Lillian Werbin and Elderly Instruments

How to be Elderly in the modern era?

Surely, that’s the question that’s always on the mind of Lillian Werbin, CEO of Elderly Instruments, one of the nation’s best-known sellers of fretted and stringed instruments. At any time, there are upwards of 1600 guitars, banjos, mandolins, and other instruments at the store, which fills a rambling, repurposed Masonic lodge in Lansing, Mich. And while a pilgrimage to purchase an axe at Elderly is on the bucket list of many a devout acoustic musician, about 14,000 online orders are fulfilled each year.

More than 50 years ago, Stan Werbin, Lillian’s father, began collecting and bartering vintage and using string instruments along with a partner. “They got good enough at it that they felt like they should open a store. So, they found a spot that was eight by ten feet,” Lillian Werbin explains. “In ’75, we started a catalog that went worldwide. We got a website in ’94, and we kind of just kept growing, building our expertise, and building our workforce.”

That workforce now has forty-some employees, including a sales team, luthiers, shippers, video producers, and social media experts. Though she was in and out of the store growing up, Werbin didn’t really get to know the operation until later.

“I started at Elderly in 2014 part-time in the warehouse. And I just fell in love with the products and the people and the way we interact with the music community. So, after a year, I went full-time, and I split my time in the warehouse and in the sales department. After maybe another year of that, I tried my hand at purchasing and marketing and from there, I found myself in management and kind of restructured the workforce. My role here now is to really foster community and to make sure that the whole ship is sailing smoothly.”

And then the pandemic hit just as Elderly was about to reach a milestone.

“We hunkered down and made it through, and I think we came out better for it,” Werbin says. “And so, we had a 50th birthday party in 2022 to celebrate not only the current Elderly but also the former Elderly. We had two different stages and bands playing from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and they were all staff bands from all throughout the decades.”

Elderly Instruments was named America’s Top Small Business by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce last year. Werbin believes the store's several qualities distinguished it among the 14,000 applicants.

“What they really liked was our community involvement and the longevity of the business. It certainly helped that I am a Black woman. But ultimately, it goes back to people. We really pride ourselves on not only our current employees but our past employees and on the hard work that they've put out to get us to this point. So, our application really focused on our camaraderie and our operations and how we work together to get the job done.”

The metrics Werbin tracks reflect the staff’s dedication. “We respond to online chats within four minutes. The average of the top 10% of the industry is 46 minutes. There’s a ‘net promoter score,’ which, on a scale of one to ten, asks, ‘How likely are you to recommend this business to a friend?’ That’s a one-question survey, and Amazon has a 69, and Costco has a 70, and we are sitting at 90.”

Besides being responsible for all aspects of the store, Werbin plays an active role in many organizations, including Bluegrass Pride and the International Bluegrass Music Association.

Werbin is a recipient of IBMA’s Momentum Award. At last year’s IBMA conference, Werbin was an organizer for Roots Revival: A Black Stringband Symposium.

“The goal was to amplify and highlight the Black contributions to bluegrass and old-time music,” Werbin explains. “We managed to bring in 20 experts from various backgrounds--scholars, musicians, historians--to really speak to the overlooked contribution of Black musicians.”

Now, after years of organizing festivals, serving on panels, and coordinating countless activities on-site, Werbin has expanded with Sturdy Roots, an event planning and consulting business.

“It allows me to support the community through my own work rather than Elderly's name,” says Werbin. “I'm able to do work that might not represent all of my staff or our customers but work that I feel really passionate about.” In recent years, Werbin has helped direct The Banjo Gathering, The Midwest Banjo Camp, the Midwest Ukulele Camp, and community events.

Many music stores began over 50 years ago when Elderly Instruments was launched, but only a handful are thriving. Werbin says the company stays true to its roots while embracing new technology and internet sales.

“I really think the secret sauce for us is the way we ‘people.’ Sometimes, we joke around and say that it's the people’s music store. It's a fine line on how to be Elderly in the modern era because we're not gonna sacrifice the way of old-fashioned service. So, it's a delicate balance modernizing without losing that old school feel.”