Age: 60
Resident of: Shrewsbury
Born in: Worcester and lived there until July
Family: Married to XuJing. Three children, Sonja, 31, Peter, 30, and Oji, 8, and five grandchildren
Time in job: 33 years
Resident of: Shrewsbury
Born in: Worcester and lived there until July
Family: Married to XuJing. Three children, Sonja, 31, Peter, 30, and Oji, 8, and five grandchildren
Time in job: 33 years
What made you start
Music Quest?
“I got married (his first marriage) and my father-in-law was renting this storefront at 446 Grafton St. and using it for storage for his flea market stuff. I had no job. So I said, well you know I can hang around in the store. Everyone, everyone, told me go get a job: ‘You’re never going to survive here. No business has ever lasted here. You will never make it.’ I don’t listen to people.”
What were the first things you bought to sell in the store?
“Stick pins … I bought two-dozen butterflies and six-dozen of these knights figures. I had knights. These are cool! I liked them! Well, I sold the butterflies and I had the knights for 10, 12 years … Then I started selling used records and 8-tracks. Then cassettes came along. I would buy them used and sell them, same with records. Then along came CDs.”
How did you get involved in the Dungeons & Dragons craze?
“When I was a kid, I loved playing with little green army men and cowboys and Indians. I would take a little Lincoln Log, small one. I would use it as a bullet and knock them down. If they landed on their stomach, they were dead. If they landed on their back, they were wounded. I would use my American Bricks, my Lincoln Logs, my trains, my Fort Apache. I would make a whole world and then have a war. And sometimes these wars would last two days. I was really into it. But I couldn’t figure out how to play knights in armor, because they had swords and stuff. There was no chance there. There has to be chance. A random thing has to happen. Along comes Dungeons & Dragons with dice, the element of chance, and you use little miniatures. I was in my glory. I got to play with my men again.”
How did you get involved in selling comic books?
“I’ve always been a comic book collector, my whole life. I had the complete set of ‘The Atom’ and ‘Justice League.’ I had the first ‘Spider-Man’ when it came out, ‘Amazing Fantasy No. 15,’ along with ‘Fantastic Four No. 1.’ I bought it off the newsstand at Millbury Center. It was on the corner of Wheelock and Millbury. And they had fish and chips downstairs.”
How was it hunting for comic books when you were a kid?
“When I was a kid, I remember going to stores and there was like this big bin. We had to go through all these comic books and make piles of them to look for the ones we wanted. The next store we had to crawl up a ladder and go into a hole in a wall and there were all comic books up there. We used to crawl in there looking for comic books.”
Is your store nice and roomy or small and cramped?
“My store, it’s tough to walk around in. You got to dig inside my store to find stuff but if you dig, if you poke around, you’ll find a lot of good stuff. My comic books are still like the cover price and cheap. You can make out pretty good there.”
What happened to your comic books?
“My brother took all my comic books to college with him. I was 16 at the time. He promised that he would bring them back. And I remember standing at the edge of the driveway, watching him drive away with my comic books, so sad, so afraid that I would never get them back. And I never got them back, not one.”
What have you seen in your store that makes you sad?
“A kid came in and he had a ‘Thor’ comic book. He told he was so glad that he had it and he was never going to open it. And I was so surprised to hear this little kid saying that. Why is he buying this comic book if he is not going to read it? There’s no fun in that. I’ve seen fathers come in with their kids and they’re going to buy a toy or something and say, ‘Well, we won’t open this.’ Hey, dad, why don’t you buy two, one for you and one for the kid to play with? It’s very sad. I would never tell my kids, don’t open that, never, ever. The fun I had with my toys is priceless compared to what I could have got for them.”
How is business in a bad economy?
“When things are tight, the first thing you give up is the stuff I sell. They don’t buy comic books. They don’t buy games. They don’t buy music. They have to save up for heat, save up for clothes, save up for back to school, save up for food, electricity. All these things are going up and they’re all weirded out.”
What is the best part of owning Music Quest?
“I get to talk to the people. I try to make it be fun and I encourage them to poke around. If they are looking for something, I always try to find it for them. And you know 99 out of a 100 times I do find it for them. And, you know what my secret for that is, I pray to God and ask him to help me find a certain comic book that these people want, because I know God knows where everything is in my store.”
What is the secret of Music Quest’s longevity and success?
“I’ve survived by the grace of God. I really did. God I will be here as long as you want me to be here. And when you don’t want me to be here, I don’t want to be here.”
