Mother Murphy's

How This 25 Year Old Bought & Transformed A Local Business

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Griffin Burns

Founder, Mother Murphy's

Founders

Employees

Mother Murphy's

mothermurphys.co

from Normal, IL, USA

started January 1968

Founders

Employees

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Hello everyone! My name is Griffin Burns and I am one of the current owners at Mother Murphy’s, the original rock and roll emporium founded in 1968!

While Mother Murphy’s has seen a lot of changes over the last 54 years, the soul of what we do has always been to dream up and create inspired goods and experiences that have your pleasure in mind.

Custom selvedge denim jackets, mind-blowing 3D tapestries, hand-rolled incense, hidden trippy blacklight rooms, handmade jewelry, underground house shows, a museum of marijuana, backroom paraphernalia, and graffiti-filled hallways. The list could go on for ages.

The thing about being a rock and roll emporium is that you’re constantly pushing the envelope of experience and trying new and exciting things all the time so there’s a lot of wiggle room for experimentation at the end of the day.

What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?

Founded in 1968 by Betty Anderson and Charlotte (Murphy) Radka, Mother Murphy’s got its start with both founders creating custom leather pieces of clothing along with rock and roll products and some of the first bamboo bongs to be made in the US. Betty and Charlotte were a couple of badass ladies from the midwest that were like gasoline on the fire of the cultural revolution.

Photo Credit: Anji Mac

After running the store for more than 20 years, the torched was then passed to Michael Williams who married Becky Fry Williams. Becky introduced skateboarding into Mother Murphy’s with the creation of a company called Shockwaves Skateboards in 1992 which shared space with Mother Murphy’s up until 2021 when Shockwaves was able to become its separate entity.

After running the store for more than 30 years, Mike and Becky retired and that's where myself and my partners enter the picture! In total there are three current owners at Mother Murphy’s. Myself (far left), Noah Anderson (middle), and Colton Walsh (far right). Each one of us has a unique story to tell about how we got to where we are today, but I can only speak for myself.

My journey with Mother Murphy’s started many years ago when I was just a young teenage punk that would blast “music that sounded like demons” in my room (according to my mom), and would exclusively wear black because it reflected what I felt deep inside and wanted nothing to do with whatever was deemed acceptable by the cultural norms at the time. Or in other words, I was just your average teenager in the mid-2000s.

Growing up in the same town as Mother Murphy’s, climbing up the incense-filled staircase was a pilgrimage that every teenager made at some point. Hell, just looking inside the store felt like an act of rebellion. Was I allowed to be up here? Is this illegal? Do I care? Hours could be spent listening to live performances by local musicians or talking with some real OG deadheads and other eclectic individuals. My time up at Mother Murphy’s as a teenager would one that left an impact on me but I would have never guessed in my wildest dreams that I would end up being one of the individuals that would be the next generation to carry Mother Murphy’s legacy forward.

Fast forward to the future to the day before my 25th birthday. I am waiting around to get my haircut and shooting the shit with some guys at my friend's barbershop. My barber, Noah Anderson, and I had developed a close relationship over the past couple of months. We were the same age and were into the same music, movies, that sort of thing. But the thing that rolidified our bond was that we both shared that insatiable itch to make our oath in life and manifest into reality something that brought value to ourselves and those around us. I had been a part of a small handful of small business start-ups over the last six or so years that ended up not working out for different reasons. I was two years out from graduating with a degree in business management and I was putting all of my energy into trying to figure out where to go from there. Nothing ever worked out and seemed to stick for me at this point. I was working a corporate job selling insurance that I hated with every fiber of my being just so I could pay the bills but all the while, I was constantly planning and trying to get some business to work. From video marketing to, IT business solutions, I was at a dead end.

Eventually, it was my turn for a cut and I plopped into the barber chair. Knowing all of this about myself my barber and I spent some time chatting and then he said something to me that remains one of the most vivid moments in my mind. “Did you hear that Mother Murphy’s is going up for sale? Could be something to check out.” Holy shit. Mother Murphy’s is for sale?! The original Rock and Roll emporium?! It was like in all the movies where the sky parts and rays of light began to shine down on us. This was it. This was the opportunity that I had been looking for this whole time!

