Spokane’s vintage guitar enthusiasts have a rocking new hangout spot on Spokane’s South Hill, thanks to the efforts of local musicians and business partners, Bobby Kluss and Joe Chamberlain.

The two friends last month opened River City Guitars, a retail shop at 2910 E. 29th, that specializes in buying and selling vintage electric, acoustic, and bass guitars.

“Things are fantastic so far, we’re exceeding all of our expectations,” says Chamberlain. “We’ve also seen some good feedback from customers and support from the local music community.”

Chamberlain is a 53-year-old Spokane native and largely self-taught musician who also owns Cool Cars LLC, a used car dealership, at 2503 E. Sprague.

“I met Bobby when he stopped into the dealership looking to buy a car, and we got to talking,” he says. “We’re both musicians who mostly play guitar, so we thought it might be fun to open a place that focused on that.”

Kluss, 30, is originally from Lewiston, Idaho, and holds an associate degree in business from Lewis-Clark State College.

“Some of our favorite stores outside of Spokane have a similar feel to what we’re doing at River City,” says Kluss. “In creating this space, we wanted to be able to bring some of that same feel to this area, specifically the South Hill, because there’s not many shops like ours here yet.”

River City Guitars is located in a 1,000-square-foot building situated between Miller’s Hardware store and a Thai Bamboo restaurant.

Formerly a coffee shop, the space has been remodeled to include a main room that has walls decorated with nearly 100 vintage guitars for sale, most of which were made between the 1950s and the 1970s.

“We do sell some newer used, American-made guitars, but the focus is really on the vintage pieces,” says Kluss. “We cover a whole spectrum of pieces that range in price from $100 on up to $10,000.”

The shop also includes a small sound room where musicians can plug guitars into amps, in order to test them before purchase.

Kluss says he and Chamberlain are the business’s only two employees, although both of their spouses occasionally assist with shipping and photography needed for River City’s online sales.

So far, Chamberlain says, the shop appeals mostly to customers between the ages of 45 and 65, who have background knowledge of guitar playing and a bit more time and cash to invest in it as a hobby.

“We’re popular with a lot of current performing artists, but a good portion of our interested customers are older folks who are looking to rekindle their passion for playing,” he says.

Chamberlain says he and Kluss chose to focus on older guitars because they’re made of higher quality materials, and their vintage history has the advantage of evoking nostalgia for those who purchase and play them.

“In my opinion, sales of new guitars have been declining,” he says. “A lot of guitar manufacturers still rely on recognition that comes from the glory of yesteryear, but they’re no longer creating guitars that match that quality.”

Chamberlain also says, “A big reason why we wanted to focus on vintage is because these pieces are still high quality, and they hold a history that evokes a different kind of passion than one gets from buying new.”

Adds Kluss, “People really do connect more with a vintage piece because of the history. For people who enjoy looking for antiques, there’s also a bit of a thrill in hunting around and finding something special.”

Chamberlain says the shop buys most of its guitars from estate sales, guitar shows, and local sellers, offering consignment sales to help ensure sellers get a fair price when selling used pieces.

“When we say vintage, we don’t mean just any run-of-the-mill older guitar, but rather actual classic pieces that are pleasantly uncommon or rare,” he says.

Although he declines to disclose exact figures, Chamberlain says the shop’s revenues are a combination of online and in-store sales, with most income coming from vintage purchases.

“We do get some online interest, but for us it’s more important to have good in-store, in-person relationships,” Chamberlain says.

While the shop does offer some basic guitar repair services, Kluss says it refers more intensive or specialty repairs to other area repair shops.

“We have a network of people we can connect customers with for repair services or guitar lessons,” he says. “We’d like to add lessons sometime down the road, but current demand isn’t yet large enough for us to dedicate space and time for that.”

In addition to buying and selling vintage guitars, Chamberlain says the shop also is working on ways to rally around the local music community.

“Each month, we arrange to feature a different local artist in the shop,” he says. “They’re invited to stop by and perform or just hang out and talk with customers about music and guitars.”

Chamberlain says the monthly features are designed to promote both the artist, as well as the shop to customers and musicians alike.

“We’ve only done two feature events so far, but our hope is to create a sense of community,” he says. “That means continuing to build relationships with local artists and making this a place where people come to be inspired.”

Kluss says the shop also hopes to collaborate more with local artists and charities that benefit musicians.

“I’m on the board for a charity here called Future Song Foundation, which provides funding for kids to have access to music instruction and instruments,” he says. “I’d like to see us collaborate with them in the future as they’re a really great cause.”

While the shop’s high-traffic location and niche product focus help to draw in customers initially, Chamberlain says he believes dedication to forging one-on-one relationships with customers ultimately will make all the difference.

“People really seem to appreciate our guitar knowledge and the fact that we strive to be fair and honest in sales and purchasing,” he says. “We take the time to listen to feedback from musicians and customers, because without them we’d be out of business pretty quickly.”