Omaha Exploration

The unlikely founding of Omaha’s first independent record store was by that of a seven-year college student who was pursuing a career as a professor of Renaissance literature. Bruce Hoberman gravitated towards music which became an important part of his in the late 1960’s while he was in college. By that time he developed a taste for original blues music but had difficulty finding it. He knew at that moment that there must be a market for hard to find music. 

While Bruce was born into a family of entrepreneurs, he had no interest in going down a similar path – or so he thought. Bruce was just 15 hours shy of his master’s degree at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln when he decided to take some time off in order to obtain some real world experience. The break was intended to be temporary. During that time, he returned to Omaha and decided to start his own record store in 1971. 

When deciding upon a name for his business, he wanted something that was short, easy to remember and folksy. He credits his brother Steve for coming up with the name Homer’s. Not having any prior business experience he took an Accounting 101 course at the university in Omaha. He first started selling records from a storefront at 1109 Howard Street with a partner. The partners decided to go their separate ways when Bruce wanted to expand the music section of the business. One year later in 1972, Homer’s moved around the corner to 417 S 11th St. Bruce was the only employee of the 500 sq ft space that had been home to Hither ‘n ‘Yon, a store that specialized in Oriental imports and fabrics. 

Sporting jeans and a ponytail, the 25-year old small business owner fit right into the Old Market scene that was still in its infancy as an entertainment district in 1972. Bruce discovered that business was far more stimulating than graduate school which altered his original plan of returning to UNL. He instead self-educated himself on the different aspects of running a business. He would lie in bed reading books while punching a calculator to figure how the new concepts he was learning could be applied to Homer’s. 

As the record store continued to thrive, he also started a distribution business called Records and Tapes, Incorporated (RTI) in 1976. The retail store, meanwhile, outgrew its home at 417 S 11th Street by 1980 so he relocated to 1210 Howard Street just a few doors away from where he first started. The larger space had been the home to Honest John’s Emporium. In 1986 they relocated again to 1114 Howard Street before moving back to 1210 in 2006. Over time the record store expanded into other formats including not only vinyl and tapes but also CDs and used 8-track. It also sold car stereos, CB radios, radar detectors, video cameras as well as posters and T-shirts.

By 1993, Bruce, now serving as the CEO of the company, had expanded to five retail stores which combined with RTI employed 250 people. He insisted that growth was never the goal. Instead the goal was to be the best and to have fun. After being involved in the business for so long, he was ready for a new challenge. As a result, he sold the business to a longtime employee. In an interview with the Omaha World-Herald, he summed up his experience at Homer’s as  “intellectually challenging, financially rewarding, creative and dynamic. The business challenged me. I am better for having had the experience. Most importantly, I had the opportunity to work with some marvelous people and learn from them, and that is the most fulfilling thing.” 

Tom Weidner and wife Sue took over the business and expanded to 16 locations after purchasing the Pickles and Twisters music stores. It wasn’t long after that national chains such as Sam Goody continued to expand and threaten independent record stores like Homer’s. To counter the threat, Tom closed all but seven locations with the intent of building market share in just the Omaha area.

Today Homer’s has just a single location, in the exact same location as it has been for the last 43 years – 1210 Howard Street. While most independent record stores have closed, Homer’s has stood the test of time under the direction General Manager Mike Fratt who has worked at the store for decades. It continues to take pride in selling all genres of music. In 2021 the store stocked over 7,000 different titles. While its biggest seller remains classic rock, they also sell a large deal of hip hop, jazz, country, indie rock and EDM not to mention current pop music from artists like Taylor Swift. After selling Homer’s Music, its founder went on to become the CEO of an online auction company called Proxibid. He was inducted into the Central High School Hall of Fame in 2023.

Content written by Omaha Exploration. Feel free to leave a comment or a suggestion. Until then, keep exploring!

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