Rick Santos
Rick has always been into music. It all started the day he saw The Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Like so many others who were inspired by that incredible night, it set the path of music in his life. At 12 years old, Rick was already in a wedding band called The Noblemen, a band which went on to be successful for 22 years!
In November of 1982, Rick and his wife Robin took a leap of faith, leaving two corporate jobs to start Rick’s Music World. What were they thinking? They were 28 years old, with their first 6-month-old baby in tow and a new house. Robin was doing very well working in insurance, and Rick was in banking, but when a little music store in Seekonk became available, they decided to take the plunge.
At the time they purchased the store, Rick thought he could manage it for a few reasons: his background in business, music, sales, and marketing were all relevant. Plus, he thought, “hey I’m a nice person, customers will want to buy things from me because of that.” It seems funny now, and Rick certainly didn’t realize at the time, that owning a music store would be so involved! Can he say it was hard? Sure it was. Were there ups and downs? Yes. Does he wish he had decided differently? Never.
Rick’s first store was in Seekonk MA. Just 10 years later, he opened up a second store in Swansea MA. Then in 2001, he designed his dream music store in Raynham, MA. His Raynham store was the culmination of what he thought a music store should be, a concept that had never been thought of before or at least never executed. Up to that point, music stores were typically intimidating places full of black and grey. On top of that, they catered predominantly to male musicians, leaving out everyone else. Most of all, they were not structured to encourage bringing music to the general population.
Rick’s goal was to bring music to the masses! His store was designed to have a large beautiful wing for music education, a Café, and a full working stage for weekly performances; all of that surrounded by a beautiful retail component. The idea was to have a welcoming and inclusive environment for people of all ages and genders, especially families. This store concept worked so well that Rick decided to eliminate the other two stores and focus all of his energy on it. The rewards of this vision have been amazing and have given Rick a wealth of friendships within his vibrant musical community.
Rick has always had the basic philosophy: If you treat people the way you want to be treated, then it will all work out. He has carried that philosophy throughout his years in business. His weekly Open Mic Night, his over 500 weekly students, the parents, his incredible employees (especially his General Manager Bob Ball who has been with him almost from the start), and tremendous loyal customers, have allowed Rick to really enjoy this part of his journey.
The Beatles
12 years old with The Noblemen
The Noblemen early 70’s
Rick Santos & Family
In November of 1982, my wife Robin and I took a leap of faith, leaving two corporate jobs to start Rick’s Music World. What were we thinking? We were 28 years old, with our first 6 month old baby in tow and a new house. Robin was doing very well working in insurance and I was in banking, but when a little music store in Seekonk became available, we decided to take the plunge.
At the time we purchased the store we thought we could do it for a few reasons: our background in business, music, sales, and marketing were all relevant. Plus, we thought “hey we’re nice people, customers will want to buy things from us because of that.” It seems funny now, and we certainly didn’t realize at the time, that owning a Music store would be so involved! Can we say it was hard? Sure it was. Were there ups and downs? Yes. Do we wish we had decided differently? Never.
Early Staff at Rick’s Music World
Storefront Circa 1993
Our first store was in Seekonk MA. Just 10 years later we opened up a second store in Swansea MA. Then in 2001, we designed our dream music store in Raynham, MA. Our Raynham store was the culmination of what we thought a music store should be, a concept that had never been thought of before or at least never executed. Up to that point music stores were typically intimidating places full of black and grey. On top of that, they catered predominantly to male musicians, leaving out everyone else. Most of all, they were not structured to encourage bringing music to the general population.
Our goal was to bring music to the masses! Our store was designed to have a large beautiful wing for music education, a Café, and a full working stage for weekly performances; all of that surrounded by a beautiful retail component. The idea was to have a welcoming and inclusive environment for people of all ages and genders, especially families. This store concept worked so well that we decided to eliminate the other two stores and focus all of our energy on it. The rewards of this vision have been amazing and have given us a wealth of friendships within our vibrant musical community.
Early Staff at Rick’s Music World
Pictured left to right: Bob, Robin, Rick, Chris
We have always had the basic philosophy: If you treat people the way you want to be treated, then it will all work out. We have carried that philosophy throughout our years in business. Our weekly Open Mic Night, our over 500 weekly students, the parents, our incredible employees (especially our General Manager Bob Ball who has been with us almost from the start), and tremendous loyal customers, have allowed us to really enjoy this part of our journey.