February 13, 2024 I Opening
Carter Vintage Guitars to Open Relocated Storefront on March 1
Carter Vintage Guitars has announced its new brick-and-mortar store, which will be located on the top floor of the historic Antiques building at SomeraRoad’s Paseo South Gulch in Nashville, Tennessee. The new location will hold its public grand opening on March 1 and is located across the street from its original store.
Since its inception by Walter and Christie Carter in 2012, Carter Vintage Guitars has become a local staple where shoppers can admire, trade, consign, buy and sell vintage guitars and other fretted instruments. The company invested in relocating to a larger, custom-built space to continue providing a superior experience for its growing customer base.
“After over a decade of success, Carter Vintage Guitars had outgrown our storied first home on 8th avenue, and it had to be fate that another historically significant building was revitalized across the street around the same time,” said Ben Montague, co-founder and CEO of The North American Guitar, which merged with Carter Vintage Guitars in 2022. “Our new home in the Antiques building will allow us to offer the same incomparable customer experience, while displaying more inventory, improving capacity for authentication and repairs and supporting our talented team. We also now have the space to provide a destination for music experiences and support for the creative community that complements our core passion of buying and selling guitars.”
Carter Vintage Guitars’ new location spans 12,500 square feet, housing more than 2,000 guitars, a bigger authentication team and the newly reopened Carter Vintage Repair shop, led by Greg Ellis. With more square footage than before, the company has added an exclusive space for creatives called Carter Studios, a Live from Carter’s stage, rooms for private appointments, more lifestyle merchandise and expanded office space.
Approaching the guitar-clad doors to the new location, customers will be greeted by a new mural painted by artist Brian Law, commissioned by Carter Vintage Guitars and its long-standing partner Gibson Guitars. Beyond the doors, a lobby housing beloved Carter Vintage Guitars merchandise and accessories precedes a long “Hall of Fame” with historic music photos and memorabilia, paying homage to the history of the store, its founders Christie and Walter, Cotten Music and the music legends who are friends of the brand. The hall ends at the main retail floor.
In addition to Carter Vintage Guitars instruments, the new retail floor will house inventory from The North American Guitar, also led by Montague, and Cotten Music, led by Kim Sherman, providing a physical home for the three merged brands under one roof.
The plan for relocation began in early 2022, as the company’s co-founders and Montague looked to solidify the physical representation of the brand’s growth and the future of the cherished music destination. The goal of Carter Vintage Guitars’ merger with The North American Guitar in March 2022 was to preserve the legacy built by the Carters and foster the company’s offerings for years to come.
The Carter Vintage Guitars team will remain anchored by familiar faces at the new location and welcome some lauded instrument experts, including Gary Bohanan. The company currently employs 30 staff members. The new location was built by Carter Group, designed by Paul Boulifard and boasts 30 free parking spots.
