After two years at the Pointe at North Fayette, Hollowood Music and Sound lowered its trademark 25 ft. guitar once again to return to its roots in the Rocks —McKees Rocks at 601 Chartiers Avenue, where it had lit the Avenue for decades.  At the end of March, the giant electric neon guitar was loaded onto a flatbed truck for the return to the store’s McKees Rocks location. There it was raised once again as the symbol for the Hollowood family music business founded in 1966.

Like so many small-town businesses, theirs is a story of struggle and recovery. Hollowood Music was founded by “Big Jim” Hollowood, who originally sold instruments and gave lessons in the family home in McKees Rocks. It was his vision to provide a friendly full-service music store for musicians young and old.

In 2004, propelled by recent flooding at the Mckees Rocks’ location, Hollowood Music opened the plaza-based store near other major retailers such as Home Depot and Old Navy. The idea was to provide the convenience of shopping, dining, and taking music lessons in a single trip, and to serve more customers and students from Ohio and West Virginia.

“What we learned,” says store manager Don Hollowood, is that a lot of foot traffic doesn’t always translate into sales. Our loyal customers have stayed with us, and we’ve gained so many new customers. Our lesson program is taking off. But the reality is that it’s hard for an independent specialty store to exist in this retail arena. All along, we’ve never strayed from what we do best—we have the best quality people on the sales floor, the best service department in the Pittsburgh area, the best teaching staff—but it’s time to regroup and get back to our roots in the Rocks.

As Hollowood Music planned to return to 601 Chartiers Avenue, they reached out to BOOM Creative to assist with the re-launch. BOOM contributed a new set of branded identity materials, handled PR and marketed the opening event with traditional and social-media based advertising. The old location sports many new features  – there is a new showroom featuring a Guitar Wall, a PA/DJ and Lighting Department; a Keyboard/Recording, and Software Department; and Acoustic Guitars with a Listening Area, Amplifiers, and more. Johhny B. Goode’s Used Music Emporium will return to the second floor with an expanded showroom. .