By ALANA RAYMAN
The new Long and McQuade music store in southwest Scarborough will open its doors to the public on Friday, Feb. 28.
Located at 3313 Danforth Ave., just east of Pharmacy Avenue, the store hopes to bring music education and community involvement to the neighbourhood.
The new store will open at 10 a.m. on Feb. 28.
A special ceremony to mark the store’s grand opening is planned for Saturday, May 23, and will feature a ribbon cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. The grand opening will also feature free food and entertainment, giveaways and raffles.
The new two-storey Long and McQuade store is 13,500 square feet in size, and will carry everything that has to do with music. The store will also offer music lessons for all ages, equipment rentals and financing on purchases.
What sets Long and McQuade apart is that it is a family run company whose owners have been very involved with serving Canadian musicians since 1956.
“We have a customer-first policy where they always put the needs of the customer first and always make sure every customer is completely happy with the service they have been provided and the purchases they have made,” said Long and McQuade District Manager Travis Woods.
Scarborough Southwest Councillor Gary Crawford is excited about the prospect of what this new store can bring to the community the Pharmacy and Danforth community.
“Long and McQuade have a long history in Toronto, and I’m pleased that a new chapter in their history is unfolding in Scarborough Southwest. Scarborough has a wealth of creative talent, and having quality resources available will serve this and surrounding communities well,” Crawford told Beach Metro News in an earlier interview.
The store will also be connected to many of the areas schools and help support their music programs and other needs, said Woods.
Going forward, Crawford said he believes this store will help convert the east end of Danforth Avenue into a “go to destination” for the music community.
Long and McQuade is also a proud supporter of music therapy programs at children’s hospitals across Canada, and have to date raised more than $1.3 million for that cause.
Jeff Long, one of the owners of Long and McQuade, said he knows all about the impact one his stores can have on a community in a short space of time.
“We invest fairly heavily into our stores and we try to make the stores very comfortable for everybody. We also have a lot of inventory and we spend a lot of time training our staff to be experts in their fields so they can properly assist their customers. Our policies sort of set the standard within the industry,” he told Beach Metro News in an earlier interview.
Long and McQuade is the largest chain of musical instrument retailers in Canada, with more 80 locations. According to the company’s website, Long and McQuade employs more 1,300 musicians and contracts about 1,000 music teachers across Canada.
For more information on Long and McQuade’s Danforth Avenue location, please visit https://www.long-mcquade.com/location/Ontario/Toronto/Danforth/
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