We’ve written a number of times about The Acoustic Shoppe in Springfield, MO, one of the last full-service music stores in the country catering largely to the bluegrass and old time string music market.
Run by the Chapman brothers, who once toured extensively with their dad as The Chapmans, the store is unique not only in surviving the great retail retrenchment of the past decade or so, but continues to grow and thrive in that difficult market by both offering quality instruments and service to people in southwestern Missouri, and fast, reliable online ordering for people elsewhere in the world.
The Chapmans boys (John, Jeremy, and Jason) jointly own and manage the business, with lessons available on all the common bluegrass and acoustic instruments, plus instructional materials, accessories, strings, repairs, and the like.
The occasions when we mention them tend to be awards and special notices the Shoppe receives within the retail music industry – or for their hilarious and often over-the-top antics at their booth during World of Bluegrass each year.
Now we can report that The Acoustic Shoppe has made the 2026 Inc. 5000 list from Inc. Magazine, which ranks privately-held US businesses doing at least $2 million in annual revenue. The Chapmans came in this year at #3211, which was #206 nationally in consumer products.
The magazine noted the careful attention the Shoppe staff pays to instrument inspection and set up prior to sale, which allows them to boast of a ridiculously low return rate of only 1.01%. High marks were also given for their highly effective social media accounts, particularly on YouTube, where they post new content several times each week, sometimes featuring music celebrity guests, and others highlighting new instruments that have come in.
Acoustic Shoppe CEO Jeremy Chapman says that this recognition goes to their entire staff.
“We sell instruments to people who have never set foot in Springfield, and that only works if they trust what we tell them about an instrument. Ninety-three percent growth is what happens when you put real players in front of a camera, describe an instrument honestly—including what might not be perfect about it—offer our industry-leading 1-Year Dread-Not Guarantee, and build community around our love of acoustic instruments. There are no shortcuts, and it doesn’t happen without our team. We had 11 employees when this period started and 15 when it ended. This ranking belongs to them.”
Congratulations to everyone at The Acoustic Shoppe for this acknowledgement!
