years, there have been ups and downs for sure. We've seen slow periods, although this has been one of the slowest that we've seen in a while, but we have more stock than we have ever had. Like [we are] literally tripping over guitars!” Young shares.
He says his peers at places like Tom Lee Music and Long & McQuade are also seeing this slower trend. Young believes it's largely because people don’t have disposable income.
For those who do have some money to spare and are interested in pursuing music, Exile is ready to welcome them.
“This is a very exciting time for music products. I hope that the people of the city continue to support music, especially small bands during times like these,” Young adds.
