The couple decided to back away from the record business.
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(Photo by Jym Wilson)Īs the 1970s turned into the ’80s, Kaleidoscope faced new competition from other retailers, the emergence of MTV and other musical offerings on television, plus the rising costs of albums. Embracing the edge Kaleidoscope’s brightly lit storefront and window displays make the shop stand out in its East Sunshine Street location. Pam stepped out of her job as a dental assistant and took over converting the second floor of the building into a sales area featuring trendy fashion items, jewelry and leather goods. But after a few years they saw a need to diversify and expand the business. And they say it helped them, too.”Īt first, the Piersons lived in an apartment above the store.
We had the album displayed all over the store, and sold it for cost plus freight so their fans in the area could get it. I had to track down my banker, Curtis Graff, in Florida to borrow the money. “We bought 50 cases of the Daredevils’ album when it came out. The Piersons liked to promote albums created by popular local bands of the day such as Fools Face, the Undergrass Boys and Entropy.Īnd, especially, the then-newly-formed Ozark Mountain Daredevils, also celebrating a 50th anniversary this year. The store’s initial successful niche was imported albums and lesser-known domestic albums not carried by existing dealers here. Kaleidoscope sold stereo equipment “for about a week.” Single 45-rpm records and eight-track tapes didn’t remain part of the inventory for long, either.
Tom and Pam Pierson at the sales counter of the original Kaleidoscope in the 1970s as they began expanding their product offerings beyond just record albums to include an eclectic array of clothing and fashion accessories, zany greeting cards and smoking paraphernalia. “The first customer didn’t show up until about 2 in the afternoon,’” Tom recalls. (He puts stock in dates - he also mentions that he and Pam got married the previous year on Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards’ birthday, December 18.) They opened Kaleidoscope’s door for the first time on the morning of October 9, which Tom notes is John Lennon’s birthday. However, while visiting Pam’s relatives in Branson, they took a day trip to Springfield, saw the “For Rent” sign as they drove along Sunshine and, that very afternoon, signed a lease with landlord C. They had been living in Little Rock, Ark., and were thinking of parlaying Tom’s prior experience as a manager with national book and record retailers into setting up their own business, possibly in Tulsa, Okla. The site now is a parking lot for a Culver’s restaurant. Kaleidoscope originally opened as a record shop in this old house just east of South Fremont Avenue on the south side of East Sunshine Street in 1972 and remained there until the early 2000s. The Piersons were 20-somethings, newly wed and new to Springfield at the time - 1972 - and almost on a whim, they’d rented an old converted house on the south side of Sunshine Street one door east of Fremont Avenue. So we stepped out of the line and went home to rethink it - and somehow we came up with Kaleidoscope.” “We realized there already was a Rock Shop in Springfield. “But we were standing in line at Empire Bank to set up a business account when we noticed someone two people ahead of us wearing a shirt with that name on it,” Tom recalls of spotting John Gott. When Tom and his wife Pam originally envisioned setting up a small independent store to sell rock ‘n’ roll recordings and stereo hi-fi gear, they planned to call it The Rock Shop. Kaleidoscope’s brightly lit storefront and distinctive sign make the shop stand out in its East Sunshine Street location.
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And there is some unexpected inventory kept out of sight in a back room, given away for free to those in need - more about that later. The look of the store, and the merchandise and services offered therein, have evolved dramatically over the past 50 years. “And that’s certainly been the case with our business.” “What you see in a kaleidoscope is constantly changing,” he notes, referring to the colorful optical toy. Tom Pierson says he honestly doesn’t know where the name for his eccentric store - Kaleidoscope - came from, but it’s proved to be appropriate for a half-century.
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