Compiled by reporter Craig S. Semon
To be featured in or to suggest a job profile, send information to Bob Kievra, Telegram & Gazette, Box 15012, Worcester, MA 01615-0012, or send an e-mail to rkievra@telegram.com.
Music Quest?
“I got married (his first marriage) and my father-in-law was renting this storefront at 446 Grafton St. and using it for storage for his flea market stuff. I had no job. So I said, well you know I can hang around in the store. Everyone, everyone, told me go get a job: ‘You’re never going to survive here. No business has ever lasted here. You will never make it.’ I don’t listen to people.”
What were the first things you bought to sell in the store?
“Stick pins … I bought two-dozen butterflies and six-dozen of these knights figures. I had knights. These are cool! I liked them! Well, I sold the butterflies and I had the knights for 10, 12 years … Then I started selling used records and 8-tracks. Then cassettes came along. I would buy them used and sell them, same with records. Then along came CDs.”
How did you get involved in the Dungeons & Dragons craze?
“When I was a kid, I loved playing with little green army men and cowboys and Indians. I would take a little Lincoln Log, small one. I would use it as a bullet and knock them down. If they landed on their stomach, they were dead. If they landed on their back, they were wounded. I would use my American Bricks, my Lincoln Logs, my trains, my Fort Apache. I would make a whole world and then have a war. And sometimes these wars would last two days. I was really into it. But I couldn’t figure out how to play knights in armor, because they had swords and stuff. There was no chance there. There has to be chance. A random thing has to happen. Along comes Dungeons & Dragons with dice, the element of chance, and you use little miniatures. I was in my glory. I got to play with my men again.”
How did you get involved in selling comic books?
“I’ve always been a comic book collector, my whole life. I had the complete set of ‘The Atom’ and ‘Justice League.’ I had the first ‘Spider-Man’ when it came out, ‘Amazing Fantasy No. 15,’ along with ‘Fantastic Four No. 1.’ I bought it off the newsstand at Millbury Center. It was on the corner of Wheelock and Millbury. And they had fish and chips downstairs.”
How was it hunting for comic books when you were a kid?
“When I was a kid, I remember going to stores and there was like this big bin. We had to go through all these comic books and make piles of them to look for the ones we wanted. The next store we had to crawl up a ladder and go into a hole in a wall and there were all comic books up there. We used to crawl in there looking for comic books.”
Is your store nice and roomy or small and cramped?
“My store, it’s tough to walk around in. You got to dig inside my store to find stuff but if you dig, if you poke around, you’ll find a lot of good stuff. My comic books are still like the cover price and cheap. You can make out pretty good there.”
What happened to your comic books?
“My brother took all my comic books to college with him. I was 16 at the time. He promised that he would bring them back. And I remember standing at the edge of the driveway, watching him drive away with my comic books, so sad, so afraid that I would never get them back. And I never got them back, not one.”
What have you seen in your store that makes you sad?
“A kid came in and he had a ‘Thor’ comic book. He told he was so glad that he had it and he was never going to open it. And I was so surprised to hear this little kid saying that. Why is he buying this comic book if he is not going to read it? There’s no fun in that. I’ve seen fathers come in with their kids and they’re going to buy a toy or something and say, ‘Well, we won’t open this.’ Hey, dad, why don’t you buy two, one for you and one for the kid to play with? It’s very sad. I would never tell my kids, don’t open that, never, ever. The fun I had with my toys is priceless compared to what I could have got for them.”
How is business in a bad economy?
“When things are tight, the first thing you give up is the stuff I sell. They don’t buy comic books. They don’t buy games. They don’t buy music. They have to save up for heat, save up for clothes, save up for back to school, save up for food, electricity. All these things are going up and they’re all weirded out.”
What is the best part of owning Music Quest?
“I get to talk to the people. I try to make it be fun and I encourage them to poke around. If they are looking for something, I always try to find it for them. And you know 99 out of a 100 times I do find it for them. And, you know what my secret for that is, I pray to God and ask him to help me find a certain comic book that these people want, because I know God knows where everything is in my store.”
What is the secret of Music Quest’s longevity and success?
“I’ve survived by the grace of God. I really did. God I will be here as long as you want me to be here. And when you don’t want me to be here, I don’t want to be here.”
Compiled by reporter Craig S. Semon
To be featured in or to suggest a job profile, send information to Bob Kievra, Telegram & Gazette, Box 15012, Worcester, MA 01615-0012, or send an e-mail to rkievra@telegram.com.
