Ninow’s Music is moving to Main Street; owner cites decline of Railroad Avenue area

After 57 years on Railroad Avenue, Ninow’s Music is moving to Main Street.

The music store is relocating to 30 West Main Street, proprietor Ralph Vail told RiverheadLOCAL Friday.

Ninow’s will occupy two ground floor stores at that location, Vail said. Fronting Main Street will be Ninow’s retail operation, while the shop located in the back of the building, adjacent to the parking lot, will be used for instrument repairs, he said.

The Railroad Avenue area is “becoming more and more family-unfriendly,” Vail said. He’s had too many customers complain about the area, telling him they are not comfortable going to his store.

“We’re tired of hearing it,” Vail said.

The new location on Main Street will provide much more visibility and a larger space, which will help him compete in a changing environment.

“When we first started there was no internet, no guitar centers, no discount stores like Target selling cheap guitars. There were no photocopiers reproducing sheet music,” recalled Vail, who, at 65, has been working in the music business his entire adult life.

Ninow’s Music was founded by Otto Ninow and his wife Lisa in 1956, he said. Vail’s mother, Edna (“Edde”) Vail played accordion with Ninow in a wedding band, and taught piano lessons in her pupil’s homes. The Ninows wanted to open a store and asked her to start teaching there, Vail said.

“He was in a concentration camp and music saved his life,” Vail said of the store founder.

The Ninow-Vail collaboration would last a decade. Vail’s mother bought the store about 10 years after it opened and the Vails have been running it ever since.

“I’ve spent more time in that building than in my own home,” Vail said.

He sold the building a couple of years ago, but remained there as a tenant.

Edde Vail, who will be 97 on April 27, is paralyzed from a stroke several years ago and suffering from dementia. Vail is her primary caretaker and divides his time between running Ninow’s and taking care of his mom.

“Once in a while we can get her over to the piano and she plays with one finger,” he said. “She still loves it.”

The music store owner said he is looking forward to a fresh start in his new location in a revitalizing downtown. He officially takes occupancy today, but Ninow’s will remain open at its current location as the new store is set up and made ready. Vail said the move will be complete in time for the peak musical instrument rental season this fall.

Photo captions: (Top) Ralph Vail outside his music store on Railroad Avenue, where it has stood for 57 years; (Bottom) Vail inside the store on Friday afternoon . RiverheadLOCAL photos by Peter Blasl.

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