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Any woman that own piano stores?
Is it predominately a guy's business?

There certainly is a clique of guys here on the piano forum.
Not only dealers , but most in the industry it seems are men, with the occasional exception.

I’ve wondered about that as well…

Chances are, there are more men in the piano business than women, but there are women piano store owners out there… the closest piano dealer in my area is owned by a woman, who has worked in the piano business for over 20 years. However, her store is rather small and she does not keep more than one or two new pianos in stock at a time, along with some used pianos. I think the music lesson and sheet music portion of her business is what keeps her business afloat.

There are a few female members here on PW who are in the piano business, but I don’t think they are as vocal (or as argumentative) as the men.

Rick

There's Sara Faust at Faust Harrison in NY.

You may have a point, Dara. Most piano "guys" are actually guys, it seems.

There are exceptions. My niece's late piano teacher bought her piano from a lady in northern Virginia who specialized in selling top-tier pianos. Of the four major acoustic piano stores in the Richmond, Virginia area, two are run by women. One is a professional pianist and teacher who sells pianos as a sideline. The other is the local Steinway dealer.

Does co-ownership count? Petit Music is owned by Ann and Larry Petit. She runs the sales side and Larry runs the rebuilding shop. Their flagship line is Steingraeber. It's located in the Rochester, MN area.

There is Peregrine Piano in London, Camille in NY state, there was Stella Kahn in suburban Philly and there was Cathy Harl in DC.

"The Beautiful Sound" in Chicago was owned by a lady though I can't remember her name.

There were more lady owners a few years ago, but the recession did not seem to be very chivalrous. Owners of either gender closed their doors.

There have been one or two dealers in my area who are women. They are nowhere near as flexible when it comes to negotiating a price . . . .! Steer clear, guys!!

I bought mine from Cathy Harl in Alexandria. Her establishment regularly hosted piano events that PW members attended.

She was indeed less of a haggler than many, I suppose. Then again, her marked prices weren't the stupid MSRPs that many people plaster on the piano and then casually ignore when the customer shows the slightest potential as a buyer.

A woman sold me my Bösendorfer at Yamaha Peninsula (San Jose).




Maybe you need to turn on the charm a little more!

Camille owns Frank and Camille's East and is a consummate pro in the industry. There are several others and many couples. However it is heavily dominated by men.

Most women are too smart to go into the piano business!

I agree that piano dealing seems to be largely a man's world. But then, classical music generally seems to be a man's world, something that has been a source of controversy for decades. Women are starting to achieve the status they should have had all along in major orchestras, but there is still a long way to go. I mean, how many other businesses could have gotten away with discriminating in the way that the Vienna Symphony Orchestra has for as long as it has?

Classical music has a long tradition of blatant sexism. It surely is not altogether surprising that the various satellite industries are as well. I do not know of a lot of female luthiers or violin dealers, either.

There are also owners Nicci -Avery Piano in Providence RI; Kathy Kretzer - Kretzer Piano in FL; Jo Beth Dillenger - Artist Piano in Albany and Syracuse; Alecia Sides - Robert M. Sides Pian o in Williamsport PA and others I am sure!

That might have been the dealer from whom my niece's piano teacher bought her Sauter Omega, Dad. I've read some nice posts about Harl Pianos on this website.

Apparently Harl Pianos is no longer in existence. What happened to Ms. Harl? Did she retire, or was her business a victim of this recession?

I think it was mostly the latter. Though the long term trends were bad enough without the 2008 coup de grace.

Cathy Krubsack of Lacefield Music, St. Louis. She great!

Full Disclosure: She's my mom...

Isn't one of the piano mfg in Europe run/owned by a woman? Be darned if I can think of which one at the moment. Maybe this will jingle someones memory here to help me out.

Cathy Harl still reads here and on WTF.

Her store and she was/is a class act.

Her name is Ursula Seiler.

Dara, Maybe you should take what I'm about to tell you with a grain of salt, because almost ALL of the sales reps I've ever met are full of bovine scatology,...but a dozen years ago when I opened my own shop, I was told that I was the only single -- meaning not married to the other co-owner -- woman dealer.
I think they were also referring to the fact that I sold mostly new pianos.
best,
Cathy

In Las Vegas There is the Wunderlich Sisters. They are the Steinway dealers with several other manufacturers instruments. They've been in business for several decades here. It's been hard getting past this economic disaster but they seem to be doing well again.

A couple of updates, Cathy.

One, Ursula Seiler, the widow of Steffan Seiler, ran the Seiler piano company from her husband's death in 1999 until 2008, when she sold the company to Samick. Apparently none of the Seiler's children were interested in continuing the family business.

Two, there are two ladies currently running two prominent piano companies, both of them fifth-generation piano makers. AnneKatrin Forster ran August Forster jointly with her father Wolfgang until the latter's death, and is now running the company on her own. Zuzanna Petrova is the current CEO of Petrof. (P.S. - Her sister Ivana is in charge of the company's export sales efforts.)