Waseca Music Company

Photo by Kris Kathmann

Kozy Sounds

Iconic music store owner survives health issues to play loud and well again.

What business has been around for more than a half century, serves the music needs of several south-central Minnesota communities and is owned and operated by people who work there without pay? The answer: Waseca Music Company—and Jim Kozan has been the lifeblood of the business since 2005. Before that, it was his mother, Ruth, and his wife, Judy, who kept the store going.

“We’re in our sixtieth year,” Kozan said, “but there has been a music store in Waseca for more than 100 years. A Mr. Perrin, who began a music store in Waseca over a century ago, was having a closing-out sale in 1952. My folks bought out his stock and founded the Waseca Music Company. It‘s one of the oldest family-owned music stores in Minnesota.” Thus began the Kozan family tradition of working for the sake of providing the community with a music store.

With music playing softly in the background, Kozan perched on a stool and explained, “This is our family contribution to the town. Mom and Dad just really liked music. My father was a chief mechanical engineer at E.F. Johnson, where my mother was in office management, and that’s where they met. When they opened the store, they were in their 30s with four small children. He went on to retire from E.F. Johnson, but my mother left her job to work in the store without pay. Not only did my parents have the store, but my mother also was an organist and vocalist all over Southern Minnesota. My father, Joe, passed in 1997 at age 82, but my mother, who’s 91, still lives alone and stops in the store every week after her hair appointment to express her happiness that the store is still here. She still owns it, but I’m the heir. I’m the second of five children and the oldest son, None of my brothers or sisters were interested in the responsibility of the store.”

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Posters and photos cover one store wall, most from recent decades but some from the mid-20th century. There’s Streisand, McCartney and Dylan, alongside Puff Daddy, Rod Stewart, and Asleep at the Wheel. There also are photos of bands having a relationship with Waseca County, bands that have bought their instruments from the Kozans, such as the El Toros, the Cletus Hane Band and Chopstix Percussion, a group of drummers who took part in parades in the early ’90s. To the right of the photos, a shelf displays two accordions—two banjos hang above it.

There’s a hand bell set for children, and child-sized ukuleles in pink, shiny black, royal blue, kelly green and apple red. There are child-sized violins in plum, navy and coral, as well as the traditional brown. The guitars, available in one-half, three-quarter, five-sixths and full sizes, sport equally varied colors.

The few books displayed here and there throughout are equally eclectic. There’s a biography of Jimi Hendrix, Poems of Faith by Helen Steiner Rice, a humorous book about growing up Lutheran and a volume titled All About the Symphony Orchestra. There also are several vintage music magazines that Kozan picked up somewhere and doesn’t quite know how to price. There’s an August 1953 Hit Parade and a June 1951 Song Hits, featuring Helen O’Connell on the cover.

Drums, horns and guitars crowd the window, but the showpiece is a grand piano. “My daughter had it at home and played it,” Kozan said, “but later she put it into storage. It’s from the 1920s, and came to Waseca from Germany, via New York, San Francisco, and Minneapolis.

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“We’re a Mom-and-Pop shop,“ Kozan said. “I’ve always worked here on a part-time basis all my life. My first job, when I was about six, was delivering payments, such as for our utility bills, to Waseca merchants. I got paid three cents for each one I delivered.”

As a student at Sacred Heart School in Waseca, Kozan was taught piano lessons by nuns in second, third, fourth, and seventh grades. In between, in fifth and sixth grades, he studied baritone horn with Herb Streitz, who was the Waseca Community Band Director.

In high school, also at Sacred Heart, Kozan played the Sousaphone in the school band. (“The fingering is the same as on the baritone horn,” he explained. In addition to playing keyboard and harmonica, he’s self-taught on rhythm guitar and drums.) He also played basketball in high school and decided he wanted to be an NBA player like his hero, Elgin Baylor of the Los Angeles Lakers. Instead, he majored in business at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, graduating in 1972 with a degree in Quantitative Methods Accounting. It was his first love, though, on which he launched his early career.

