The last store from Philly’s famed ‘Piano Row’ sold to Steinway after decades
Jacobs Music, a family-owned fixture for decades in the Philadelphia region, has been sold to Steinway & Sons, which will operate the Center City and Princeton stores under its name.
Jacobs Music, the only surviving showroom on what was once Chestnut Street’s “Piano Row,” has a new owner and a new, albeit familiar, name: Steinway & Sons.
A fixture on the 1700 block of Chestnut and a landmark of Philadelphia’s musical landscape since 1937, the Center City Jacobs store will remain open, as will a branch in Princeton.
The Cherry Hill and Ephrata, Pa., Jacobs stores will close following a sale of existing inventory. Jacobs’ piano tuning, maintenance, and repair division will continue as an independent company, with the same 17 full-time technicians.
“We have been so involved with the community here for so long that we wanted to make sure this transition won’t be disruptive,” Jacobs chief executive officer Chris Rinaldi said in an interview. “It will be seamless.”
The sale comes as Rinaldi plans to retire from the company he and his brother, Bob, the chief operating officer, have worked in for decades and inherited from their father in 2014. The Rinaldi family bought the business in 1976.
“The industry has changed,” Chris Rinaldi said, adding that the popularity of pianos “peaked in 1978.”
The sales agreement had been in the works for months and was announced Tuesday. Details were not made public, but a statement by Steinway & Sons said Philadelphia “is a natural fit for us, not only because of its musical heritage but also its proximity” to New York City, where the company was founded in 1853.
Steinway still builds its esteemed instruments in Queens. Jacobs has had a working relationship with Steinway for 40 years.
A vital element in the sound of Philadelphia
“We’re not just a music store,” Bob Rinaldi said, sitting at a conference table adjacent to the second-floor showroom on Chestnut Street. The family still owns the building and will rent it to Steinway.
“We’ve been part of the fabric of the unique musical community of Philadelphia — where some of the best music on the planet has been made — and we’ve made a mark,” he said.
That store’s role has become more essential as the number of piano stores has dwindled. In the early 20th century, 13 such establishments operated on Chestnut between Sixth and 23rd Streets.
A 1940 Inquirer story about the pending demolition of a block-long building at 11th and Chestnut that was known as “Piano Row” had over time housed 14 businesses related to the instrument.
Jacobs has long supported and served music education in public schools, students in college and university music programs, and private music schools such as Curtis and the Academy of Vocal Arts. The Center City store has hosted private recitals and has offered practice space to students.
“They have been a fantastic partner,” said Miles Cohen, artistic director of the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, now in its 39th season.
The end of family ownership at Jacobs “is another [tear] in the fabric of what had been a vibrant community that they supported,” he said. “The Rinaldis are people. Not a corporation.”
» READ MORE: Good Eye: A grand piano store endures on Chestnut Street
A sign of change, or not?
“When I was younger in the business, I don’t think I realized how valuable the store’s presence in the middle of the [Center City] arts district was,” said Chris Rinaldi.
Steinway’s purchase “maintains the last store of Piano Row,” he said.
As for the elegant sign on the facade of the Chestnut Street store, Bob Rinaldi said he expected Steinway likely would replace Jacobs or add its own logo.
Though the sign may live in Philly’s cultural landscape, he said, because a representative of another arts organization in the city has expressed interest in acquiring it.