Vashon Island Music closed earlier this summer, but owner Karen Eliasen says her business — and others — will continue to serve the music needs of the island.

Eliasen owned the store in the Thriftway Plaza for more than 12 years and filled it with everything from CDs and ukuleles to sheet music and guitar picks. When she opened it in 2004, she bought many of the fixtures from Silver Platters, an independent music and movie store in Seattle. When she closed in June, the owner of that store bought the fixtures back, along with much of her inventory, including about 8,000 LPs, 3,500 CDs and a few hundred DVDs. Despite that sale, which took three days, a large truck and several days to complete, Eliasen said her home still looks like a warehouse, so she needs to downsize further.

To that end, she has plans to sell many items online, using Facebook pages for local sales and developing a website for additional business. She noted she retained her business licence and accounts with distributors and will continue to process special orders and keep a supply of musical instruments, books and accessories on hand. Additionally, she said, she has arranged for the Vashon Bookshop to offer the books island piano instructors prefer, and later this month she will open a “mini music store” at Treasure Island where, she said, she will offer a mix of new and used instruments and some essentials, such as guitar strings, cables, drum sticks and woodwind reeds — and possibly some surprises mixed in.

“It will be a chance for me to sell some of my personal collection of instruments and exotica,” she said.

With the opening of that space, islanders should expect a celebration with live music on the first Friday in September.

In addition to her former retail store, Eliasen rented the space above it and turned it into a studio where lessons, concerts and ukulele strum-ins occurred for more than a decade. She noted that the instructors who taught there have found other places to teach, and the Vashon Island Ukulele Society — which performed recently in the Strawberry Festival parade — will continue in a new form. Now, instead of a drop-in, loose-knit group, Eliasen said the society will include about a dozen members and be a band with regular rehearsals, set lists and gigs.

Eliasen added that the weeks since she closed her store have been remarkably busy and that she is looking forward to having time for her animals and garden — and for playing music with friends. And, she added, she is ready for a change.

“My ‘career path’ has been anything but predictable, and so even though I feel fortunate to have spent 12-plus years at Vashon Music, I’m definitely looking forward to trying something new,” she said.