Chamber bestows 2019 Small Business Award on Roger Stolle
Roger Stolle came to Clarksdale in 2002 with a mission to promote the blues from within.
In order to complete his mission, Stolle had to have an office and he used that office as a Mississippi blues store to lure people to Clarksdale.
The blues store, called Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art is at the same location it started at on 252 Delta Ave., more than 17 years ago.
The Clarksdale/Coahoma County Chamber of Commerce recently honored Stolle for his hard work by naming Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art as the 2019 Small Business of the Year at their annual banquet.
Stolle has won two major local awards. The first was the Early Wright Award from Sunflower Blues Association in 2013 for doing work in area of blues and tourism in areas of Clarksdale.
The small business of the year award had equal significance.
“It means a lot to be recognized for sort of contributing to the successful small business climate of Clarksdale, which is my adopted home, is extra special to be sort of recognized for 17½ years of efforts,” Stolle said.
Stolle was unaware he was going to be recognized until the announcement at the banquet. A table was reserved for the Coahoma County Tourism Commission at the banquet. He planned to be present, even with a cold, since tourism executive director Bubba O’Keefe was at a conference in Natchez and he wanted to make sure there was proper representation.
O’Keefe knew Stolle was going to win the award and called him the day of the banquet to make sure he was attending. Stolle figured out he was winning the award shortly into Clarksdale/Coahoma County Chamber of Commerce executive director Jon Levingston’s presentation.
“About two sentences in, I heard the word blues and I’m like, ‘Uh oh,’” Stolle said. “I went down in my seat a little and I’m like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ Then he got another sentence in and I’m like, ‘Yup, that’s me.’ I’m thrilled, obviously.”
Coahoma Community College President Dr. Valmadge Towner won citizen of the year at the same banquet. Both Stolle and Towner have jobs, which require finding people from outside of the community to come to Coahoma County. The two have worked together on many occasions including with the recent Juke Joint Festival in April. Stolle and O’Keefe founded the festival together.
“It was also super cool to see Dr. Towner get citizen of the year,” Stolle said. “I think he’s an amazing guy. I didn’t even know all the degrees he has from an educational standpoint. Super impressive. To be on the same stage as him getting an award was also an extra bonus.”
Early days
Stolle bought his building from O’Keefe in June 2002 with no small business experience at the time. However, he was a fan of the blues and visited Clarksdale regularly and was determined.
He was a creative director at May Company in St. Louis and graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a degree in English literature and journalism in 1989.
Stolle took a small business night course while he was still living in St. Louis, bought a small business book for dummies and wrote his business plan to help organize and promote the blues from within.
He noted the plan eliminated surprises later on. He said he already had business, writing, marketing and advertising skills, a creative side and knowledge as a blues historian.
He named his business Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art for three reasons. One, a southern biscuit is the size of a cat’s head. Two, there were several blues records with animal names. Three – and the biggest reason – was Pat Thomas, a music friend from the 1990s, who was a “folk artist, bluesman, a complete eccentric character,” was obsessively drawing cats and cat heads.
After buying his current building, Stolle attempted to stock it with proper merchandise and opened one month later.
“It was a challenge because the Internet was not what it is today,” he said. “So frankly, it was hard to find connections for all the distributors I needed and things like that. I knew the musicians and the artists, so some things I could get directly. It took a lot of work and some ingenuity to really pull it together merchandise wise in the beginning. Now, of course, I have all the connections I need.”
Since Stolle left a job where he was making good money to come to Clarksdale, he knew he could invest without doing well early on.
“I came into it knowing the first two years typically are when a business may not make any money,” he said. “That’s really how it was here. I’m not sure when I could really say I was pulling money out of the business, but it was definitely a couple or more years in.”
Stolle made his first sale on July 25, 2002 when he was setting up his store. He planned to have an official grand opening during the Sunflower River Blues Festival that August, but a couple came in and asked if he was selling things. They started digging around, looking at boxes and picked out a CD for more than $12. The couple gave a $10 bill, a $2 bill and some change. He has a quarter from that sale on the wall behind the cash register. He cannot remember the CD the couple bought, but he wishes he had written it down.
While there are some loyal customers, Stolle said the majority of them are tourists.
Stolle acknowledged items he sells could be purchased on the Internet for less money, but he offers something more.
“What we try to provide is not only a curated selection, like this is the stuff you need, but also the know-how behind it,” Stolle said. “We can give you the information about these artists and their history and their music about these authors and their books.”
Stolle sells things such as Cat Head T-Shirts, books including two he wrote called Hidden History of Mississippi Blues from 2011 and Mississippi Juke Joint Confidential from August 2019.
Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art sells CDs, DVDs, albums, books and magazines. The store has W. Earl Robinson’s paintings. He is an older local painter who comes in and paints bluesmen, field scenes and shacks. Lou Bopp is an area bluesmen and has a series of his photos in the store.
