Ric Overton
Happening Now In The Piano Business? It has been some time since I last posted here but I am planning new things so hopefully, I will see you again soon.
R. Kassman Piano
First let me start with the biggest change. In August of 2019 I purchased
R. Kassman Piano in Berkeley, CA. It was a major change for me that I would go back into the piano business as an owner but we found a way to make it happen and moved to the Bay Area in 2019.
Obviously, the pandemic happened not long after we arrived here. It has been challenging to stay afloat but we have managed to stay in business and doing okay.
Fine European Pianos
The cool thing about the change was that R. Kassman Piano has been known as the best piano store in the bay area for many years. A lot of that has been because R. Kassman Piano has always carried more luxury pianos along with Baldwin Piano and Ritmuller Piano which are a little more affordable.
The biggest names in the industry are Steingraeber, Estonia, Grotrian along with Schulze Pollman and Wilh Steinberg are among the names I carry in the store (more about them later). I also have more affordable lines like Baldwin, Ritmuller and some others from time to time.
Happening Now In The Piano Business
The world of pianos has stayed the same, while everything has changes. What I mean is that the business is basically the same, the pianos are basically the same BUT, the business itself has made a dramatic shift. Distribution has changed dramatically and the situation surrounding the industry has begun to retract in some ways.
China has made some drastic changes in the way they handle music education and this has slowed our availability some. We are watching carefully some of the policy changes that have been made and some initiatives that are altering the way the country is viewing extracurricular activities.
I will keep you updated as we move through these difficult times.
Thank you for your patience and we look forward to new things coming down the pike.
Merry Christmas to you all and let’s see what the New Year brings.
Ric Overton
