Carlton Music Center is a family owned and operated company that was started in 1967 by John and Sally Carlton. Originally located in a small shop on 4th Street, we moved a few doors down to our current Winter Haven location on the corner of 4th Street and Ave D, NW in 1976, and have been there ever since. As our business grew over the years, we added a second story structure adjacent to our corner building where we now house all of our teaching studios. This picked up some much needed room in our Winter Haven store, bringing our total facility to around 15,000 square feet! Winter Haven is still our main headquarters where, in addition to our sales showroom and lesson studios, we have our repair shops, accounting offices, and shipping and receiving department. Our store manager in Winter Haven is Josh McNair.
Our Lakeland store was originally opened in 1980, at the corner of Lemon and Tennessee Street, and later relocated to nearby S. Florida Avenue a few years later. When we outgrew that location we moved in 1998 to our current location at 1902 Harden Blvd, more than doubling the previous store’s size! Our store manager in Lakeland is Joe Gavin.
We sell a full line of musical equipment (excluding acoustic pianos and organs). Our inventory includes guitars and amps, band and orchestral instruments, pro audio gear, lighting, keyboards, drums and percussion, music books, and more. We also offer affordable monthly school instrument rentals, as well as overnight and weekend rentals on select instruments and equipment.
All of our locations are still family owned and operated by Glen and Regina Carlton. We take great pride in offering a large selection of top quality merchandise alongside a local welcoming feel of personal service. For nearly 50 years, we have strived to offer the best customer service possible and go above and beyond what is required to give our customers a positive experience when shopping with us.