$15K in guitars stolen from music store in Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. ( KSEE/KGPE ) – Back on July 21, Starving Artist Bistro was robbed of two guitars valued at $15,000. It’s a pain for the business -and a greater loss for local musicians.

“Over 2200 performers between the inside stage and the outside stage and 14 record deals signed out,” Starving Artist Bistro’s Bob Sullivan said.

Starving Artist Bistro has been around for more than a decade providing musicians with a shot at performing on an open microphone, and even pursuing a career in music.

On July 21, the business was hit with a robbery. A man walked into the restaurant, got a glass of water, and went to the restroom right next to a wall of guitars.

“But then he came out and quietly took two guitars off the wall. And because we’re an operating business, the back doors have to be unlocked during operating hours for fire issues,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan says the two guitars are worth $15,000 in total.

“The one that is missing that has a lot of value to it is a Gary Clark Junior Limited edition Epiphone. They only made 500 of them and he grabbed that one and got a Gibson off the wall,” Sullivan said.

But this isn’t the only robbery that’s impacted Sullivan and his family. His daughter, Brianna, owns Rocket Dog Brats and Brew on Shaw Avenue. Her business has been robbed eight times in 2024.

“She wants to move her kids and stuff into a safer environment. And, you know, and we hear about a lot of people leave in California. We spent the night in a parking lot over there just waiting,” Sullivan said.

Despite this, Sullivan says he wants to continue Starving Artist Bistro for local musicians.

“Right now I pay rent and utilities and everything, whether the doors open or closed. So the best thing to do is keep it open and try to keep revenue coming in. There’s a lot of families to feed out of here. It set us back, but it didn’t stop us from going forward,” Sullivan said.

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