Violin Q & A: Cost of Opening a Violin Shop

by George Manno

Originally published in American Lutherie #10, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000



My wife and I are thoroughly fascinated with the violin; we both play professionally in the local orchestra. We have enjoyed all of your repair articles and look forward to meeting you. We have often considered opening our own violin shop but have no idea how costly and, furthermore, how profitable such a venture could be. We wouldn’t want to offer the most expensive instruments, but would like to have a better-than-ordinary inventory. Can you give us a rough estimate of what it might cost us?

Portland, Oregon, needs another violin shop like Hawaii needs another volcano! It seems the Northwest has become an attractive setting for violin shops, and, although competition can help stimulate business, oversaturation of any market can cause all participants to suffer. Your best bet is to find a location where there are no violin shops at all, but where there are people who are interested in playing the violin.