Homestead Pickin’ Parlor, a longtime destination for players and fans of folk and acoustic music, has announced it will close its doors permanently on July 31. The nearly 47-year-old store in the Minneapolis suburb of Richfield made the announcement on its Facebook page.

Explaining the store’s closure, the post cited a landlord change and subsequent rent increase that proved unsustainable for “a marginally profitable music store.”

In a phone call with The Current, Marv Menzel — who, with his wife Dawn, co-owns Homestead Pickin’ Parlor — confirmed the rent increase is “the primary reason” for the closure. He said for the first 45-plus years, the business operated on “a handshake agreement” with its landowner. The new landlord, Menzel acknowledges, “is a nice enough fellow, but this was his first adventure into commercial real estate, and he wound up having to put some pretty hefty price increases in the rent, and three spaces have now emptied out. I don't know what the rest will do.”

Asked if the decision may also have been influenced by a desire to retire, Menzel said yes. “It's always been in the back of my mind,” he says. “I'm 82 years old and have lived beyond the compulsory retirement age for some years.

“But I have fun coming to work every day,” he added, “and this brought about a conclusion that I might not have come to of my own volition. So it's a mixed blessing.”

Ellen Stanley, a local musician who performs as Mother Banjo and who is also a music publicist, says she is “So sad to hear Homestead Pickin' Parlor is closing. It was such an important hub for acoustic musicians and certainly has been for me for the 24 years that I have lived in the Twin Cities. I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that my whole music-making career began and was nurtured there.”

Stanley points out the sense of community that has existed within the Homestead sphere. “Marv and Dawn and all the employees created such a warm, unpretentious space that was welcoming for kids and old-timers alike,” she says. “They never invited a ton of attention, but they did so much for the community, not just in the shop but in presenting concerts, promoting artists and sponsoring community events.”

Menzel feels that sense of community in his own way. “The customers we've developed have become like our family,” he says. “Our real family is located all over the country, and so we see our customers far more frequently than we see our kin, and that's been welcome. … They're all loved and appreciated. That will be hard to give up.”

The years during and since the pandemic have also proved challenging to the Homestead Pickin’ Parlor. Menzel recounts how, prior to the pandemic, Homestead enjoyed a roster of 20 music instructors; today, there are two.

Furthermore, the regular jam sessions that once filled Homestead’s weekly calendar have not resumed. The store lost longtime jam leader Gene Walton in 2022, but Menzel says decreased space has prevented the jam sessions’ return. “Our landlord saw fit to kick us out of about 40% of our footprint,” Menzel explains. “Everything that was over in that space came in the main store and our office space, so we don't have room to accommodate a jam session.”

Menzel says the business model itself is challenging, and he dismisses any idea that it could continue elsewhere or under different ownership. “The business at best was break even, and more often lost money,” he says. “My wife and I live on Social Security. We haven't paid ourselves for decades, and there's not that much there. You could probably fold it into a Guitar Center or something like that, but the spirit wouldn't be there, the spirit we've tried to convey.”

That said, Menzel leaves with many warm memories and no hard feelings. “It's been 46 wonderful years, going on 47,” he says. “As a lifestyle, I wouldn't change it for anything. I traveled many paths in my lifetime: in the military-industrial complex with Honeywell; with my own manufacturing business; and the last 46 years here — and this has been the best. I don't regret a moment of it.

“It's been a wonderful experience,” he says.

External Links

Homestead Pickin’ Parlor – store website

Homestead Pickin’ Parlor – Facebook page