Mike's Music recently opened in Ellicott City

The neighborhood corner store may be an anomaly in suburban Maryland, but it can still be found if you know where to look. Although now, it's more likely to be located on the edge of a strip mall near a Dunkin Donuts franchise, it's the feeling you get after walking through the door that counts.

Mike and Haley Gordon want the customers who come into their Ellicott City music store to feel comfortable hanging out there. Mike's Music, which opened Jan. 7, is the corner store they've always talked about owning.

"We're still with our main focus: knowing every single student and matching them with the right teacher," Haley Gordon said. "We know all the students' names. We don't ever want it to be like a factory."

Last year, the Ellicott City couple jumped at the chance to open their own business and be their own bosses. Mike Gordon has been in the music business for as long as he can remember, playing gigs on his guitar in the evenings and working in music stores during the day. He watched as a new shopping center was being constructed at the corner of Montgomery Road and Route 104 while driving home from his job at a vintage guitar store in Bethesda. Opening a neighborhood music store suddenly seemed within reach.

"We always said we'd open up a business together," said Mike Gordon, shooting a grin at his wife. "With my beauty and your brains, how could we miss?"

After securing the lease, the first order of business for the couple was interviewing music teachers. Haley, who had plenty of experience interviewing people for positions while working in the retail field, helped narrow the pool of applicants down to a manageable level. Then Mike, the music expert, took over for the second round.

Although Mike Gordon admits that he had never interviewed anyone before, the instructors he ended up selecting definitely meet with his wife's approval.

"Our teachers are amazing," said Haley Gordon. "They're great with kids and they want to be here as a teacher, not just as a job. They want to be here for the students."

Rosie Hrybyk gives lessons in voice and flute at Mike's Music and teaches baby and toddler classes several mornings a week. She hit it off so well with the Gordons while going through the interview process that now she also babysits their two young daughters, Lily and Grace. Hrybyk appreciates the emphasis the Gordons place on music education.

"It's such a great atmosphere to work in; it's very family-oriented...I think that music is very important in kids' lives. They are lesson-based, not retail-based, and there aren't many places that are like that," Hrybyk said.

Guitar and bass teacher Ernie Beck enjoys the laid-back attitude of the store.

"I've worked in a lot of different music stores and it's like a breath of fresh air...The differences are in everything: the aesthetics, the spa lighting, the teachers' lounge. They keep it very hip, very cool. It's like the Mom and Pop music store, only 30 years younger," he said.

When going through the process of picking out colors and interior furnishings for the store, Mike Gordon was very specific about what he didn't want.

"No gray slate walls, no boring colors, no tacky carpet with, you know, the seams showing. Having worked in them all, I didn't want a boring store," he said. The finished interior has a comfortable sitting area where parents can relax while their children are finishing up a music class.

The Gordons asked local artist Chester Overlock to create a sculpture for the wall behind the cash register. They provided him with a variety of old and broken down musical instruments they had acquired over the years, often picking up samples at garage sales.

"He said: 'Let's paint it powder blue. Trust me, it's going to be fabulous,'" Mike Gordon said.

"We wanted a little bit of everything in it 'cause that's what we do," said Haley Gordon, adding they are thrilled with the finished piece.

Mike's Music is located at 4872 Montgomery Road. For more information and lesson schedules, call 410-465-0700.

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