Sowle 1 Ashley Sowle Professor Kim Davenport T ARTS 225A 2 June 2017 A Brief Early History of the Ted Brown Music Company Ted Brown Music has been serving the community of Tacoma since 1931, and in that time, has acquired a great deal of respect and pride among the patrons who frequent their now multiple stores. It began as a small mom and pop shop and has grown into a company that has been associated with all things music from live shows and community gatherings to selling of music equipment, tools, and even providing music lessons in the present day. A complete history of the store would require a much lengthier research paper, but this paper will provide the highlight reel of their 86 years in business, as well as an update of what has been happening in the more recent years. When Ted Brown opened his first store located at 755-57 Broadway in downtown Tacoma, WA (Music Firm to Get New Home, 1934) he primarily sought to serve the community through piano products and their accompanying sheet music (Guzman, David; 2011). Brown was passionate about his piano products and quickly outgrew this location, announcing a move to a new, larger location in 1934 (Ted Brown Music Co. Opens Beautiful New Store, 1934). Among the many features that were included in the store were frosted windows, sound proof material to limit playback noise, and over 2000 more square feet of usable space (1934). This new location was at 1121 Broadway, just down the street from the previous location (1934). While at 1121 Broadway, the company went through a few changes that included adding inventory and renovating a great deal of the space. Namely, a piano salon was added to the collection of spaces to play and enjoy music and inventory was increased by allowing for much
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