We didn’t waste a single moment from that conversation on. I had reached out to my childhood best friend, Colton Walsh who was living out in Washington and working as a harvester on a Marijuana farm, and explained to him what was going on and that I wanted him to come to be a part of this endeavor with us. I knew that he was a perfect partner for several reasons. He and I had years of history together and complement each other's abilities on just about every level. He was instantly interested and would be coming into town for the holidays anyways so it was the perfect time for us to get together and discuss details. I took a picture the day we met up and had a beer to talk about the plan of what would come next should Mike and Becky pick us.

At this point, we had already reached out to Mike and Becky the week after my 25th birthday and It was here that we were made aware that there were a very large number of interested parties in purchasing the business and every single one of them seemed to have a different vision for what the store was going to become but they were more than happy that we seemed to be interested as well. Here’s an actual photo I snagged the night Noah and myself went into the shop to talk with Becky about our interest in purchasing the business.

There were suits from Chicago representing large firms, headshops from in and out of town, other business owners, and individuals. And there was us. A couple of townies with less money and experience than everyone else but with a dream to continue the legacy. All in all, around 50 contenders were looking to be the ones to write the next chapter for Mother Murphy’s.

As the weeks went on, the list became smaller and smaller and eventually, Mike and Becky decided that we were to be the ones to carry the torch! When I got the call from them, to let us know I was speechless. It felt like I was in a dream and to this day, I am still humbled by the fact that we have the privilege of continuing such an amazing legacy.

We spend the next few weeks doing all the boring things that come with buying a business. Lots of legal documents mainly but the day had finally come when we were given the keys to the kingdom and we were over the moon. It was day one for us. March 1st 2020…. Yeah….. That March 2020…..

We had less than two weeks of normal store operations when it all went south. We had to shut it all down. Every business in town was closed up. The streets were empty. The world had come to a standstill. None of us knew what was about to come next. Did the three of us just take out loans to buy a business only for it to fail in the first few months after it had been running for 53 years? Was the ride already over? Was the world about to end? There were so many questions and no answers. But just because we didn’t know what would come next didn’t mean we were going to just roll over and let whatever happens to happen. We got to work.

It was at this point of being closed that we started working on renovating. It was a reasonable thing to do and we could manage to find cheap ways to update our storefront so that hopefully when we open our doors back up, we could introduce the world to what the next chapter of Mother Murphy’s was all about! While the work was being done, we would get calls from customers asking if we could sell them a product and deliver or drop it off at the curb. Of course, we could! While we weren’t making money to pay ourselves, we had barely managed to make enough to cover our operating expenses and restock products. Here we are taking the time during shutdown to work on redoing the floors at the store.

And here is another project that we worked on during the shutdown. Originally the blacklight room we had wasn’t a room at all. It was a broom closet that you couldn’t even stand in. We thought, it would be cool to have an actual room to stand in and it ended up being one of the most popular attractions that we’ve created.

As time went on, we were eventually able to open back up and somehow we had at least survived the initial months of running Mother Murphy’s through what has still been the biggest challenge we have faced to date. It was something that had I been the sole proprietor of the business, it would have most likely closed in a matter of weeks. If it wasn’t for the amazing skills and encouragement from my partners and friends Noah and Colton, we would not be here today and I will forever be thankful to have them on this journey with me.

Take us through the process of designing, prototyping, and manufacturing your first product.

Being a Rock and Roll Emporium, we have a wide range of products that we carry. Some of which we bring in from local creators, then there are the products that we create ourselves as officially branded Mother Murphy’s merchandise.

While not our first product that we ever did, the one that had the most moving parts that we had to orchestrate to successfully create, market and sell was our first ever go at making a custom denim jacket. It also happens to be one of the products that I am personally most proud of just because I think it's cool! We ultimately wanted a call back to the founders who built the brand by making custom leather jackets.

