Jack Hyde

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 Sacramento brought band instruments, teaching and repair to the mass shopping venue, a thought that was ahead of its time. He was an unassuming salesman who preached the value of a music education and rarely put on the hard sell. After his retirement in 2002, he reflected on his role as a retailer, “kids should have the chance to play an instrument; my job is to help make that possible.” Jack was born in Geneseo, Kansas and after graduating from the state university he worked for CG Conn as a traveling rep who initiated several outstanding school music programs in Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin. In fact, in later years, Jack delighted in the fact that most of those programs were still going strong. He moved his family out to San Diego where he worked for Thearle’s Music, then later relocated to Sacramento where he opened his first store in 1955. When he retired in 2001, Skip Maggiora, who bought Jack’s store, honored him with a special party that Jack was still talking about years later!