Last Thursday, longrunning Clearwater guitar shop Stevie B’s announced that it was shutting down for good on July 25 and blowing everything out with discounts and a party for patrons who’ve frequented the store for 23 years.
“Thank you to everyone who has supported us through the years. We appreciate the business and friendships that you all have provided,” the post said. “We've had a lot of great musicians walk through our door, and we're glad that we've been able to support the local music community.”
The news was a downer for players who bought a guitar, and then another, and then another from the vaunted shop, but the store offered a more hopeful update the next day. In it, the current owners of Stevie B’s explained that they’d bought the business from the actual Stevie B in 2016, and that he took a few years off from the guitar business before coming back and opening a new storefront with a different name on St. Pete Beach.
St. Pete Guitars, located at 6630 Gulf Blvd., is “vintage Stevie B.,” according to the updated post, which added that there are hundreds of guitars on the walls there. The new shop also boasts the “same warm friendly service and killer deals” that the Clearwater shop has always been famous for.
“Stevie has no doubt retained his prowess as Florida's no. 1 guitar buyer based on the incredibly tasty inventory you will see in his new shop,” the post said. Stevie will be on hand on July 25 when the Clearwater shop closes. He and his wife will have photo albums featuring the many purchases that happened at the old shop over the years. The couple will even have a special parting gift for everyone who stops by the Clearwater shop.
“It will really take you back in time,” the post said. “[Stevie] is looking forward to seeing everyone again… [and] invites all of you to shop with him at his new shop, St. Pete Guitars, where he will continue to make your guitar dreams come true.”
Follow @cl_music on Twitter to get the most up-to-date music news, concert announcements and local tunes. Subscribe to our newsletter, too.
This article appears in Jun 6-13, 2019.