Our 15th Anniversary
Sylvia Woods Remembers . . .
The date of September 11 has taken on a world-wide significance because of the terrorist attacks on that day in 2001. The residents of the Hawaiian island of Kauai also remember the date of September 11, 1992, because that was the day that Hurricane Iniki devastated many parts of this beautiful Garden Isle.
That September weekend in 1992 was very significant in my life.
First of all, on Friday, September 11, my house in Hanalei, Kauai was severely damaged by Hurricane Iniki. I was in California at the time, and it was 5 days before we heard any word of what had happened on our end of the island. As it turned out, the tin roof from the shopping center down the street slammed through our upstairs wall and windows, allowing the wind to rip the roof off of most of our house.
But I didn’t have time to worry about Hurricane Iniki and its aftermath. I already had my hands full. The next day, Saturday, September 12, 1992, was the Grand Opening of the Sylvia Woods Harp Center store in Glendale, California. I had been selling harps, books, recordings and accessories out of my home and by mail order since the 1970s, but this was my first venture into a real “brick and mortar” store. As you can imagine, I was up to my ears in a million last-minute details.
When we opened the store, we had 2,000 square feet and 20 harps on the floor. (See photo on left.)
Over the years, we’ve expanded twice, eventually taking over the entire building. We now have over 3,500 square feet, and at times have over 100 harps on the floor!
Since this month marks the 15th anniversary in our current store location, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped make this business an on-going success, allowing us to continue to bring harps and harp music to the world!
First, I would like to thank all of my former and present employees. They take such pride in their work and in their mission to give our customers the best service to be found anywhere! I couldn’t do this without their expert assistance, support, and dedicated hard work. I would especially like to thank Heidi Spiegel, who has been with me since 1988. She and I have seen a lot of changes in the past 19 years, and it has been wonderful to have her right by my side through all of our adventures.
And, of course, we couldn’t have done this without you, our customers and friends. Many of you have become like “family” to us. You send us photos of yourselves with your harps, you write to us about your personal and musical triumphs, and we share life’s ups and downs. We love hearing about how the harp has changed and enhanced your life, and enriched your world. We are very proud to have been a part of this magical transformation.
And so we now look ahead to the next 15 years . . . and beyond. We promise to continue to provide you with stellar customer service and support. We’ll continue to create and find new products to assist in your harp adventure. 2008 will be the 30th anniversary of my “Teach Yourself to Play the Folk Harp” book, so the anniversary celebrations will continue!
Now, go out there and bring your music to the world!