What the Rock?! (yes, the punctuation is a part of the name) has become so well known as a local boutique that you never would have guessed that it was actually born on the other side of the country.
“We started as an online store in 2006 while living in California,” explains WTR co-owner Mike Renner. “We searched Craigslist to find our first location and rented it sight unseen before moving back to Columbus.”
And the rest is history, as they say. What the Rock?! has become the go-to shop for all of your rock-and-roll lifestyle needs; from jewelry to coffee mugs to baby onesies to original artwork and more. Renner says that one of their continually best selling items is their own line of guitar pick earrings.
“Customers shop us because they enjoy rock and roll boutiques in general which means many of them are musicians,” he adds. “They tend to be pleasantly surprised to discover that we carry a good variety of musicians’ needs including guitar strings, picks, tuners, capos, slides and more.”
What the Rock?! relocated into their current spot at 1194 North High Street in 2008 and has benefitted from being a prominent fixture of the northern end of the Short North. Renner says that support from business associations and chambers of commerce is nice, but he’d like to see more of a customer-driven focus on shopping locally.
“We definitely have loyal customers who prefer to shop WTR because they know it is locally owned and carries local made items,” he says. “However, it would be nice to see a consumer driven coalition promoting that message within their own neighborhoods. It’s one thing to have businesses ask you to support them, but I think it is more meaningful when heard from your friends and neighbors.”
For more information, visit www.whattherock.com.
