Home Organ Boom
Thomas Austin was a key part of the Sherman Clay team for over 40 years! The store chain focused on pianos; however, Thomas recalls the home organ boom in the 1970s as the company was a Hammond Organ dealer. The company was formed in San Francisco in 1870 and grew to be the biggest (for a time)...
Jim Foster had worked for a few piano stores before opening his own store, with his wife Marilyn, in Bettendorf, Iowa. Foster Family Music focuses on piano and sheet music for pianos and has come to be known throughout the area as a center for musical events, recitals and a strong supporter of...
Carma Lou Beck was an active musician and teacher when she began working in music retail in Iowa in the 1960s. She opened her own store in Cedar Rapids in 1967, after working for a few other stores, including one owned and operated by the Wurlitzer Company. By the time Carma Lou's House of Music...
Fred Davis began playing saxophone as a boy and started his own band, the Freddy Davis Orchestra, which played around Ohio during World War II. He was well equipped with reeds for his gigs as his mother owned a small music store in Marysville, where Fred grew up. After working in his mother's store...
Paul Graves began delivering pianos in 1957 up in Minnesota before moving to Alabama where he continued to deliver. He soon discovered that he would make more money if he sold the pianos and the love of selling soon took hold. In 1960, Paul opened his first piano store in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He...
Jim Trimper, Sr. is the president of Denton, Cottier & Daniels, a chain of piano and organ stores in the upstate New York area. The company was formed in 1827 and thus has a long history in each of the communities of their store locations and a dedication to service that Jim has continued...
Fred Buch has always been interested in combining electronic technology with pipe organs. When he entered the pipe organ business in the 1957, electronic organs were not sufficiently advanced to provide a high quality pipe sound. Fred added pianos and home organs in 1960 resulting in a three...
Paul Winther took over his parent’s music store in Boise, Idaho, which was opened in 1943. Paul enjoyed the selling side of the business, especially selling pianos and organs. Paul took great pride in the fact that his son Greg came into the business and would run the store after his retirement...
Keith Jorgensen opened a piano-focused retail store in the Salt Lake City area that would grow to 13 stores in three states! Keith Jorgensen Piano Centers were all run by Keith until his retirement, when his children took over. During his long career, Keith was a retail leader who created several...
Mike Greene is the president of Greene Music in San Diego, California, a store he started with his father in 1974. Mike grew up in the business and recalls dressing up like a circus barker to help his dad sell chord organs at state fairs. After the boom of the home organ, Mike focused on pianos...