It’s a Dublin institution that spans back to the early 90’s – there was always a welcome at Waltons for the curious ear, the eager novice or the all-out aficionado, and frequently all three categories would be found populating piano stools around the shop, playing everything from Tchaikovsky to Chopsticks.
The announcement that their beloved George’s Street shop would be closing its doors was met with heartbreak from music fans the world over. Sean O’Rourke was joined by Managing Director and grandson of the founder, Neil Walton, who explained that rising rents and the shift to online shopping priced them out of business.
As any fan of that inner city sanctuary knows, Waltons was about more than just retail. It was about community.
"I think that in the loss of George’s St, I feel more poignantly for the stories. I remember going in and looking at the building on the very first day when we went to open it and you’ve got to see in that time, 25 years, we’ve shared a lot of time with people and great friends… There are always a lot of human stories behind the loss of a store."
Waltons got a new injection of life of course when it was featured in the Oscar-winning film Once, starring Glen Hansard.
"Glen and the Once team came into us and said do you mind if we film in the shop on a Sunday as we’re shooting this film… I think it was 2 hours that they shot the scene. Then, of course, it went viral and they won the Oscar for the song."
An image of the shop was used as the backdrop on the stage at the Oscar performance of the song, and the Once team continue to be hugely supportive of the business. Of course, the movie brought a stream of tourists into the premises, all looking for their Instagram-worthy shot.
"We had thousands of Japanese, American tourists coming in, wanting to photograph the piano that was there. What happened was quite funny because the piano got donated to charity… People were still coming in and saying 'Can we photograph the piano where it was done?' - and at the end the staff, it was too difficult to explain, they’d say 'Yes it’s that black and white one there, that’s the piano...' There were people taking photographs and I’m afraid, it probably wasn’t the original one!"
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The Waltons Music School continues to operate above the shop, and Waltons has alternative branches, but Neil says that if you want personalised service, you have to support local.
"I think we have changing times. I call it robots and algorithms. That’s what we’re fighting and the robots are the automatic pickers which can do everything faster than human beings can and the algorithms are the targeted marketing at people. What we are trying to do is stay in a world where we can actually give personal service to people… There is a point which says that people know the price of everything and the value of nothing, and when you understand that you want to go and get advice or help or go in and practice at lunchtime or see the guitar, that if you’re not careful, you might not be there."
