Jack Steiner

When I opened Merchants on Broad back in 2016, custom audio restoration wasn’t even on my radar. A year or two in, a customer walked through the door carrying an old, silent console and asked if I could bring it back to life. I have a bit of a personal shtick—as a recovering Catholic, I just don’t know how to say no. So, I went straight down the rabbit hole.

I built that first one, then another, and the momentum never stopped. Today, I’ve officially put in my 10,000 miles hunting survivors and 10,000 hours of bench grit. The process behind these pieces is a hell of a lot longer and more meticulous than people imagine. It starts with the hunt—driving hours out of the way to rescue a forgotten cabinet. But before a single piece of sandpaper touches the wood, the real excitement happens: I hook up the speakers and test the audio. If it doesn’t deliver a premium, high-fidelity sound right out of the gate, nothing else matters.

I might have backed into this craft, but doing this work here in Memphis is incredibly important to me. This city is built on the foundation of raw rock ‘n’ roll, blues, and pure musical heritage. I live and breathe that history, and I’m constantly out at live shows drawing inspiration for our custom builds. But the absolute best part of this entire journey happens at the delivery. There is a genuine smile that hits my face every time I see the look of absolute joy on a client’s face when one of our historic, singing masterpieces completely transforms their atmosphere.