“I was a road musician for 15 years—keyboard, harmonica and vocals,” he said. “I traveled steadily with the Zero Ted Band and The New Morning Band, but cut back to weekends when Judy and I had a family. Then I worked at Brown Printing for almost 20 years, first as a human resources supervisor, then in warehouse management and recycling management.”

In 1994, Kozan’s life hit a sour note. A stroke cost him his speech and all memory of the 400 or-so songs he used to perform. A year of therapy at Sister Kenny Institute in Minneapolis, along with care at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, reawakened some abilities, but it was a long, slow road he traveled to regain his performance quality.

“It took me 14 years, until 2008, to be able to sing and play simultaneously again,” Kozan said. “I relearned song lyrics one syllable at a time. I’m probably two-thirds there with my memory now. When I perform, I bring along a book that has the words typed out in a large font. During the years I couldn’t play and sing at the same time, I hosted karaoke in clubs on weekends and was a disc jockey for wedding dances and special events.”

It was in 2009, after feeling confident in regaining much of his earlier ability, that Kozan formed the Kozy “Lil” Duo with Bob Stephan, another Wasecan, and resumed performing on weekends. They sing and play ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s and country songs.
Another health issue—failing kidneys—had led Kozan to leave Brown Printing in 2003. Between dialysis treatments, he worked at the store.
“I’ve been in the store on a consistent basis without pay since the early ‘80s,” Kozan explained, “but from 1996 to 2006, my wife was the main player in running the store with my mother. After I left Brown Printing, I spent more time at the store, but I also did odd jobs for pay.”
In 2005, his mother, then 85 years old, decided to retire, so Kozan stepped in as the primary proprietor. Another milestone came in October 2006, when Kozan got a kidney transplant. Whether there’s a connection or not, that’s when his memory of song lyrics took a leap forward.
Kozan’s musical talent provides the explanation for his ability to manage the store without taking a salary. In addition to performing with the Kozy “Lil“ Duo, Kozan has a disc jockey business, DJ Kozy, with his son Clint. (“Clint’s also quite a vocalist,” Kozan said, “and Judy was a vocalist and quite the flute player in her day.”) The third piece of the financial puzzle is that Kozan, now 63, began collecting Social Security last year.

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The store is officially open 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, with Kozan there the entire time.

When staying late to rearrange inventory or do recordkeeping, he often hears a customer come through the door after hours. His wife works ten hours a week on billing and bill paying; their son Clint works at the counter five hours a week.

“A town of 10,000 doesn’t usually have a music store because it takes somebody who isn’t there for the money,” Kozan said. “I’m always checking how much things are selling for on the Internet. I do not sell over the Internet, but order music online and over the phone. Special orders of CDs and DVDs bring in traffic. A lot of people who don’t have computers want us to order for them. We average 40 special orders at Christmas. Here, at the point-of-sale, there’s no wait and no shipping charge.

“One thing that has really grown is guitar repair, such as restringing, neck straightening, showing people how to tune by using electronics. We also have a ton of spare parts for guitars and band instruments.”

At least half the store’s customers are junior and senior high school students from Waseca, Janesville, New Richland, Waterville, Morristown, and a few from Owatonna. They get instruments, reeds, valve oils, cleaners and sheet music. The next most frequent customers are church organists and pianists, choir directors, private music teachers and adult band members.

“Adult band members buy mostly accessories,” Kozan said. “That’s because we don’t sell major, expensive guitars, although we can order a $500 guitar. In our stocking, we respond to demand, so we have good guitars for getting kids going in the $90 to $350 range.”

And then there are repairs. Kozan explained, “Karl Pratt, who lives in rural Waseca, has training and long experience in instrument repairs. He does the repairs on brass and woodwinds, keeps us current and is a great addition to Waseca Music as a sub-contractor. We used to have to go to Owatonna, Mankato or Redwood Falls for repairs. Karl’s right here in emergencies, before a concert or a marching day, and he can get it done.

