Music Retail
Mary Ortigara has always had a deep passion for education and was even an English major at Xavier College. After graduation in the late 1950s, she began working in her brother’s music store providing accordion lessons. She soon expanded the lesson program within the store to include other...
Doug Davies entered the music products industry in 1972 when he was hired by Turner Music in Canada. Turner was a subsidiary of Chicago Musical Instruments (CMI) and at the time, Doug was their youngest sales rep. He really enjoyed the job as he had a supportive mentor to help him learn the ropes...
Tom Hebert was serving in the Canadian Air Force when he had the idea of opening a small music store. His idea was to provide lessons to some of his fellow servicemen and the young students in the neighborhood. Cosmo Music was established in 1968 and slowly grew over the years to include repairs...
Brenda Hebert remembers driving to the music wholesaler who represented the small store her husband formed, Cosmo Music. She was several months pregnant with her son, Mark, and was given help loading a pair of guitars in her car. The two instruments were all they could afford at the time and yet...
Bruce Chapman has always believed in the importance of music education and the positive role music can play in a young person’s life. All-throughout his music retail career, Bruce looked for opportunities to provide lessons, instruction, and guidance to young musicians. He worked for Musicstop, a...
David Brown grew up in the music industry working with his grandfather at his store, Critchett’s Music in Des Moines, Iowa. Dave started at a young age, first washing windows in the back of the store until he was encouraged, by his grandfather, to go on the road selling pianos and eventually he...
Cheryl Seppala has given the gift of music to countless students in her organ store over her career. She has never lost that spark in her eye that has encouraged her students to stay with the lessons and enjoy the benefits of making music. She began teaching when she was a teenager at Ozzie’s Music...
Wayne Seppala was playing organ for shoppers at the Montgomery Wards in San Diego before he was a teenager. When the store stopped selling organs, he landed a job at Ozzie’s Music where he met his future wife, Cheryl. Together they opened their own store just a year after getting married in 1977. ...
Marvin Maxwell opened Mom’s Music in Louisville, Kentucky with his wife Beverly in 1981. He also designed and developed a line of music themed toilet seats called “Jammin’ Johns,” which were first sold in his music store then in shops around the world. Marvin’s love of music began when he played...
David Kalt remembers, with a smile, the Fender Stratocaster he dreamed of as a kid. He also recalls that great day in 1985 when he finally got a 1970s Strat! The instrument has a special place in his own passion for music, an idea and feeling he never forgot. In fact, it was that passion for...