Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum What Goes Around Comes Around! ( A long story.)

Since my family and, of course, our business relocated from Philadelphia to Baltimore in 1957 and continuing through 2007 we have been in direct competition with Baldwin. Kunkel Piano Company was the oldest Baldwin dealership in the U.S. and they had stores within a few blocks of our locations. Our family business, Jasons Music Center was the oldest Yamaha dealership in the U.S. having started representing Yamaha in May, 1960.

The competitive situation was very interesting. Both Jasons and Kunkel were family-owned operations, and Francis Kunkel was about the same age as my father Irv, and his son Craig was about my age. We took over the reins from our fathers at about the same time. Both operations were "old school" dealerships and both earned excellent reputations for honesty and integrity.

In those early years the Baldwin/Yamaha comparisons were dynamic and often cited, and the fact that Yamaha was "mass-produced" was a key issue. After all they were the only one made that way. Also keep in mind that these were the days when Japanese products were inevitable compared to the "cheap transistor radio." "Quality" and "Made in Japan" were mutually exclusive terms in the minds of the U.S. market!

To say that the Baldwin Hamilton 243 dominated the public school market would be a vast understatement. Until the introduction of the Yamaha P202 (forerunner to the P22), virtually the only piano found in schools was 243s and Baldwin grands. The Yamaha G7 (now the C7) sold for less than the Baldwin baby grand. The P202 retailed for about $1000 less than the 243. Back in those days the industry watched the competitive situation in Baltimore very carefully, using it to try to predict scenarios in other markets. Craig Kunkel retired a few years ago, soon after Baldwin's acquisition by Gibson. There has been no Baldwin dealer here since.

Why do I bring all of this up, you might ask. Well, yesterday we unpacked our first shipment of Baldwin pianos as their new dealership for the Baltimore/Washington and Northern Virginia market. Adding Baldwin pianos to our current offering of Kawai (in the Baltimore Market only), Pramberger, used/rebuilt Steinways, Mason & Hamlins and Yamahas, puts us in a better position to fulfill the musical needs of our shoppers.



As a major contributor here, a contributing editor of Piano Buyer, and as a consultant to the piano industry I felt that this story might not only be interesting, but needed to be posted for transparency. (it is rumored that Baldwin will be rated as Tier One pianos in the upcoming issue of Piano Buyer.

Having been in the business all my life, I have learned not to burn bridges. What goes around really does often come along!

Congratulations! It would be great if Baldwin could return to it's former glory!

Come on Stave. Your cross-promotion of interests is all too obvious.

Steve,

That's GREAT! Congrats and godspeed. Will you also be selling Baldwin grands? Can't wait to hear your first opinions . . . See you at MARC.

Congratulations, Steve!

Congratulations, Steve, on your new product line...

And, your story was interesting. I too have learned in life that it is not good to burn bridges... you never know what the future holds, and, quite often, we as humans do tend to hold grudges (burned bridges?).

Best regards,

Rick

Would like to see Baldwin regain its status.

Asked and answered.

Interesting info. Keep us informed on how it plays out. Quality, warranty response, etc. Thanks and good luck with the line.

I enjoyed reading the post, self-promotional or not. Good luck, Steve Cohen.

Congratulations Steve!

Not for taking on the line but for deviating from your previous position not to offer Chinese made pianos.

Presumably the previously proudly displayed "No-Chinese-Pianos" sign is gone from your website now forever.....

Wishing you best - considering your long experience with the make, hoping the new Chinese made pianos will remember you on the ones from before ...

Norbert

Steve,
Being a technician I am interested about the designs being used-are they the same scales that were made in the US?

Man, it is refreshing to read what might be at least a partly positive thread about Baldwin pianos, new or old. Positive comments about Baldwins are hard to come by on this forum. I went ahead anyway and bought a 1989 Baldwin L a month ago, and it is a gorgeous piano. We're in love and I'm thrilled.

Best of luck to you, Steve.

scout

The L is a great piano - if I had been able to find one around me I probably would have bought one.

It does seem to be gone - pending sales figures of the Baldwin lineup for the next 2 years... If the things don't sell, the "No Chinese Pianos" sign will be back, in an even larger font than before.

Life does take unexpected turns, doesn't it? Good luck with Baldwin, they sure have fallen on hard times.

Now that the supply chain to the US is stabilizing Baldwin is actually resurging. This is due in no small part to their new US distributor, North American Music and their very experienced crew, many of who were with baldwin when it was in its glory.

I think you will soon hear of another major dealership in a major market (and a regular here on Piano World) who will be adding Baldwin to their lineup.

Yes, I am honestly curious well, what the new pianos have in common with the old ones besides the name. There as so many pianos with old German and American names on them now coming out of China which have nothing at all in common with the products made by the original company. The names are strictly used to try to conjure up some image of heritage, tradition and continuity (= quality) in the minds of would-be buyers.

Maybe Baldwin is different, perhaps they are now producing the tried and true product under more economically feasible condition in Asia?

My understanding is that some models are re-creations of the original scale designs while others are different. I'll get the facts and post them.

I had the honor of doing business with both the Kunkel
and Cohen families through the years, Though to confess
I called on many more Cohens than Kunkles.Both names were
very well respected.
Returning Baldwin to a market as important as Baltimore
is something that will be good for the Piano industry
in the U.S. Good luck Steve.