VIP MUSIC -  1998 Urban Network Retailer 
                        of the Year award.

Owner: Lesia Anderson

Lesia, the youngest member of the Anderson family, moved to California from Mississippi in 1988. In 1992 she became store manager at World's Famous VIP Records in Long Beach while working for her brother Kelvin. After years of managing the operation, she opened her own store, VIP Music, with the help of Alvin Buckhalter and other family members.

VIP Music is located at Crenshaw Blvd. and Slauson Avenue in Los Angeles. Now a well-established community based music store, VIP Music has served the surrounding areas of Crenshaw/Slauson since June 1995. Within six months of the store opening, Lesia recalls customers coming in to thank her for opening a music store in their area,  Those customer reactions made her feel that she  made the right decision to open the store in opening at that location.

The chain of VIP stores were first established in 1965 by Cletus Anderson, the elder brother of the Anderson clan. He got the idea after receiving a VIP award, which stood for “Very Important Painter”  He was painting aircrafts for McDonald Douglas Aircraft during the day in Long Beach and automobiles at General Motors in South Gate at night. That's how he came up with the name VIP. He opened his first location on 108th/Broadway. Cletus success was followed by other family members, David, Glenn, Kelvin, Tim and then Lesia.

“Independent music stores are not just community based anymore. We have customers coming from near and far to buy Music. We are not Mom & Pop stores 'which is a insult to a retailer, We are Independent Music Retailers. We know what you want when you have no clue about the artist. We make many suggestions on music after we find out what you like. Independent  stores help many customers find what they want just from humming the sound or the beat, what the song was about, or just by asking male/female, rap  R&B, gospel, jazz or groups. We then play the song for them and enjoy seeing the amazement on the customer face every time. We strive to find what the customers are looking for while the larger stores are very impersonal when serving the customer.or don't know or will not take out the time to find out. If we don't have an item,  we will find it for you! Independent music retailers are the starting point for new artist. When radio will not play their songs and the big box stores have no clue about it "good music."  

We Are Always There To Bring The Music To All.