Schmitt Music is an American retail company which specializes in acoustic pianos, digital pianos, band and orchestra instruments, guitars and other

musical instruments A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed Book, books or Pamphlet, pamphlets ...

and accessories, as well as offering services such as instrument repair and music instruction. The company operates 9 stores in five states. Founded in

1896 Events January * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports Wilhelm Röntgen's dis ...

as the Paul A. Schmitt Music Company, it was awarded the

Steinway & Sons Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway (), is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in New York City by German piano builder Henry E. Steinway, Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company's growth le ...

Partners in Performance Award in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, and the Steinway & Sons "Dealer of the Year" in 2011. Schmitt Music was named

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Dealer of the Year in 2012.

Locations

Schmitt Music currently operates 9 stores in states throughout the Midwest. *

Bloomington, Minnesota Bloomington is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. It is located on the north bank of the Minnesota River above its confluence with the Mississippi River, south of downtown Minneapolis and just south of the Interstate 494/Inter ...

(headquarters) *

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History

Schmitt Music was founded by Paul A. Schmitt in 1896 in Minneapolis, Minnesota as a print music retail company. In the 1930s, the company expanded its inventory to include a full line of musical instruments, radios, records and other accessories. The downtown Minneapolis store location moved to South 10th Street in 1939, which is the location of the now-iconic Schmitt Music Wall mural. In the early 1970s, many Minneapolis businesses were making efforts to beautify the city. Journalist Barbara Flanagan of the

Minneapolis Star ''The Minnesota Star Tribune'', formerly the ''Minneapolis Star Tribune'', is an American daily newspaper based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As of 2023, it is Minnesota's largest newspaper and the seventh-largest in the United States by circula ...

suggested that the large wall be painted with big and colorful notes.Flanagan, Barbara. (1972, Feb. 22) Ugh-ly the word for it. Minneapolis Star pp.1c President Robert P. Schmitt agreed. The wall is painted with "Scarbo" a section of "Gaspard de la Nuit" by

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

. The mural was completed in 1972, and was famously used as a backdrop for promotional photos for

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

in 1977. The company headquarters moved to

Brooklyn Center, Minnesota Brooklyn Center is a commuter town, first-ring suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. In 1911, the area became a village formed from parts of B ...

in 2001 and later to

in 2022, where it is currently located.

References

External links

Tom Schmitt Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2013)
Schmitt Music Company History
Schmitt Music Website Retail companies established in 1896 Music education organizations Musical instrument retailers of the United States 1896 establishments in Minnesota {{US-retail-company-stub