LUTZ, Fla. — It’s been a whirlwind of a 2024 for Marsha Hunt Jones.

What You Need To Know

  • Happy Tunes Music & Hobbies has closed its doors after 33 years in business    

  • The closure, in part, was due to rising rent costs in the area

  • Their rent, if they stayed, would have gone up another $700

  • The co-owners of the store plan to continue instrument rentals online, using the store code "happy" for people looking to learn a new instrument

So much so, that she and her husband, Don Jones, are still working on decluttering the Zephyrhills home that they moved into at the end of 2023.

“We’re not really total pigs,” joked Marsha Jones.

But even amidst the boxes and memories from decades past, there are pieces there that still bring back some great moments, primarily, in unexpected packages.

“This is a 2002 edition,” Marsha Jones said while pointing to a vintage Star Wars electric guitar.

A guitar featuring a stormtrooper may not be something you’d expect a woman born in the 1940s to have, but there’s a lot about Marsha Jones that would surprise you.

For example, her family owned one of the oldest family operated circuses in the country.

“That’s my dad’s ringmaster hat,” she said while pointing to old memorabilia in her home.

Being part of the Hunt Bros. Circus was one of her first jobs growing up. It made her realize she wanted to be a self-made person.

After meeting and eventually marrying Don Jones, traveling the country and starting other small businesses, the two of them settled on a business in Lutz; focused on music named Happy Tunes Music & Hobbies.

“Music is not a destination,” she said. “It’s a journey. It’s the whole process.”

For 33 years, that journey was something Marsha Jones figured she’d be doing the rest of her life, until this past June.

“It’s been a very, very stressful burden,” she said.

According to Jones, she and her husband were told that their rent would be going up by $700.

It had been tough going for the couple even before this after the pandemic led to a 75% drop-off in clients.

“We weren’t seeing enough increase to offset the additional expenses,” Jones said.

After a lot of soul searching, over three decades of teaching more than 4,000 students along State Route 54, the Jones made the decision to close Happy Tunes Music & Hobbies for good.

“The only answers I came up with were, it’s time to move on,” Jones said.

Even though Happy Tunes Music & Hobbies is closed, they still plan on doing instrument rentals online.

“I think we can still do enough stuff online to make it worthwhile, because you can’t live on Social Security alone,” Jones said.

Amidst a whirlwind of a year, the couple won’t stop doing what they love. As partners in business and in life, they still want to keep doing things that will surprise everyone, except themselves.

Happy Tunes Music & Hobbies is one of several music shops that have closed across the country.

Back in May, Sam Ash Music store announced closing all of its 40 plus stores in the U.S. after being in business for 100 years.