By Samantha Welch
Geo’s Music has begun moving its location to 219 West Federal Street on the second floor of the staple Youngstown dive bar, Draught House.
The music store owned by George Case was originally located at 228 West Boardman Street, in the shadow of The Vindicator building.
“We’re kind of on an island over there on Boardman Street,” Case said. “Oakland Center for the Arts moved out, The Vindicator sold their building to The Youngstown Business Incubator and that was a great deal of traffic just right there. The building had possible earthquake damage in the back and the front entryway was collapsing.”
Jordan Klucinec, owner of the Draught House, and Roxane Zoccoli, manager of the Draught House, collaborated with Case on the new location of Geo’s Music.
“We put our heads together and said, ‘Why don’t we do the record store up here?’” Case said. “I had quite the extensive cooking background, as well as some of the people around me, so we talked to him about doing the record store up here and the kitchen downstairs.”
Bob McAllister, owner of BoJo’s Creamery, donated the original malt machine — along with its recipe — from the Strouss department store to the Draught House so that it can return to Youngstown.
“So now you can come in, get a malt, get your beer, get a pop, get records, get jerseys — whatever you want — listen to live entertainment, have a good time,” Case said. “We think it’ll give us a true mix of clientele like Youngstown really is — open-minded people. You may come down here one night and hear an acoustic guitar player and another night hear a rock band or hear a rapper. I just wanna do something nice.”
Case, who was born and raised in Painesville, Ohio, moved to Youngstown to attend Youngstown State University in 1987. In 1996, he opened his business because of his love for music.
Singing and writing songs from a young age, Case has had music as a part of the majority of his life. His goal was to run Geo’s Music while meeting Youngstown’s local musicians so he could start his own live band. In 2003, Geo C and Tha Storm was formed and became one of Youngstown’s most popular bands.
Geo’s Music carries a large variety of CDs, LPs and DVDs, as well as sports jerseys and sports cards. Case also orders a large number of his merchandise from independent record labels, allowing him to carry rare music and videos in many genres, including all the latest hip hop and urban music.
“We really know music, and we’re really welcoming,” Case said. “I think that makes the business unique.”
George credits his accomplishments to his wife, Melody Case, and his three children, Lilliana, Diana and Gabriel.
“They’ve become the reason I do all this,” Case said.
Geo’s Music is open through construction. The Draught House’s restaurant will open on Nov. 10 and Geo C and Tha Storm will play live on Geo’s Music’s opening night, Nov. 25, at 9 p.m. Live music, provided by Ann Rock, will be played on Saturdays after opening.