New guitar shop aims to have something for everyone

Tucked just behind an auto parts store and sandwiched between a mattress place and taco restaurant in North Chesterfield is a haven for guitar lovers called River City Guitars.

Owner Patrick Verdi thinks the out-of-the-way location is the perfect spot for his first-ever store, which opened in December and recently got a sign on the building. Another reason why he chose the location is because his store lands perfectly near where some well loved guitar shops used to be.

“There were two really cool mom and pop music stores. And I tell you that because that's where it started for me,” said Verdi. “Virginia Music in the 80s when I was a kid, which was in the West End, took guitar lessons there, Southern Music over here, Richmond Music further down. And then it all went away, in [the] early 2000s because the big stores came in.”

Another spark that lit the match for Verdi’s love of guitars also came in the 1980s from the band Van Halen.

“I have two older brothers, Mark and Jeff, and they got me into that music. When I was a kid it was Van Halen, it was Ozzy, all that music,” said Verdi. “Eddie's been kind of the mainstay. I got into that style, but then I got into classical music and went to school for that. I enjoy Spanish guitar, but I also enjoy acoustic.”

After a lot of guitar lessons, Verdi enrolled in Virginia Commonwealth University and also landed a job teaching guitar.

“I was going to VCU to get my classical guitar degree. I did that and then I would teach in the afternoons,” he said. “I was hired to teach at Southern Music Center, which was a little family-owned music store off of Alverser Drive by the movie theater.”

After graduating he wanted to keep teaching, so he continued at Southern Music Center for about eight years, helping around 40 students a week learn guitar. Eventually, Verdi decided he’d like to open up his own shop.

“Something like the old Richmond Music, Southern Music, that kind of deal, like small, very customer-service oriented,” he said.

His friends and family encouraged him to take the leap — but then the pandemic happened and “that sort of reset everything.”

“I really had to rethink, ‘What am I going to do?’ I was out of work and needed to find something that I was passionate about,” Verdi said. “Of course it always comes back to the guitar.”

After scouring around for a spot, he came upon a space in a strip mall off N. Courthouse Rd, whose other clients include a tobacco store and pizza shop. 

“When I walked in, I saw it was all divided up into different rooms,” he said. “But I pictured, ‘what if all of it was just knocked out?’ Like take the walls out, rip the carpet up, paint the walls black, make it look kind of cool and have a certain vibe. The whole thing just was a vision when it was really just an empty office space.”

He and his wife worked on his vision for three months, doing as much of the renovation themselves as possible.  

“I opened it on my oldest son's birthday, December 14. So here we are,” he said.

The space does have a certain cool aesthetic. Along those black painted walls and just at arm’s length are a whole species of electric guitar — from Fender Strat’s and Telecasters, to Gibson Les Paul’s, Epiphone’s, EVH stripe models as well as various hollowbodies. 

You’ll see a few bumble striped guitars similar to ones used by Eddie Van Halen. Verdi even features local electric Grit Brother Guitars and acoustic guitars built by John Koniger. In all he has more than 100 guitars and even basses. 

There’s a smaller, separate room for just acoustic guitars, which includes pre-owned ones by Tayler, Martin and Yamaha.

“Look for our own private label guitars soon too, that’s my next goal,” said Verdi.

Verdi said he wants his shop to be for everyone. 

“I wanted it to be an inventory for the everyday musicians. Guitars can get expensive, $3,000, [up to] $6,000,” he said. “But a good guitar, $500, $600, that you can take to a gig. So I have inventory starting at $99 up to, you know, $4,500 and everything in between.”

River City Guitars also offers lessons for piano, violin, mandolin, drums, bass guitar and of course, guitar. Verdi said they have about 100 students who come through every week. One of them is José Mera. He followed his teacher from another location. 

“That's how I discovered the place. It's a very much needed place and it's really awesome,” said Mera, who had just finished a lesson. The 65-year old plays guitar and piano.

“I'm the best guitar player and the best piano player because I play for an audience of one, which is me. So therefore, I'm tremendous,” he said. “My goal is to learn 271 songs.”

Taking the empty room that Mera just left is Peg Andrae, who is also working on her piano skills. Like Mera, Andrae also followed her teacher to River City Guitars.

“I think this is a great location. I'm also a guitar player,” said Andrae. “I've also had repair work done here on one of my guitars. And they did a super job. It's really a one-stop shop for any repair work, music lessons, and this amazing array of guitars. I'm trying to post on my Facebook and Instagram pages as well to help bring a little more business this way.”

One stop shop 

River City Guitars buys, sells and trades guitars and components, such as amps and allows guitar owners to put their items on consignment. Verdi said occasionally they’ll also take on vintage guitars. 

“The difference between this store and a lot of other places is that it is mostly consignment and used gear,” Verdi said. “People are coming in in droves with their guitars because they're getting word that Patrick at River City Guitars will give you a good price. Or you can consign it.”

The consignment guitars that he displays also get some TLC before they’re put up. Verdi calls them his foster children. 

“We clean them up. We'll make sure they're working properly. We don't just throw them on the wall and hope someone buys them,” Verdi said. “This is my foster care for guitars. I take care of them for a while. It's a temporary home for them. And then I put them back out in the world.”

Verdi said he hopes River City Guitars becomes a place supported by musicians of all ages and skills.

“I've been here my whole life and I've been in the music community and the vibe is very small, it's niche. You sort of stay together and support each other,” he said.