Yenney Music is closing its Olympia location
Yenney Music, a longtime destination for music lessons and instrument rentals, is closing down its Olympia store, owner Don Ulrich told The Olympian this week.
“We reluctantly decided to close our Olympia operation because of the damage caused by the COVID-19 shutdown,” he said in an email. “It has wrecked our income from retail and lessons. We continue to rent many instruments in Olympia and will continue to service those contracts through our Centralia operation.”
That location is known as Yenney Music Centralia, but in June the name of the business will change to Hub City Music and Sound, he said.
The current Yenney Music Olympia location is on Capital Mall Drive, but it operated at the top of the Harrison Avenue hill from 1974 until 2013. Ulrich and his wife bought the business in 1994.
Ulrich said he and his wife are “getting up there in age,” and can’t deal with two stores now. He also thinks that the retail side of the business won’t bounce back until this fall and music lessons will take even longer.
One reason they can maintain the business in Centralia is because they own the building and can better control their costs, he said.
Ulrich said there’s a chance they could reopen the business in Olympia down the road, but it comes with two big caveats: finding the right space and doing so without spending a lot of money. It’s tricky because you need both retail space and space for music lessons, Ulrich said.
“We have to wait and see,” he said.
Ulrich said Yenney Music has ties to the Rabeck Music House, which operated in downtown Olympia during the turn of the previous century.
If you know of a retailer, restaurant, coffee shop or other business that is opening, closing, expanding, remodeling, or changing its focus, send an email to reporter Rolf Boone at rboone@theolympian.com.
