Former Guitar Emporium Site Sells for $742K, New Owner Plans Overhaul

The building that once housed Guitar Emporium, the Highlands music shop that drew the Rolling Stones, U2, Bob Dylan, Neil Young and ZZ Top through its doors, has a new owner. Louisville real estate agent Hunter Purnell purchased 1610 Bardstown Road for $742,500 in July and now plans a renovation that includes an HVAC system and a new porcelain facade.

Purnell bought the property through his 1610 Bardstown Road LLC, according to WDRB. Purnell, an agent with Alluvium Real Estate, told the outlet he plans to spend more than $100,000 on renovations and lease the building once the work wraps up.

A Music Landmark's Long Run on Bardstown Road

Guitar Emporium operated in the Highlands for more than 40 years before closing its Bardstown Road location in 2022, per WDRB's reporting. The business itself traces back even further: musician Jimmy Brown launched Guitar Emporium in 1975 at a small storefront at 969½ Baxter Avenue, according to LEO Weekly, and Brown bought out his founding partner in 1976 before running the shop for decades. The Bardstown Road building itself was constructed in 1910 and served as Guitar Emporium's storefront for 32 years starting in 1990, according to Louisville Magazine.

Beyond the marquee rock acts, Guitar Emporium's clients included Robert Plant, according to Louisville Magazine. When Guitar Emporium closed its Bardstown Road doors, it did not disappear entirely — the brand and its vintage inventory moved to Maxwell's House of Music in Jeffersonville, Indiana, with Maxwell's co-owner Mark Maxwell purchasing the Guitar Emporium name and relocating its stock into a 12,500-square-foot music superstore, LEO Weekly reported.

Property Value Slid Even as Corridor Booms

The sale price also tells a story about the corridor's shifting commercial values. The property last sold in 2022 for $860,000 to Carter Realty III, according to TRIO CPG's reporting at the time. That means this year's $742,500 purchase price marks roughly a 13.6 percent drop in the property's valuation over four years, even as investment pours into the surrounding blocks.

The building itself is substantial, with retail space and a basement, according to TRIO CPG's report. Whatever renovation Purnell completes, it will fall under the jurisdiction of the Bardstown Road/Baxter Avenue Corridor Review Overlay District, a review zone Louisville Metro created in 1990 to regulate architectural design, facade alterations and commercial appearance, according to Louisville Metro Government. The overlay also governs review of exterior changes.

Part of a Broader Highlands Reinvestment Wave

The former Guitar Emporium site sits in the middle of a stretch of Bardstown Road that has seen a wave of new tenants move in throughout 2026. Directly next door, 1606 Bardstown Road was reoccupied in March by Italian restaurant Cipollini fills Highlands LouVino void after that storefront, previously home to LouVino, sat vacant for 18 months. Other recent additions along the corridor include Prado 264 at 1514 Bardstown Road, part of a broader surge of dining and retail openings absorbing vacancies along the strip this year.

The corridor's built environment dates back much further than any of its current tenants. Louisville Metro urban planning materials note that most of the primary commercial buildings along Bardstown Road and Baxter Avenue were constructed during a 20-year development boom between 1885 and 1905 and describe the corridor as a major thoroughfare. Against that backdrop, a century-old building changing hands and preparing for a fresh set of tenants is very much in keeping with the neighborhood's history of reinvention.