The rhythmic heart of Forest Park

Since 1982, Forest Park has been the hometown of Kagan & Gaines, a one-stop shop for all things music.

From selling instruments and sheet music to providing music lessons and fostering musician connections, the local music shop has served generations of music lovers from beginners and students to professionals and educators. 

Founded by Robert Kagan in 1930 as a string instrument shop, Kagan & Gaines was originally located in downtown Chicago on Wabash Avenue. In 1941, teenager Joe Cali began working at the store, eventually working his way up to manager and later purchasing the business from Kagan in 1962. In 1982, Cali  — the father of current owner Joe Cali Jr. — made the decision to move the store to its current location at 7655 Roosevelt Road. 

Lincoln Smith, the store’s manager, says that Kagan & Gaines being a successful mainstay in the community for four decades is something they don’t take for granted.

“We’re located in the middle of some of the most talent-packed, independent arts communities in the Chicago area,” he said. “We’re lucky enough to be just down the street from historic venues like Robert’s Westside in Forest Park, and Fitzgerald’s and Friendly Tap in Berwyn. The area schools are a great example of thriving music programs [and] we’re thankful every day to be a true destination for musicians in this kind of totally unique and culturally rich community.”

According to Smith, what has helped lead to Kagan & Gaines’ lasting success is not only the vast inventory of band and orchestra instruments stocked, but collection of unique, hard-to-find instruments, repair persons and instructors all under one roof. 

“We carry guitars, drums, speakers, mixers, keyboards, ukuleles and accessories in the front-of-house, but we have a lot of hidden gems,” Smith said. “We have a lot of oddball instruments that have collected over the past decades, so if a musician is looking for something oddly specific, there’s a chance that we’ll have it — from a dulcimer to new old-stock ’70s trombones that have never been taken out of the plastic, to dozens of metal clarinets or C-melody saxophones; things that you would never know we have unless you ask.”

Aside from sales, Kagan & Gaines offers instruction for instruments including guitar, piano, bass, drums, violin, viola and cello — all by coaches who hold degrees for their instrument. Smith, who himself is primarily a guitarist, also dabbles in piano and mandolin and gigs around the Chicagoland area at restaurants, bars and private parties. 

Though most of the store’s business is local, Kagan & Gaines also maintains a shop on music marketplace website Reverb.com, with the goal of reaching audiences both across the U.S. but around the world. 

“Customers all over the country would likely know us as a violin shop first,” Smith said. “We have an in-house luthier and serve over 1,000 rental customers locally. We ship fine violins to private teachers as far out as Pennsylvania and Colorado when their students are ready to purchase. Another of our hidden gems is our string brand, Westminster Strings, which we ship all over the world to distributors and violin shops as far as Poland, China and Australia.”

And, while the vast majority of shopping across business sectors has shifted to e-commerce over the past decade, Smith says that Kagan & Gaines remains a thriving and competitive business not only due to their vast inventory, but employees who have fostered personable shopping experiences and meaningful customer relationships over the years.

“I have a very realistic view that brick-and-mortar music shops will always be in demand,” he said. “Most instrumentalists want to see and hold their instrument before committing. When someone calls or walks in the door, we want them to be wowed with how attentive we are — the whole sales staff is made up of musicians who love the nitty-gritty of gear and can give detailed guidance, and in most cases, personal experience.”

For Smith, what he loves most about his role as store manager is that no two days look the same.

“I have an incredible team behind me, a great shop culture that we’ve curated and an incredible community that gives us a lot of potential for growth as we get our name out to more of the local crowd,” he said. “We love meeting more of our community and I think we have something to offer everyone — it may be the match that kicks off a lifelong love of music.”