Julia Arza is the Director of Operations and a passionate advocate for AIMM, the Alliance of Independent Music Merchants. She joined the organization in 2017 and has helped expand its sum...
John Jarvis is the president and owner of the music retail store in Florida, Music Man. His father was a band director back in 1944 who retired to Florida in 1973 and opened a small store...
O’Lyn Callahan has played the piano since she was eight years old and started on organ at age twelve after receiving a Hammond B3 from her father. She came in third place at a Yamaha orga...
Tom Mathis spent over 50 years in the piano business! Just think of how many instruments he must have sold and all the music currently being made thanks to him! He developed his sales sty...
Daryl Brooke opened a music store in Key West, Florida after retiring from the computer industry in 2012. The store was a dream of his and made perfect sense, especially considering his f...
Nan DeStafney served her country as a United States Navy nurse. As she neared retirement, she met navy man Jim DeStafney who had the idea of opening his own music store. The two were marr...
Stephen Olsen grew up with a passion for business, so when he had an opportunity to join the family music store, he jumped! Blues Angel was established in 1997 by his step father Jim and...
Neal Pomerantz developed a passion for music at a young age. He started on the guitar and had aspirations to become a rockstar. In 1988, Neil took a job at a local music store to make som...
Fred Rubin ran one of the most active and successful music stores in Miami. His father opened Ace Music in 1955 and Fred grew up in the store. When he took over the business, Fred continu...
Jim DeStafney is the co-owner of Blues Angel Music in Pensacola, Florida. After completing a 24-year career as a Navy fighter pilot, Jim opened the shop in 1997. Blues Angel Music has bee...
Jeff Lee is the president of Resurrection Drums in Hollywood, Florida, a mecca for percussionists for miles around. Jeff is one of the most passionate members of the music industry you w...
Bill Wallin is the instrument repair technician at Chafin Musiccenter in Lake Worth, Florida. Bill began working for the company alongside the store's founder, Paul Chafin. While Paul's...
Jeff Chafin worked side by side with his father, the founder of Chafin Musiccenter for many years. Jeff learned many key elements to the business that has served him well since taking ov...
Sue Chafin brings an honest smile and warm greeting to all those who walk into Chafin Musiccenter in Lake Worth, Florida. After marring Jeff, the son of the founder of the store, she wor...
Danny Marquez began playing drums in his father's church from the age of four! One day as a teenager he walked into Chafin Musiccenter in Lake Worth, Florida for a set of sticks. While ...
John Riley grew up playing music and earned a business degree in Boston. He applied for a job at the Wurlitzer retail store and was hired by a man named Bob Fletcher. When Bob moved to ...
David Hosler had a friend in school whose father had a wood-working shop. It was in that small shop where David built his first guitar and where his passion for making instruments began. ...
Frank Kilgard worked for Streep Music in Florida before opening his own band instrument repair shop in Georgia. His strong interest in quality repair led to a life time of learning new t...
Mel Schiff and his wife Sally established All County Music in Tamarac, Florida. The first store opened in 1976 with a strong focus on band and orchestra music and repair. However, Mel’s...
Sally Schiff and her husband Mel moved from New York to Florida where they decided to open their own music retail business. All County Music in Tamarac, Florida first opened in 1976 with...
Kathi Kretzer is the founder of Kretzer Piano in Jupiter, Florida. She established the store in 1985 and has since been an active member of the music industry as well as her local commun...
Bob Scheiwiller taught music for three years before landing a job at a music store; the very first store he would later purchase. Bob bought and opened several music stores over the years...
William Dollarhide was the president and co-owner, along with his wife Margaret, of Dollarhide’s Music Center in Pensacola, Florida. He grew up in a very musical family, with his mother a...
Greg Billings is the retired president of the Steinway Piano Gallery of Naples in Florida. Greg is also a very active member of the music products industry, appearing on panel discussions...
Don Banks was a band director who felt he could have more of an impact on music makers by providing them with quality instruments. In 1967 he opened Don Banks Music in Tampa, Florida to s...
Mitchel Banks has been working in the music store his father established as far back as he can remember. After serving as a band director, Don Banks formed his retail store in Tampa in 1...
AJ Altieri began working in the music retail business in the mid 1970s after a childhood filled with music. He played in bands as a student along with being a Drum Major, before performin...
Grace Altieri has a background in law but was willing to put that career on hold when her husband decided to open a drum shop in Tampa. AJ was working for a local music store and was real...
Tony Leonard is the president of Playground Music, a Florida-based music store his father established in 1961. With a strong focus on school music and print, Tony has continued with many ...
Theo Boylan grew up in a small town 80 miles from Chicago and has a musical performance background in both piano and oboe. As a small child, she began her love of classical music at the p...
Elliott Rubinson fell in love with the bass at the age of 12 and played it every waking moment as he grew up in Queens, New York, in the rock era of the 1960s. He toured with a number of ...
Joyce Porras was hired to work at Reynald’s Music Store for two weeks in 1946, to help with the Christmas holiday rush. She continued to work for the company until it was sold in the 1980...
