'I've loved every minute': Betty Gibson Comer closing beloved music store after 54 years
Jan. 26—CORBIN — Main Street will lose an iconic landmark when Gibson's Music concludes its going-out-of-business sale in coming days.
The beloved store will close to the public after next Tuesday, January 31, but will be open by appointment only into February as Comer and her staff work to liquidate the remaining inventory.
"We're playing it by ear," owner Betty Gibson Comer said. "We've sold so many things, but we still have a lot to sell. Opening by appointment only will allow us some breathing room."
Comer announced earlier this month that she'd be closing Gibson's Music after 54 years of quality merchandise and unmatched customer service.
"I think we know when it's time," Comer said, noting her husband's passing in 2017 as well as her own 87th birthday last November. "I just want to rest, and enjoy my retirement. I give God the glory. He's blessed me but I sure have worked."
Comer's love for music came from her father.
"My daddy started me in piano lessons when I was six years old," she recalled. "I kept it up and I majored in piano at Cumberland (College)."
Though she had what she calls a good job, Comer felt the call to take a chance and open her own music store at 311 S. Main Street (near One Hour Cleaners) in February 1969.
"I was restless," she said. "I loved my job but I wanted a music store. At that time, I was a single mom and everybody thought I was nuts."
With just 500 square feet, the store later moved to its current location at the corner of Main and 2nd streets (112 S. Main St.) in 1982.
The store initially occupied just part of the building but when neighboring Huff Drug left, Comer convinced her landlord into letting her expand for more than 2,500 square feet of floor space.
The need for space stemmed in no small part from Comer's growing reputation as an upstanding businesswoman throughout the region.
"I got a lot of referrals," she said. "I won't lie to make a sale; I never have. My motto is to treat people like I like to be treated. We may not always live up to the Scripture but we have to try."
In addition to offering a full line of musical instruments, accessories, songbooks, and more, Comer made a name for herself and Gibson's Music by giving piano lessons. When she first opened the store, Comer started teaching 50 children at $2 per lesson. Over the years, Comer estimates she's personally taught at least 200 students in addition to the other teachers who have given lessons there primarily in piano and guitar.
"This has been a rewarding business; I've loved every minute of it," Comer said. "I'll miss this place. The response I've gotten from all my friends and customers since the announcement has just been heartwarming."
Though she'll no longer be running her store, Comer isn't giving up music. She plans to remain involved with the Fine Arts Association of Southeastern Kentucky.
"I've been involved in that for as long as I've had this business," Comer said, adding the importance of the arts to the community.
To make an appointment after Jan. 31, customers may call Gibson's Music at 606-528-1354 or 606-524-1354.
