Cooper Music Store

Established in 1906, Cooper Music is one of America's family-run music stores, having been managed by the same family continuously across four generations. Cooper Music was originally founded in Buffalo, New York, and later moved to the Atlanta, Georgia, area in 1977, where it still operates.

History

The store that would become known as Cooper Music began in 1906 as a picture framing business that was taken over by Johnathon Cooper, an immigrant from Bristol, England. Cooper and his wife, Selina Howell, first immigrated to the US in 1880. After several years living in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, and working in the coal mines, Cooper and his family – which now included two sons, John and Will – moved to Buffalo in 1892.

Will Cooper was the first to work in the framing shop, which was owned and managed by a local preacher. However, after a scandal involving his choir soprano, the preacher was forced to leave town, leaving the business to Will and his father Johnathon. John joined soon afterwards, creating the family-run tradition that Cooper Piano is known for.

By 1909, Cooper Music had been formally established, with piano sales pushing their framing work out of the picture.

Over the course of the next decade, Cooper Music grew steadily, continuing to be run personally by Jonathon, Will, and John Cooper. By the 1920s, Cooper Music was running a thriving business built primarily on piano and violin sales. The thriving music scene of the day made for plenty of customers. Cooper Music eventually expanded to include the Cooper Music Minstrels, who sold out several concerts to promote Liberty Bonds during World War I.

Cooper Music And The Long Count Fight

During this period, Cooper Music was involved in a notable first in the history of live broadcasts. In 1927, Cooper Music contracted John Philip Sousa's US Marine Band to hold another Liberty Bond fundraiser. Sousa's contract included a promise to sell out the chosen venue, the historic Liberty Theater, but John Cooper – by now heading the company – was certain they could do it.

Then, a challenge arose: A long-awaited boxing rematch between Gene Tunney and Jack Dempsey for the World Heavyweight Championship was scheduled for the same evening as the Sousa concert. John Cooper had no way of knowing, but this fight wasn't just the biggest of 1927. It would become known as The Long Count Fight.

John Cooper, however, wasn't going to let that spoil his concert. With the help of a radio technician, “Wink” Winslow Neely, they hatched a plan to harness the fight's popularity for themselves. Radio station KDKA was broadcasting the fight live as it happened. So, they ran telephone wire from the Cooper Music building to the Liberty Theater across the street, believing they could pipe it into the concert.

The Sousa show began as normal. However, after several pieces, Cooper gave a pre-arranged signal and, in unison, the band took off their coats and sat back as the Long Count Fight began to play throughout the theater. The crowd went wild and, audience and performers alike, they all listened to the fight before then resuming the concert.

Cooper Music During The Great Depression

The Great Depression of 1929 hit Cooper Music hard. As a publically-traded company, the stock market crash destroyed most of their value. By 1933, the company was worth only one-fifth of its 1929 value. Unable to pay its bills, and providing luxury items in a decade that could not afford them, the original Cooper Music building was foreclosed upon and their assets were taken over by their debtors.

Cooper was allowed to continue to operate the business on a month-to-month basis, but faced eviction at any time, if a buyer for the building had been found. Fortunately for Cooper, the building had been completed only a couple years before the Depression and Cooper Music was the only operating business within it, dissuading potential buyers.

In the meantime, John Cooper changed his stock. Hundred- and thousand-dollar pianos were put in storage and replaced with 15-cent kazoos, 79-cent phonograph records, and 25-cent sheet music. He continued to expand his stock of low-cost items, as well as offering services such as group piano lessons and performance contests. Eventually, with the help of younger brother Charles “Bus” Cooper, the shop would expand to include 12 full-time instructors in music, arts, and cooking.

In this fashion, Cooper Music held on and slowly rebuilt itself. By 1937, Cooper Music had expanded into the field of radio, with Wink Neeley broadcasting WKPA from nearby New Kensington, using newly-created studios in the Cooper Building. WKPA would eventually go on to be sold to its General Manager Nelson L. Goldberg in 1961 and become one of the pioneers of cable TV.

By 1940, Cooper Music had regained enough equity to purchase itself back from the bank, ending its decade-long financial struggles.

The Forties To Today

Over the course of the next several decades, Cooper Music continued to grow and expand. In 1977, the decision was made to abandon their long-time home in Pennsylvania, moving instead to the booming media town of Atlanta.

During the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, Cooper Music focused on chain stores in malls in the Atlanta area, which were then the center of growing commerce. This strategy worked, but once Blake Cooper, great-grandson of Johnathon Cooper, took over as CEO in 1991, he decided it was once again time for Cooper Music to change its practices.

The mall stores were closed, and the business was folded into the new Cooper Building, creating a 10,000 square foot superstore with six showrooms, a rental department, and extensive renovation services. This centralized location allowed them to reduce overhead and consolidate all their expertise into a single location, resulting in a threefold profit increase between 1993 and 2008.

The Liberty Theater

The Liberty Theater was constructed as part of the new Cooper Building, and has become a popular venue for classical and, especially, jazz performances. Numerous notable figures in modern jazz, including the Don Discenza Quartet, Penelope Williams, and Ted Howe, who also teaches piano classes in association with Cooper Music.

This venue provides an inexpensive alternative to the more famous Fox Theater, allowing people from locals and students to nationally-known chamber music artists to present music to the community at large.

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