'I needed to keep the music in Amherstburg': 21-year-old musician turns into entrepreneur

Bethany D’Alimonte didn’t want the music to end.

“He was going to close up shop and I couldn't let that happen,” said the 21-year-old who was an employee of Musicland in Amherstburg.

She had also been a student at the store when she was young.

“I started playing music when I was seven right in this very building right in that back room was my first piano lesson,” she said.

The owner was planning on closing the business which has been there since 1986 but D’Alimonte wasn't about to let that happen.

“I needed to do it to keep the music in Amherstburg,” she said.

Bethany grew up around music. Her dad, at one point, was a partner of Musicland.

“Taught music here in the store. Had many students and we were playing in the band five-six nights a week,” said John D’Alimonte.

In February, Bethany, a business and marketing student at St. Clair College, made her pitch and took over the music store.

It was a full circle moment for her dad.

“It makes you feel proud. She's now got students. She's teaching. She has teachers here,” he said.

One of the teachers, Mrs. Farmer, is a lady who taught piano to Bethany when she first started.

“She's taught me all of the things I needed to know about music and applying my knowledge from school into the real business world. She’s awesome,” D’Alimonte said.

The young new boss is part of a revitalization that continues in and around Richmond Street and this business will now become a hub for music and creativity.

“Giving the community a space to learn and create is something special just because I had that when I was a kid,” she said.

Anne Creery, general manager of the Amherstburg Chamber of Commerce, is hopeful the growth in the area continues.

“There's a number of other things that I'm sure will come because when you have this kind of business it tends to attract more business,” Creery said.

Also on the horizon for the district are a boutique hotel and the re-development of the old Duffy site.