“Another crowd that comes in here are piano teachers, sometimes from 50 miles away,” Kozan said. “They get regular piano instruction books and sheet music from the ‘50s onward. We have a really great selection of sheet music, probably 500.” In addition to piano music, the sheet music ranges from Rihanna to Elvis Presley, from Justin Bieber to Bill and Gloria Gaither, from Lady Gaga to marching band scores.

“Our theme through the years has been ‘a little of this and a little of that,’” Kozan said. “We don’t have a sales crew that goes out on the road to other high schools. We’re not here to take over the world. Although people come from other counties, we’re here to serve Waseca. People tell us, ‘We’re so glad you’re here.’”

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The Customers

Kozan usually sees 15 to 20 customers a day. Even on a Wednesday afternoon during a slow post-Christmas week, customer interruptions of the Connect Business Magazine interview were steady.

• A man came in looking for a harmonica for a two-year-old granddaughter. Kozan suggested a “starter” harmonica that cost $3, but showed the customer five harmonicas. He bought a $7 model.
• A New Richland parent phoned to ask about purchasing a music book, drumsticks and a drum for her son. Kozan recommended trying a drum pad before buying a drum.
• A student brought her flute in for an overhaul. Kozan made a minor adjustment on it and asked her to bring it back on the weekend.
• A customer came in to make a time payment on her children’s keyboard–the fifth payment in as many months. (Kozan charges no interest the first nine months.) She also made a rental payment on one of her children’s clarinets.
• The Waseca High School Choir Director ordered sheet music for the new semester, stopping to chat about high school class schedules.
• A mother and son delivered a poster for the Waseca Band Boosters upcoming chili feed.
• A Latino father and two children came in to ask about a Mexican guitar, one with 10 strings. Kozan was able to special order it and gave the customer a discount.

The Real Kozan

• Family: wife Judy, sons Clint and Clayton, daughter Amber, and three grandchildren.
• Favorite school subject: “Math, it was easy for me. After that, piano playing.”
• Least favorite subject: “History—too much reading. Now, two of our three children are history majors in college.”
• What do you wish you had studied? “I wish I could speak Spanish (to better serve customers), French, which has become rusty since college, and Yugoslavian, because my grandparents came from there.”
• Community affiliations: Waseca Area Chamber of Commerce, supporter (labor, equipment and money) of Waseca Classic Committee annual marching parade, piano player in annual “Christmas Time’s a’Coming,” and past Rotarian (20 years).
• Hobbies: “I enjoy doing yard work and landscaping on our property in a rural neighborhood in the woods, about five miles south of Waseca.”
• Accomplishment of which most proud: “Being alive after a stroke and a kidney transplant. And there’s a lot of pride the store is still paying its bills.”
• Most valued intangible: “Being open-minded and flexible.”
• How people describe you: “Nice guy.”
• If you could change one thing: “Our present location was built in 1891. I would like to have two newer buildings, one with studios and practice rooms, and one for the store.”
• If not in the music business: “I think I’d be managing some kind of business taking care of people.”

The Pumper, The Peddler, And The Politician

It isn’t everyone who can say he has played music for former Congressman Tim Penny, another Wasecan. “I played keyboard for Tim’s first U.S. Congress victory party in 1982 at the American Legion in New Richland,” Kozan said. “Our families go way back.”

A photo taken at the 2002 Minnesota State Fair, when Penny was running for Minnesota governor, appears on the Waseca Music Store’s website (wasecamusic.com, with links to bands and musicians). There’s Rick Kritzer (owner of Kritzer’s Oil in Waseca) on electric guitar, Marty Bumm (now retired from a sales career) on stand-up bass and Tim Penny on acoustic guitar—the pumper, the peddler, and the politician.

THE ESSENTIALS

Waseca Music Company
Contact: Jim Kozan
Phone: 888-835-2980
Address: 111 South State Street, Waseca, MN
Web: wasecamusic.com