Sweetwater is the largest music store in America. A stone, glass, and steel campus crescendoing up along Route 30 out of the Indiana landscape, 10-minutes from downtown Fort Wayne. Walk through the door and you immediately become aware of the depth, not only of the building but the vision and subsequent mission of Sweetwater. You will be greeted with a Volkswagen Microbus, saxophone, boy scout uniform, and a variety of antiqued recording equipment. All tributes to a man named Chuck Surack who is the creator of Sweetwater. Follow the museum quality timeline to learn of the route, achievement, and success in Sweetwater’s development. Take time to learn of their dedication to community, music, and others as since 1979 they have donated over $40 million dollars and have ongoing collaborations with over 600 nonprofit organizations.
Past the always pleasant concierge, waits the store itself. 45,000 square feet. Selling over 100,000 products and working with over 1,200 top music brands. The atmosphere is vibrant and positive and to walk through the doorway is to enter a magical musicland. One-of-a-kind and unique instruments greet you along with racks of accessories and gear. A wall of headphones with values up to $4,000 are waiting to be listened to and compared. The center of the store contains the world’s largest foot pedal display and sales associates are available to explain and help musicians or beginners find what fits their need.
The employees at Sweetwater are exceptional—positive, knowledgeable, and respects any level of musical knowledge and experience. In fact Sweetwater is world renown for excellent customer service, with a Net Promoter score of 91%. Sweetwater’s motto is “Do the right thing” and they follow through, including a small bag of sweet candy with each sale. Over 1 million pounds were shipped with orders last year!
Surrounding the center area are rooms dedicated to different types of instruments and the music beckons you to visit each one. Acoustic guitars, bass guitars, electric guitars, percussion and drums, pianos, keyboards and synthesizers, used gear, band, and orchestra equipment—each room is filled with instruments, which as a guest you are invited to play! From beginner instruments to $10,000 guitars and $60,000 grand pianos. Wandering from room to room is like going to micro concerts of blues to hard rock to classical. From those still learning the notes to skilled artists of their craft, there is always music being made. Sales engineers are available to help but music tends to create a fellowship and it is not uncommon for guests to offer help. A guitarist picking the blues explains to a teen how to strum the major cords, a man on the way out from drum lesson shows a boy how to hold the drumsticks, and a concert pianist stops in the middle of a concerto to help a girl figure out that you move from an E to an A in the opening bars of Fur Elise, and then returns with sheet music purchased for her. Sweetwater forms relationships and community.
There are also demo studios for artists to discover their live sound, lighting, and recording needs. The new audio room takes a listener into a video game, movie, or piece of music with an unbelievable immersion into the sound.
Leaving the store you go into the rest of the Sweetwater building. Designed for guests and employees there is a 2-story slide for both children and adults (feet first please!), free video arcade, a pool table, and ping pong table. The Downbeat Diner cafeteria offers reasonably priced, from-scratch food including the best soups in town! There is a large drink station and for those wanting a little more, the Crescendo Cafe offers sweets and a full coffee cafe experience. The seating area is expansive enough to spread out for work or games or just chat with family or friends.
Sweetwater is also a venue for music. There is a cafe style stage which hosts free concerts from a variety of artists several times a month from noon till 1pm. Drum Circle is held the 1st Tuesday of the month at 7pm, Acoustic Jam is held the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 5pm, Open Mic Night is the 3rd Monday at 6:30pm, Songwriter Open Mic Night is the third Tuesday at 6:30PM, and Jazz Jam is held the third Thursday of the month at 7pm.
Grab lunch or some coffee and come listen! Classes to create musical expression for different ages and abilities are offered for a nominal fee. The Sweetwater Performance Pavilion, an outside venue, hosts national acts each summer.
Other services at the Sweetwater complex include music lessons, service center, workshops and masterclasses. Please see the website for programming here.
The unique service and selection of Sweetwater has customers from all over the world. Local, regional, and national bands make detours to Fort Wayne just for a Sweetwater visit. Come yourself.. listen, play, watch, and discover the wonder of music at Sweetwater!
