Walking on a street in New Delhi,
India, Brookline resident Dominic Cucinotti saw an Indian man selling
wooden flutes for 25 cents each. That gave him an idea.
On a whim, Cucinotti decided to buy a couple
hundred of the flutes to resell for a few bucks each in America. Now,
almost 20 years later, Cucinotti owns and operates his own store,
Dominic's Music, in Washington Square.
After he bought the wooden flutes, Cucinotti
resold them to different music vendors, including Emilio Lyons, the
manager of Rayburn Music Company on Huntington Avenue in Boston. Lyons
then gave Cucinotti some saxophones to sell on consignment and
Cucinotti began selling musical instruments at local flea markets on
the weekends. Six years ago, a space opened up in the Cambridge
Antique Market and Cucinotti decided to leave his job at a computer
company to sell and repair instruments full time.
"Basically I Decided to do it full time
because I was sick and tired of working in the corporate world," said
the 57-year-old vegetarian who holds weekly meditation sessions with
friends in the back room of his shop.
But in June, the owners of the Antique
Market announced that the building was being converted to
condominiums, leaving Cucinotti to scramble for a new space in a tight
seller's market. In August, he found his current small basement shop
next to 13 cats. The narrow space is lined with new and used
saxophones, flutes, clarinets, and violins.
Because he is a one-man operation who buys
new instruments in bulk and has low overhead costs, Cucinotti is able
to offer prices so low his customers often admit they expected to pay
more. But when Cucinotti makes a deal he puts all his cards on the
table for his customers to see. It's a trick of the trade that's
rarely dealt in the competitive world, but it's what sets Cucinotti
apart from most large instrument dealers in the area.
Cucinotti operates on the principle that if
his customers feel they got a good deal and were treated well, they
will come back and tell their friends about the place. And it seems
Cucinotti's philosophy has paid off. About 70 percent of his customers
come back for upgrades or to sell them on consignment. The rest of
his customers largely come in after he has been recommended to them,
Cucinotti said.
"I can't compare with stores downtown. The
only thing I can hope for is word of mouth. My main thing is that I'll
beat anyone else's price," Cucinotti said.
When Cambridge musician Heidi Larisch
came in last week looking for a small saxophone to take with her on a
trip to Bolivia, Cucinotti was able to sell her one for about half the
price she'd find it elsewhere. He even showed her his cost, which
surprised Larisch.
"It was nice working with Dominic. He's kind
of an old-fashioned deal maker," Larisch said. "He was really up
front about everything and that's refreshing because some people
aren't."
While Cucinotti has sold to many local
musicians, some of whom have played with well known bands, he said he
also sells to many families who have children just starting to play.
Not only are the prices reasonable, but Cucinotti will pay the full
value of the instrument on trade in if it is in good condition.
"He's a nice guy who tries hard. He's a very honest and reliable person who stands behind what he says," said Lyons.
Music has been important to Cucinotti since he was a child.
Growing up in Boston, Cucinotti played the
saxophone, clarinet, and flute. His siblings, and now his own
children, nieces and nephews, also have an interest in music, which
allows them to play and sing, especially during the holidays.
"We got together at my brother's house for Thanksgiving and played for five or six hours," Cucinotti said.
Although Cucinotti no longer plays many
gigs, his last major concert was for a host of pretty impressive
guests, including President Bill Clinton. When the president was in
Boston for a fund-raising event a few years ago, Cucinotti played in
the 22-piece John Payne Saxophone Choir at the Park Plaza Castle.
Security was so tight, the Secret Service did background checks on
each musician and they had to leave their instruments at the door to
be searched by White House staff.
Now that he spends most of his time buying,
selling, trading and repairing instruments, Cucinotti is glad he left
his job in the corporate sector to own and operate his own shop. And
while he sometimes misses playing gigs, he likes the flexible but more
stable hours of running a business in the town he's lived in for 20
years.
"When I came into this business, I decided
to give people a really good deal hoping they'd come back. I think
it's worked," said Cucinotti.
-By Michele Netto
TAB Staff Writer
The Brookline TAB, December 11, 1997
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