Looking back, it was just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other. It’s not to say it was just that simple but it started by designing mockups and concepts and getting an artist commissioned to make the design. Finding a manufacturer and getting samples made up. Then ultimately putting all the pieces together and create a marketing campaign to get our jacket out into the world! And while the majority of the jackets sold well in the states, we even had someone in Germany snag one online! Which was a cool moment for us because this was a product that we created from the ground up and it was the first product that we created that didn’t utilize IP that we already had but was 100% done from scratch.

Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?

Since we are the third generation of owners, we have had the great fortune of being able to stand on the shoulders of giants. The previous owners laid a strong foundation of creating experiences with the individuals that would walk through the doors of Mother Murphy’s and it has been our goal to continue the amazing legacy that we are now are apart of.

Walking through the rooms and halls of Mother Murphy’s is more like walking through an attraction than it is a store. You could spend hours looking at all the different relics of the past and the trippy little details that fill up every crack and corner. It can be a bit of a balancing act because, on one hand, we are working to preserve and celebrate the counterculture movement that Mother Murphy’s was founded on in the late 60s. Then, on the other hand, we are always working to create something new and exciting that hasn't been done before. And that isn’t very black and white. There is a lot of trial and error involved but at the end of the day Mother Murphy’s is a canvas for culture and that leaves a lot of wiggle room for us.

But when we boil it all down, it ultimately comes down to creating products and experiences that will create a lasting impact on our customers. We want to create incredible and trippy experiences and we also want to create products that are true to being a rock and roll emporium. And because the people that are a part of Mother Murphy’s have a passion for the culture we exist in, it ends up showing in the end result. I know that it isn't a revolutionary idea or anything but the old saying “do what you love you won't work a day.” yeah that isn’t 100% true, you will always have bad days. But you have a lot more great days when you care about your craft.

Starting small with something that you’re interested in is a great way to gauge both your interest and customer interest.

How are you doing today and what does the future look like?

When we originally threw our hats into the ring as contenders to be the next generation of Mother Murphy’s owners, one of the things that were discussed was Mike and Becky’s (the previous owners) vision and if there was ever something that they had wanted to do but it just never came to fruition. They had always had the vision to expand the scope of Mother Murphy’s and maybe one day open up a second store. This was something that we had hoped to do as well but with getting off to the start we did, it wasn’t possible for some time. However, as of July 2022, we are super excited to say that we were able to open up the first expansion of Mother Murphy’s in Champaign, Illinois!

What was so exciting for us with the second store was it was very much a blank canvas that we knew would take time to fill. Unlike the Mother ship, our Champaign location doesn’t have over 54 years of TLC embedded into it. We announced the expansion on April 20th, 2022, and two months later we opened the doors. There are a lot of callbacks and similarities while also being a unique Mother Murphy’s experience.

We have plans to bring Mother Murphy’s to St Louis sometime in 2023 or 2024 and well that's about as far as we have planned at the moment. One of the lessons I learned at the beginning of this journey is to take everything one day at a time and not to get too ahead of myself. There have been plenty of moments where we get a little too eager about a project or an idea, jump the gun and it blows up in our faces.

To us, Mother Murphy’s isn’t just a brand, it isn’t just a store. It is a way of life. It’s a canvas for anyone and everyone to leave their mark on and be apart of something bigger than just a brand or anyone one individual. I spend a lot of time at both our locations and one of the greatest joys from what I do is meeting new individuals and being able to listen to their tales of their times at Mother Murphy’s from way before I was even alive. That sort of connection people creates when they visit Mother Murphy’s is something I’ve found to be incredibly potent and long-lasting. That isn’t something that gets created overnight. It takes time and a lot of care and passion. And you will never find someone working at Mother Murphy’s that doesn’t carry that same level of passion for our culture.

Ultimately, we’re always looking to the future and we’re excited for what comes next. If I had to sum up my feelings on everything with one word it would be gratitude. I'm grateful to be able to do what I do every day. I’m grateful to be doing what I do with partners that are more than just business partners, and I am grateful for every single person that supports Mother Murphy’s and allows us to continue to do what we love to do.

Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?

