THERE was music to the ears of local musicians last month with the re-opening of a popular Dunfermline shop after a three-year absence.

Kenny’s Music was closed at the start of the pandemic and, after a management buy-out, is now back up and running from its Elgin Street base.

Its new managing director, Alex Marten, has been delighted to welcome back customers.

“We all closed during the pandemic and there was the whole lockdown thing when people couldn’t visit the stores then the supply chain for the industry couldn’t get enough stock,” he said.

“At the beginning, the three bigger stores in Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen opened back up but we just couldn’t get enough stock to fill Dunfermline as well. We were constantly getting messages asking when the Dunfermline store was going to open.

“Kenny, who started the company, had it since 2008. He formally retired in June and I took it over. Kenny had gone through the whole pandemic which was really hard work. He had to deal with furlough and looked after everyone. With the management buy-out in June, I decided we had to get the store open again as there was so much demand. The supply chain was getting a bit better so that wasn’t so much of a stumbling block.”

After the closure period, Alex faced forming a new team and recruited manager Gordon McIntosh plus two more employees to work in the store.

“We have got a couple of guys working for us who are local musicians,” he explained.

“It is a real space for a local retailer who actually understands the local music community. For me, it is important that that the people who work in the store are local musicians and know the industry and the local venues.

“What we are hoping to do is really get much more involved with the local music industry and maybe have gigs in the store and we are hoping to sponsor local events. It is about trying to support the music scene that supports us.

“We have done it (the shop) up, repainted it and we really want to make it a destination and a great location. We want to make it really comfortable, a nice place to hang out and we are planning to get sofas, armchairs and maybe beanbags. It is an old school music shop. We have got to be different and that is what sets us aside from ordering online.”