Music Retail

Colleen Summerhays recalled the day in 1940 when she walked into a local music store to inquire about a clerical position. She met the owner, her future husband, Hy Summerhays, who had opened the retail shop just four years earlier. The young couple got married and worked together during the...
Ruby Beeston was a piano teacher when she suggested that a local piano store carry sheet music. The store offered her space to sell the materials, which led to her opening a small chain of retail shops in the Salt Lake City, UT area. In searching for a store name she and her husband thought about...
Susan Beacock walked into a shopping mall with her music director husband in 1978 and noticed a small empty shop. He suggested they open a music store with a focus on teaching studios. Susan, without any discussion, agreed. With years of hard work and the challenges of strong competition, the...
Grace Marquette doesn’t care much for vacations or trips because it takes her away from what she loves, her music store. Grace and her late husband, Robert, purchased the Loser’s Music Store, which was originally opened in 1923 on Cumberland Street in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, in 1954. The location...
Klint Day followed in the footsteps of his mother and father who formed Day Murray Music back in 1946. The store was named for the couple’s last name and the store location, Murray, Utah. Klint grew up in the business and has taken great pride in expanding the company to three stores in the greater...
Rosanne Day has enjoyed working alongside her husband, Klint, as owners of Day Murray Music, a mostly print music retail store in Utah. Her husband’s parents established the first of their three stores in the years following World War II. Since her involvement years later, Rosanne has been in...
Briant Summerhays has been a part of the music industry his entire life. His mother and father opened a music store in Utah in the days following World War II. Earlier, his father, Hy, had been a bandleader and violin player. Briant went to college to study accounting and soon was involved with...
Bill Harris was a Utah music retailer so passionate about the business that he often is heard saying, “I hate Sundays because the store is closed.” He began working in music retail when he was in high school and soon after teamed up with two local band directors to open a store in 1953. Within the...
Harry Carter was already a school band director when he opened a music store in Ottumwa, Iowa. The year was 1948 when Harry and two partners set out to develop a store that would specialize in customer service for band directors. As the store grew, Harry hired college friends and several buddies...
Chuck Levin’s Washington Music Company serves as a focal point for the music makers all around the DC area and is one of the premier music retail stores in the country.  The store also stands as a lasting tribute to the man behind the name, Mr. Chuck Levin.  Mr. Levin passed away before he could...

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