IS THIS A COFFEE SHOP? A GUITAR STORE? A MUSIC SCHOOL? A LIVE MUSIC VENUE?
We are a music school with a full-service espresso bar. We occasionally open at night for live music events and we often rent the store for parties, showers, meetings and the like. We carry a cool (though not exhaustive) inventory of new, used, vintage and antique music gear for the beginner or the old-school musician.
HOW IN THE WORLD DID YOU COME UP WITH THIS IDEA?
The vision for Beans & Strings was brewing (pun intended) in owners Eric and Vanessa Foster-Whiddon for several years before the opening of the store. The common thread through all of the aspects of Beans & Strings' model is community around shared interests, whether that rallying interest be coffee, encouraged loitering, apprecation for live local music or the adventure of music education. Eric got his first guitar for Christmas when he was fifteen and began taking lessons at Pitts Music, a Moultrie music store owned by Jamie Pitts. Already an avid music fan (indie music snob, to be honest), he stumbled into a whole new level of community that included hanging out at the music store, playing in and with local bands and eventually the creation of a musicians co-op at college called Fed People Music. Not satisfied with practice for practice's sake, he and his bands saught out venues where they could perform. Playing everything from bars to youth groups, he found that his favorite venue was a coffee shop. After graduation from undergrad in 2001, he began teaching guitar lessons and grew his student roster into a full-time job. When he and Vanessa met, their friendship and dating life involved regular trips to their favorite coffee shop, Sojourners, in Valdosta. In fact, their engagement pictures were taken in front of the store with mugs in hand! Over the years, Vanessa and Eric have watched coffee shops and music stores struggle in small towns and felt that the Beans & Strings model could work. And it has.
ARE YOU A FRANCHISE?
No (for now). This store is the idea of Colquitt County natives & owners Eric & Vanessa Foster-Whiddon and downtown Moultrie is the home of the very first one.
WERE YOUR HEART PINE FLOORS ALREADY IN THE BUILDING? IF NOT, WHO PUT THEM IN?
This question probably gets asked more than any other. Our main room is floored with true 100-year-old reclaimed heart pine. No, these floors are not original to the building. We bought the boards from our friends David and Virginia Acord at Southern Heritage Woodworks in Sylvester, GA and we installed them ourselves with the help of some hard-working, true blue friends. Southern Heritage Woodworks does quality heart pine flooring (ours is actually the bottom of their line... if you like it, you should see their other stuff!) as well as Americana, frontier and cabin-style furniture also made from reclaimed pine. Their products are such high quality that they were chosen by Ideal Magazine and House Crashers (DIY Network) to be featured in their project homes.
WHO DID YOUR INTERIOR DESIGN, GRAPHIC DESIGN AND SIGNAGE?
Eric has a considerable amount of experience as a graphic artist (formerly working as Hyphen Design) and with the aid of his wife, Vanessa, chose the colors for the store, designed the store layout and created the logo and all of the signage for the store. They called on their friends Randy and Donna Mercer at Moultrie Sign Company, LLC to help make their ideas a reality.
DO YOU PLAN ON OPENING MORE STORES?
Maybe, but it's all one step at a time. Anybody want to invest in Beans & Strings II?
WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR BEANS?
Our primary roaster is Jittery Joe's Coffee Company, a microroaster in Athens, GA. Eric first became aware of their product while in college and has been a major fan of their stuff ever since. We sometimes rotate beans into our selection from our friends at Grassroots Coffee Company. Spencer and the guys at Grassroots are just down the road in Thomasville and they make a great product.
WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH ESPRESSO?
The coffee base that's used to make your favorite creamy coffee-shop drink (like a latte, macchiatto or mocha) is made from a dark roast blend called espresso. Instead of being brewed in a slow, drip method like traditional American coffee, it's made by pulling shots when very hot water is forced through the compacted coffee grounds under a large amount of pressure. These shots are concentrated coffee but, contrary to popular belief, contain less caffeine per ounce than drip coffee because the drip brewing method cuases much more of the caffeine in the coffee grounds to transfer to the brew. For more information, check out the Wikipedia article on espresso.
WHY DON'T I SEE MY FAVORITE DRINKS FROM THE BIG COFFEE CHAIN ON YOUR MENU?
Our menu is a classic coffee shop menu that displays the basic forms of the drinks and allows you to customize as you like. There are a bazillion different ways to make a latte, macchiatto or mocha... if you want a white chocolate mocha or caramel macchiatto, we can do that. In fact, get creative and mix them up! Try a white chocolate macchiatto or a caramel mocha. Our regulars often experiment until they find an original drink that they like. For instance, try Sarge's Complicated Cublacchiatto. Maybe you'll have a drink named after you someday, too!
WHAT BRANDS DO YOU CARRY?
Our inventory line is expanding and currently features such brands as VHT, Recording King, AXL, Johnson, Savannah, Old Soul, Guardian, Kyser, Shubb, Elixir, D'Addario, Fender, DR, Ernie Ball, Martin, Red, Dunlop, etc. We also pride ourselves in a quality selection of consignment gear that includes locally owned & loved high-end equipment. We have a great community of musicians who support our store and they liquidate their stuff with us, so you're likely to find several vintage collector's pieces in the mix. Consignment brands often include Fender, Gibson, Epiphone, Ampeg, Hohner, Ovation, etc. By the way, our goal is to grow our string selection to carry everything from the most common brands to those you've heard of but have never seen. Let us know which brands and guages you play and we'll see what we can do to keep them in stock.
CAN YOU SPECIAL ORDER?
Yes. In the accessories department, just ask and we can likely get it. Regarding guitars and amps, if we can't get the brand or model you're looking for from a distributor, we may know someone who has it and wants to liquidate it. We'll put the power of community to work to help you find the gear you want.
DO YOU SELL EQUIPMENT ON CONSIGNMENT?
Yes. In fact, we love doing consignment sales because you never know what some local guitarist may bring in that's been hiding in the closet for 30+ years. We have a great community of musicians who support our store and they liquidate their stuff with us, so you're likely to find several vintage collector's pieces in the mix. Consignment brands often include Fender, Gibson, Epiphone, Ampeg, Hohner, Ovation, etc. If you have something you want to sell, bring it by and let's talk. You'll find that our rates are competitve and we have considerable success moving cool consignment pieces. Between our live music and our student community, we have people looking over our inventory all the time.
DO YOU TAKE TRADES?
Yes, depending on the piece. Bring your potential trade by and let's talk.
WHAT DAYS AND TIMES DO YOU TEACH?
Monday through Friday from 2PM (or earlier if the student's schedule allows) until 7PM. Some of our instructors are willing to teach one lesson after we close (7-7:30PM). Give us a call at (229) 985-0093 or come by and see us and let's compare schedules. We'll do our best to make a lesson fit within your schedule.
DOES MY STUDENT NEED TO OWN A GUITAR/BASS/DRUM KIT IN ORDER TO TAKE LESSONS?
The ideal situation is for the student to own his/her own instrument so practice can happen at home between lessons. If you don't want to invest in an instrument just yet, see if you can find a friend or family member who will let you borrow one for a month or two. Beans & Strings also has a rental program that could help you. Drum students often begin without their own kit and are welcome to come by the store during times that our drum studio is not in use in order to practice until they acquire a drum kit.
