Globs of paint splattered across the wood floor as Michael Bilodeau wedged off the metal cover of his paint bucket.

Bilodeau poured the off-white paint into a tray for Austin Pratt, a local musician helping to bring new life into the old Citizens Bank on Village Street in Penacook, which will soon be the new home of Strings and Things Music. 

“It’s a really unique setup; we’re going to hang acoustics from the ceiling and the former teller windows will be used for repairs and sales,” Bilodeau said of the former bank layout. 

Bilodeau and his son, Eric, decided it was time to purchase their own property during the winter of 2022 when the building they leased on South Main Street in downtown Concord was sold to Kelley Family Properties, a local realty group that owns several mixed-use properties throughout Concord. 

In March, the father-and-son pair began renovating their new purchase to become the newest location for their family business, Strings and Things Music, which has moved seven times since it opened in 1982.

Over the last 41 years, the popular music store has offered lessons to children and adults, instrument repair, and sold musical equipment and books for beginners and advanced musicians. 

“They’re great tenants and I’m glad they’re staying in Concord but I’m sorry to see them go,” said Ben Kelley, owner of Kelley Family Properties. “I would have been happy to have them stay, but the timing works because I do want to see those buildings improved and give them a much-needed facelift.”

With repairs, sales and lessons booming, the Bilodeaus have installed walls throughout the second floor of their new building to make space for several lesson rooms and an online sales room. Downstairs, they will capitalize on the unique space as a showroom with a private temperature-controlled room in the back for specific wooden instruments. 

Until the big move in the fall, they will continue renovations with the help of Legacy Mechanical Plumbing, Irish Electric, R A Desmarais & Son and North Branch Construction. 

Ahead of his purchase a year and a half ago, Kelley hoped to group together three parcels of land to include 111-113 South Main Street, a vacant lot abutting the property that is city-owned and a parcel of land owned by the state on Sexton and Storrs streets, he said. But sale negotiations are moving slowly. 

For now, he plans to improve the building by replacing siding and roofing and enhancing the overall aesthetic of the exterior. 

“I did not buy it explicitly to redevelop it; I view it as a gateway into Concord when paired with the potential of the city-owned property that abuts it and the state land on Sexton and Storrs streets,” Kelley said. 

Once vacated by the business, work at the Main Street building is expected to begin by the end of the year with plans to keep the first floor retail-based while the second floor, which is now being used as lesson rooms by Strings and Things, will be converted into multi-family housing. Included in the sale was the Ethereal Tattoo property which will remain at its location for the foreseeable future. 

“I look for value opportunities and that is a site that, location-wise, is at a lit intersection on South Main Street and it happens to be tired and needs some attention,” Kelley said. “It can be an important and impactful site if paired with the adjacent undeveloped parcels.”

Kelley owns three additional mixed-use properties on North Main Street and notably bought the 65,000-square-foot, five-story brick office building at 6 Loudon Road for $5.6 million in 2019 and sold it for $10.5 million in 2022. 

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