For many, December serves as a time to indulge in tradition. Families gather, friends exchange gifts and individuals find ways to enjoy the timelessness. On Bountiful Main Street, this season has often been associated with high revenue. 

According to Murphy’s Guitars owner Wes Dodson, quarter four is a time when several shops in his industry process half of their annual sales. It’s relied on by many entrepreneurs trying to pursue the American dream and for some in 2025, it couldn’t be coming at a better time. 

Across Utah, several local destinations have been forced to close their doors due to economic challenges. This year, multiple music shops like Dodson’s, including Guitar Czar in Murray, have decided to cease operations – citing reasons such as changing consumer preferences, manufacturer price hikes and narrowing customer budgets. This follows a year when 12,974 closings took place in the small business community compared to 15,470 openings from March 2023 to March 2024, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy.

For shop owners like Mike Alvarado at Split Leaf Coffee, these setbacks are being combatted by raising quality standards and developing a loyal following.

“I think that in general, prices of your groceries are going up, and so that is something that we take into consideration with us, where we’re sourcing it on a smaller scale,” said Alvarado. “We’re paying a bit more for our product and the battle is trying to juggle those things where you’re trying to, first and foremost, create something of value to the community and to yourself, and then something that you could sell that’s tangible, for us that was something good and unique. We wanted to pay close attention to the coffee and do it really well.”

A secondary source of income, Alvarado was inspired by the lack of connection during the COVID-19 pandemic to open the shop with his sister, Emily. Striving to provide the community with a local, unique destination to grab a coffee, he oversees logistics at the shop when away from his other job – a privilege he understands many don’t share. 

When Dodson acquired Murphy’s Guitars, he had to work with capital from his previous endeavors. A finance professional, he sold a company just shortly after finding his way to the store, which was run by then-owner Aaron Jorgensen. Wanting to work with his hands, he became a part-time technician before a discussion with Jorgensen turned into a transaction. On Jan. 1, 2025, he officially took over.

“I do know that it’s been a tough year, but there’ve been things that kind of muddy the waters as far as seeing how consumer behavior has changed because we’ve changed a lot this year as well,” said Dodson. “I didn’t pay myself for the first 10 months, and I also put in some additional capital just so that we could have more inventory, because that was always a struggle that we had.”

Other actions Dodson and his staff have taken have involved focusing more on guitars and basses rather than niche stringed instruments. That said, like Alvarado, he says that his business’ growth is dependent on developing a great culture and brand loyalty.

“We’ve got a lot of young kids who didn’t have the same experience growing up that I did with, you go into stores and there is a little bit of a culture and a community to it,” said Dodson. “They’re so used to buying stuff online and I think, in a local and small business, you need to kind of ‘wow’ people with having a cool culture that people wanna be a part of, because if you don’t have that, it’s really tough to have any other advantage over some of the big box stores.”

As part of a tight-knit business community, Dodson and Alvarado understand how important the holiday season is to Bountiful Main Street and hope to see more shops like theirs join the area. 

“I don’t want to have to drive to Salt Lake for everything,” said Alvarado. “There is a huge community of people that live here and spend their money in Salt Lake. In time, I see more businesses opening up, more offerings being had, more things to do locally. I would love that.”