Music Retail
Yuris Zeltins is the master luthier known worldwide for his artistic and engineering craftsmanship that is evident in each of his musical instruments. Yuris inspired a new way of thinking when he applied his creative skills and techniques to repair, elevating the task of repair to an art form and...
Dennis James recalls with a smile the day he visited Colton Piano as a teenager. He later worked for Colton founder, Vern Schaffer, getting the experience and training for the career he had dreamed of--opening his own piano and organ retail store. That dream was realized in northern San Diego...
Jim McEvoy apprenticed as a piano technician in his native Ireland in 1946. The following decade he and his bride moved to San Diego, CA where he worked at a local music store before opening McEvoy Music. The store had a well-respected sheet music department, which was originally created by Jim and...
Jerome Murphy III, the vice president of M. Steinert & Son’s piano dealer in Boston, provided insightful stories on the rich history of Steinert’s musical history. Jerome told of Morris Steinert’s first store, which opened a few years after he emigrated from Bavaria to Savannah in the 1860s....
Steve Cohen is the president of Jason’s Music Center in Pasadena, MD. As a creative thinker, Steve has pioneered a new approach to college piano sales by bringing the concept into the public schools beginning in the early 1980s. A passionate salesman, Steve understands people and enjoys bringing...
Tony Lalonde comes from a family of inventors. His father, who held several patents for musical accessories, enjoyed a long career as a retailer in Minnesota. Tony and his brother started music stores in California in conjunction with Tony expanding the family’s line of patents and innovative...
Jesse Flores was the founder of Flores Music stores located in Peoria and Pekin, Illinois. He had the idea of surrounding himself with music when he was a young boy and when the chance came to open a store, he took it. The year was 1957. Jesse saw the rise of the electric guitar and the home organ...
George Westjohn was hired by Lowell Samuel to oversee the expansion of Mr. Samuel’s interests in the wholesale music business. Mr. Samuel, a former band director, started a music store in the 1940s and a decade later established Midco Music, a music wholesale business with a focus on band and...
Mototsugu Shimamura grew a small Japanese music retail store into the country’s largest music retail chain. Shimamura Music has played a vital role in music education and the expansion of the music market in Japan since 1962. As both president of Shimamura Music and an active member of several...
Bill Wellborn was honored with the National Piano Traveler’s Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007 for his dedication to the industry. As a piano salesman, Bill has traveled the country for a number of different piano manufacturers such as PA Stark, Story & Clark and Young Chang. His...