A Musician’s Music Store
Acoustic Corner, founded in Black Mountain in 2000, isn’t your typical music store. The focus is intentional and personal: quality stringed instruments, from student rentals to vintage treasures, and boutique makes. Owner David Zoll, a long-time teacher and musician himself, selects each with care.
“As a 20-year instructor, I only want to hang things on the wall that I feel good about,” David explains. “Having a quality instrument to get started with makes you feel confident. Nothing that just came from a factory right to you. That’s not what we do at all.” Rather than carrying big-box brands with household names, David seeks out manufacturers and works with long-standing vendor partners that represent exceptional quality instruments that match or surpass more expensive, well-known competitors.
David’s path from employee to ownership came through cherished relationships and mentorship, too. The original owners “treated him like family,” helping him in work and personal life. When they sold to Joe, another owner, the partnership continued to flourish.
“Joe told me straight out that he thought I was the most unused asset they really had,” David recalls. “He was really encouraging.” So, when Joe sat him down one day to ask if David wanted to take over the business, it felt like a natural, exciting progression.
There was just one problem: like many small businesses, he needed help with financing.
David heard about Mountain BizWorks through positive experiences from other business owners in the area. When he was approached about taking over, Mountain BizWorks was the first organization he contacted. Even with a COVID-based delay, he secured a business loan to become the owner of Acoustic Corner in 2021.
Beyond capital, Mountain BizWorks provided something equally valuable: confidence and support systems through classes and workshops. “I definitely would not have been able to do this without their help,” he emphasizes.
Then, less than a year into ownership, David received an email that made his heart sink: “We’re coming to appraise the building.” He called his wife and said, “There’s only one way this is going: they obviously want to sell the building,” David remembers.
He looked at comparable spaces, but there was nowhere else they wanted to be. “The store has been here this entire time, and I didn’t want to move it,” David explains. The building also offered something crucial: expansion potential. While the showroom occupies 900 square feet, the entire building—the former McMurray Chevrolet dealership—spans 5,300 square feet.
David went back to Mountain BizWorks, this time in pursuit of a commercial real estate loan. In 2023, he secured the building.
“There’s enough challenges running a small business day to day, but when you own the building and you’re not subjected to a lease—to have that peace of mind is instrumental, without a doubt.”
“There’s a part of me that feels like being a steward of it at this point,” David says of the business’s legacy. “This place has been such a community staple here for 25 years.”
David’s goals remain aspirational: to be mentioned alongside legendary southeastern instrument stores like Gruhn Guitars and Carter Vintage in Nashville. With building ownership secured and plans for expansion, that goal seems increasingly achievable. “We’re getting there,” he says with quiet confidence.
“It’s a great thing about music and business: there’s always more to learn. You are a student for life.”
