Having cut his teeth in the music industry at the original Allans Music Store in his twenties, young Ron Harrison began his own business, ‘Ron Harrison’s Music Centre’ in Mt Gambier in 1963. After several successful years the family moved back to Adelaide and Ron expanded to a major Yamaha dealership in large premises on Main North Rd, Prospect. This unfortunately turned out to be an unsustainable commercial relationship and so in 1972 a small retail store known by the name of ‘Regent Music’ was born.
The Regent Arcade premises soon proved too small for demand, so in 1976, the move was made to three floors at 128 Grenfell St, with a separate storage facility in adjacent Twin St. In the following year, a wholesale company was formed to meet local demands and to service the growing number of South Australian dealers. Ron’s sons Paul, Graeme and Stephen, and daughter Joanne all joined the company, bringing their respective strengths to relevant areas of the thriving business. The mid-80’s saw rapid expansion, which included new stores in Alice Springs, Broken Hill and Mildura – unfortunately, we are no longer operating in these locations outside of Adelaide.
A subsequent move to Currie St was not long after followed by a significant consolidation of the business, and a further move to Morphett St where, in 1989, Ron established “Harrison Music” on his own. Sons and daughter had diversified somewhat by this time, but their contact and input to the music industry was by no means finished.
The nineties (1994) saw Harrison Music move back to Grenfell St on the corner of Da Costa Arcade. The final move (1997) saw a consolidation of Harrison Music into the premises at number 68, with guitars and other fretted instruments on the ground floor, and sheet music (including a wonderful “memory lane” range of hard-to-find secondhand and out-of-print music), a small selection of brass and woodwind, a good range of orchestral strings (incorporating Graeme’s specialised violin repair skills), PA and audio equipment and accessories, plus electronic and acoustic drums and percussion taking over the larger basement area.
In 2008, son Graeme and his wife Ann (the Regent Music office girl back in the 70’s & 80’s who snared the boss’s son) returned to the fold, and purchased the business from Graeme’s father, whilst Ron, sixty years wiser in the music industry, continued to give his all in the store to service the needs of musicians near and far. With the addition of the new web-store and an increasing focus on customer experience, Graeme, Ann and their growing team of passionate musos are committed to providing all of Harrison Music’s customers with a standard of service that is expected of a family business.
For more of the story view our short documentary on YouTube.
NEW FEATURE 2023 – To view our great ARCHIVE OF OLD PHOTOS tracing the 60 year history
of Harrison Music & Regent Music hover over and then click on this link: Link to Archive of photos . . .
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Went in to buy a ukulele just over a week ago with little knowledge. The gentleman serving was very knowledgeable and showed me a range of ukuleles suited to my skill level and needs. I found the perfect ukulele and haven’t been able to put it down since. Great range, knowledgeable staff and no pressure. Will be coming back.
Caity Johnson
A store with lots of instruments and music books, the assistant is very helpful as well.
Gerry GU
Great shop with massive range of products and low as prices, get yourself here because it’s the best Shop in the area and worth the extra walk
Jimmy Davidson
Knowledgeable and friendly staff members. Great service and reasonable prices. Two thumbs up. Very helpful crew.
Calvin Puah
Fantastic customer service, excellent price, quality goods.
David Hancock
Nice choice of well maintained guitars, friendly staff.
Tom Haubner