Music Retail
Gary Asher was working at Nuncie’s Music in Birmingham, Alabama when he provided a tour and interview for the NAMM Oral History program, just three years after the program began. Gary worked in the store as its General Manager for 25 years, all the while teaching drums and percussion and buying and...
Bernie Vance played the saxophone in a number of big bands during the swing era. He was drafted and served during World War II, only to come home and find that musical tastes had changed. The big band era was over so Bernie turned to what he knew best, his horn. If he couldn’t play it for a living...
George Holden is the president and co-founder of Smith-Holden Music Store in Bloomington, IN. As a music teacher George partnered with a close friend who sadly committed suicide soon after the store was opened in the 1950s. In memory of him, George decided not to change the store name. Over the...
Logan Swords has always been passionate about music and about promoting music makers. As a young child he began playing drums and found out first-hand the benefits of music making. When he opened his own music retail shop in Fort Worth, Texas, he found himself in the position of bringing those...
Alfredo Flores Jr. proudly took over the music store his father established in 1928. Alamo Music Center in San Antonio, Texas, has long been established as a focal point for music making in the area. Under Alfredo Flores Jr’s leadership, the product lines have increased as well as the store’s...
Jack Hyde was the classic music retailer of the 21st Century. Jack opened a store in the mid 1950s because he loved music, plain and simple. The store, in Northern California, became such a success that he soon opened a chain of Jack’s House of Music stores. His mall store at Arden Arcade in...
George Quinlan was proud of his store outside of Chicago, for which the walls are full of photographs of the children he rented or sold an instrument to, and the fact that he survived hard times such as a store fire. However, George may have been most proud of the fact that his son took over the...
William McNamara reported to Mr. Alfred LaMotte, a true legend in the music products industry when Bill was first hired by Thearle’s Music stores in San Diego in the 1930s. Mr. LaMotte was known for his clever sales campaigns and dedication to the growth of the industry. In fact, it was while...
Larry Thomas is the current CEO of Fender Musical Instrument Company. He also served as CEO of Guitar Center during the company’s early growth period. He worked closely with music educational programs throughout his career and in fact created the Guitar Center Foundation and the Fender Music...
Norman Harris loves guitars! His vast knowledge and collection has made him one of the industry’s leading experts on vintage guitars and basses. As the founder of Norm’s Rare Guitars in Tarzana, CA, he played an important role in the great boom in vintage guitars that began in the 1980s. His...