Anyone who has worked with StringWorks in the past two years has gotten to know Evan, our newest member. He arrived in April 2013, as Pat transitioned to retirement, and breathed a fresh post-recession life into StringWorks, helping me renew the company that is 'my baby'. When he got engaged, we arrived at a crossroads and decided to take this opportunity to write our second opus in Geneva, Illinois.
The Perfect Distance
Geneva is one of the western most suburbs of Chicago, a historic town approaching its 200th birthday about 40 miles west of the Windy City. As such, we will still be centrally located for those showroom road trips from anyone in Wisconsin, Indiana, Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota, still only two hours from Madison. More broadly, we will be a short car or commuter train ride from both of Chicago's airports, and our two day shipping radius will expand to cover more than 50% of the country. Only parts of California, Oregon, Washington will not have their instruments within three days! This also works the other way, as we can prepare your instruments even more efficiently with most deliveries arriving to us a day sooner.
Our new showroom will be in an historic red house, among the equally picturesque and interesting downtown area. The town has already welcomed us with open arms and we are excited for what the future holds. I am absolutely enamored with this new location, as the town is full of progressive industry, is highly educated, and extremely dynamic. We are especially excited for you, and hope you will take advantage of the mini vacation and destination that a visit to our showroom will provide. StringWorks will be among over 100 specialty shops located in the immediate area, many in other historic storefronts and charming Victorian-style homes. The town truly resonates with each season. There are plenty of sources to fuel your instrument and bow trials, with everything from fancy restaurants to casual pubs, creative Mexican to perfectly smoked meats and an amazing Belgian brewery; fine chocolatiers to cozy coffee houses, tempting bakeries and gourmet carry-out...which happens to be right next door. Yes, Oprah's famous brownies will be right next to StringWorks; (but if you eat one, please wash your hands before playing our instruments :) We are honored to add our violin shop among these quality and passion-driven endeavors. As if that isn't enough, there are also forest preserves, bike trails, and parks; interesting nightlife; and Geneva’s famous festivals. Swedish days is the largest each June, as well as a well-respected art fair and a wine festival later in the summer to name a few; Christmas and the holidays are truly magical. Come visit us, and see the town!
All of this will be the perfect backdrop for StringWorks' Opus 2, and we will of course provide the finest of accompaniment. We have always done things a little differently, being the first to sell instruments online. We work to make the instrument buying and playing process enjoyable, memorable, and personal, whether we talk with you to help choose your favorite instrument and bow to send, or you come and visit us. We have upfront prices, and feel buying your instrument or that of your child's should not be anything even remotely related to buying a car. There is no haggling, no hidden fees, no marked-up prices to allow for fake discounts, and we have never participated in the stubborn practice of teacher kickbacks. We help you buy instruments the way we would want to buy instruments, where you have the choice to get the bow and case you want - not some package that really is "too good to be true." Now we are in a setting as beautiful as our instruments sound, and we will continue to focus on instrument quality. We'll see you soon in Geneva or online, very much looking forward to it!
Please feel free to email me with your questions, comments, or if you want to come visit us!
Todd French, President
Alex – our rental prices, and all details, are in our Rental Program page, here – https://www.stringworks.com/pages/rental-program – and we’re not in Iowa but ship to all states and most countries – 95% of our rentals are outside Illinois, where we are located
What is the price to rent a cello? what is the down payment required to lease to own? Where is the location of stringworks in iowa?
Sorry to see you go. When are you closing the Appleton store?