House of Guitars

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House of Guitars, Inc. is a store selling guitars, percussion and related items in Irondequoit, a suburb of Rochester, New York. Billed as the "Largest Guitar Store in the World," it has a prodigious collection of new, used and vintage guitars and other musical instruments, a large collection of music recordings on vinyl records, cassette tapes and CDs, music videos, T-shirts and other rock memorabilia. The store’s slogan is “For the Rising Young Stars from Earth.”

Housed in a historic building, the former Grange Hall, the store was founded in 1964 and is still owned and run by the Schaubroeck brothers, Armand and Bruce, who keep themselves in the public eye with bizarre television ads for the store as well as public appearances. Another brother, Blaine, also works the store, as do local musicians who are given generous time off to tour with their bands. The Schaubroecks also host appearances by celebrity musicians in the store. In the music section of the store is a large white wall bearing the signatures of every famous personality that has either come to the store for autograph signings or has simply shopped there.

The store is divided into two distinct sections: the front part, facing Titus Avenue, houses all varieties of electric, acoustic and bass guitars as well as drums, keyboards and amplifiers. The rear section, accessible from a back door near Grange St. or from the front through a short maze of corridors, houses the music collection. At first sight, the music store appears as more of a rummage sale, with nearly everything arranged in a state of disarray, however, simply asking an employee for help is an option. In addition to music on CD, cassette and vinyl records, the store also sells videos, T-shirts, magazines, posters, music books and thousands of other rock memorabilia items.