Allen Organ Company

Joy Collins has had a successful career selling piano and organs! In fact she may very well be the person who has sold the most Allen Organs, ever. Joy was hired by Glenn Davis, who owned a piano and organ store in Chicago, as a secretary but soon discovered selling was in her blood. She would take home her tasks as a secretary, such as letters and reports, and completed then over the weekend so she had time to sell instruments during the week days. She soon became a top salesperson for Mr. Davis. The company changed its name to The Beautiful Sound in 1978 when Mr. Davis passed away and Joy purchased the company. Under Joy’s direction the company became the Steinway dealer for Chicago in the 1980s.

Hal Cowan studied business administration while playing music all through school. He loved playing organ and found himself in the company of fellow organ buffs as well as employees of organ stores and manufacturers. Hal worked for the Jenkins Hammond Organ Studios as president under Paul Jenkins who was a family member of the Jenkins Music Company. Hal took over the Hammond Studios as owner when Paul Jenkins left in 1977 and changed the name of the store to Jenkins Music Company (he licensed the name from J. W. Jenkins, Paul's brother).  Hal owned the store along with his wife and offered some of the most innovative products during the great home organ boom of the 1960s and 70s.
 

Martha Markowitz married her knight-in-shining-armor right after World War II. She soon helped him run the small organ company he started before the war. The Allen Organ Company has been a pioneering business in church organs and in digital technology for many decades. Although Jerome has passed away in 1991, the legacy of his innovations remain. His son, Steve Markowitz, runs the business today, which is currently the top producer and seller of church organs in the United States.
 

Steve Markowitz’s father invented a unique electronic organ in the 1930s and established the Allen Organ Company in Allentown, PA. Steve’s father, Jerome, built his first experimental instrument back in the Depression Era--1936. As the popularity of the instrument grew, particularly with churches and places of worship, Jerome’s wife and later his son joined in working in the company. Steve played an important role in the expansion of sales of the organs outside of the United States beginning in the late 1980s. Jerome Markowitz passed away in 1991, after which Steve became president, honoring his father by continuing to provide innovative and quality musical instruments. 

William Metcalfe’s father began working for A. P. (Pops) Schuttler in a little music store in Evansville, Indiana, back in 1930. When his father bought the store in a ten-year deal beginning in 1949, the store sold string instruments and accessories until his father brought in records. After graduating from college in 1962, William returned to the store where he worked along side his father until he retired in the 1970s. Along the way he formed a rock and roll store around the corner called ABC Music. With the success of the new store Schuttler Music became the local piano and organ store and William ran both. In 1980, he sold ABC, which had become a sound company, and focused on piano and organs.

Craig Smith began piano lessons at the age seven and by the time he was twelve, was fascinated with the sounds of the home organ. He started demonstrating organs for Karnes Music at thirteen and worked there part-time through high school. During his college years, Craig continued to work part-time selling pianos and organs at Byerly Music in Peoria, IL. He also played professionally in hotels and supper clubs. After college, he toured the country with a show band for a couple years, before settling down into a retail career with his early mentor from Karnes, Pete Sopp, who by the mid-70's, owned Piano Organ Warehouse in Santa Rosa, California. Craig was at the center of the home organ boom, with all the promotions the industry created to market their products.

Robert Street grew up in the piano business. In 1914, Robert’s grandfather, Claude P. Street, opened his first music store in Nashville, Tennessee. Claude was certain that a successful business could be built by offering the finest keyboard instruments and professional service, a philosophy the company holds true nearly 100 years later. The store expanded over the years and today is the authorized Allen Organ dealer and Yamaha dealer for the area.