Illinois
Randy Wood is the president of The Music Shoppe in Normal, Illinois. The store specializes in band instrument repairs and strong customer service. The store goes back to the days when a former college band director, John Noonan opened a small retail and repair store. In 1961, Randy's father, Tom...
Peter Hix loves the ukulele. Well, he loves every instrument but does have an extra fondness and appreciation for the ukulele. He was exposed to music from the very beginning, growing up in the music studio his parents established in 1946, right on Benton Street in Aurora, IL. By the age of nine...
Ron Lorenz has enjoyed a long career in the music business beginning in the early 1960s. Ron worked in retail, as a road rep, owned his own music retail store, and was the founder of Rapco, a leading cable company. Ron played professionally once out of school, which served him well when he opened...
Bob Gand opened a music shop in Deerfield, IL in the early 1960s, which was an influence not only to the community but to his son Gary. Gary went on to open his own successful retail business. Bob fell in love with folk music in the 1960s and formed the Gand Family Singers, which included his...
Melvyn Libman was a child prodigy and toured the world as a classical pianist. He performed in many of the grand concert halls in Europe and Town Hall in New York City. When he decided to settle down and start a family one of his business ideas was to open a music store. Libman Music, which...
David Horine opened a small piano store in Bloomington, Illinois in the 1980s. David became a piano technician and gathered a nice reputation for tuning and repairs before he decided to open his own retail store. He found in short order that his customers were eager to try new models of the...
Ede Kidder was teaching full time when her husband came home from his job at a music store with the idea of owning their own store. Luckily for Jim, Ede jumped in with her many skills to make the store a success. She took over as the book keeper and played a vital role in the growth and...
Victor Salazar is the founder and president of Vic’s Drum Shop, which is located on Loomis Street in Chicago, Illinois. Vic’s love of music and drumming began as a child and developed over the years, including gigs with Big Electric and The Chinese Professionals. While gigging around, Vic noticed...
Mark Goff was ready to work for a musical instrument manufacturer after college when he was told that he needed retail experience. Impressed with the idea and eager to learn all he could he applied to work at Paige’s Music in Indiana. Mark enjoyed working with the owner, past NAMM Chairman Warner...
Larry Biernacki opened the first of three music stores in Deerfield, Illinois. Like with all three locations, he named it after the local community to provide a neighborhood feel to each store. Along with a strong focus on customer service, the stores have become the place to be for musicians and...