A failure is always an option! And that isn’t always a bad thing. At the end of the day, being an entrepreneur requires taking risks. Sometimes the risk is small and of minimal consequence. Other times, you’re going to be putting it all on the line. It is imperative to develop a sense and a strong stomach for the inevitable unknown that you and your business will face. Sometimes you will try something and it doesn’t work out. Get back up, brush the dust off and try something else. If you can learn to be at peace amid chaos and uncertainty, you'll start to find moments of opportunity that you would otherwise end up missing because you get in your head. The only way to learn this is just by trying. Time and time again. You only ultimately fail when you call it quits for good. So if you never throw in the towel, then you can keep moving forward. It only takes getting it right one time and being able to recognize why it went right to then repeat that success.

What platform/tools do you use for your business?

As far as our online presence goes, we are currently utilizing Shopify as our main site. I am a huge fan of the analytical tools that we have at our disposal through them as it helps us understand what has been working or not working and allow us to course correct as we go. It also has email marketing built in that we utilize every so often to reach out to our subscribers to let them know about new products or deals. I am not a super techy guy myself so having everything all in one place has been convenient.

For marketing, we post regularly on Instagram and Facebook. I have a background in product and business marketing so we use the Adobe suite for all of that.

But at the moment, that is serious about it. It’s super low maintenance at the moment as Shopify is just so robust in terms of maintaining everything that is core to our function which is primarily inventory tracking and shipping.

What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?

I have found that connecting with other like-minded individuals and creators has always had the largest influence on myself. Building real connections that aren't just surface-level transactions takes time. It’s not something that can happen overnight but the payoff is unlike any other investment that you can make with your time. Because at the end of the day, time will become your most valuable asset, and figuring out the best way to invest that asset is going to be one of the most important questions that you need to figure out for yourself. And apart from any pragmatic reason behind building your relationships with others, you’ll find that you create friendships and memories that very few people will ever create for themselves. And at least to me, that is a reward that you simply cannot put a price on.

I talked about how one of my business partners was my barber and the night before my 25th birthday I went in for a cut. Had I not developed my relationship and shared my dreams of running a business with him, I may very well never heard about Mother Murphy’s being for sale. My other partner is my childhood best friend. Without building the relationship over many years with him, I know for a fact that we would not be where we are today and Mother Murphy’s may very well have had to close its doors for good right out of the gate.

Now I do want to throw in the caveat, I am very fortunate that myself two partners all form a complementary trinity of skills and weaknesses. I have learned the hard way that 9 times out of 10, working with friends or family members is not generally a great idea. More often than not, something doesn’t go exactly right and can jeopardize the relationship. But the point I am trying to make is that as far as what I have found to be the most valuable resource in learning and growing is by growing connections with other people who not only support you in your journey but also can provide valuable insights that you may otherwise overlook.

Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?

Buckle up, you’re about to be in for the ride of your life! As you'll find out there are just some things that come with experience but if there is one thing I recommend to any aspiring entrepreneur it’s just to do something. Your first business doesn’t need to be “the next big thing”. It doesn’t need to be the thing that makes you a millionaire overnight. In fact, chances are you will probably lose some money your first time trying something (not always. But don’t go emptying out your bank account your first time around)! What matters is that you’re putting yourself out there and learning the skills that are necessary for becoming a successful entrepreneur. Starting small with something that you’re interested in is a great way to gauge both your interest and customer interest.

I started my journey at the relatively young age of 19. At the time I was in college studying business and working nights as an insurance salesman. My friend was studying to work in commercial photography. We put two and two together and ended up running a small marketing firm for around the next three years. While we ended up making barely enough to justify the time and effort, what I ended up taking away in experience, however, is something that I now consider to be worth its weight in gold. But by starting small and taking my time with the journey played a major role in getting me to where I am today. And while I might be a little older and wiser now, I am still learning every day from mistakes and successes all the same. That part never changes!

Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?

We are always looking to partner with new and talented individuals looking to bring their work into the retail sphere. We are always experimenting and finding new ways to get individuals in front of a large audience and we have found that those that have worked with us in the past have more often than not gotten a large boost in their audience and sales from being featured in our stores.

But as far as any in-store or brand positions were pretty much staffed at the moment.

Where can we go to learn more?

Mothermurphys.co (I promise it’s .co not .com)
https://www.facebook.com/mothermurphys68
https://www.instagram.com/mother.murphys/

If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!