HISTORY

Piano & Organ Distributors' warehouse complex in North Carolina

	Bill Boyce (center) serves as an officer and director of National Association of Young Music Merchants (NAYMM) during 1970-71.

In 1945, Edwin R. Poole, a Band Director in Red Springs, North Carolina, founded E.R. Poole Music Company as a band instrument retail business. E.R. Poole's nephew, W.C. (Bill) Boyce, Jr., joined the business in 1959 while attending college at North Carolina State University. After his graduation in 1962, Boyce and Poole formed an E.R. Poole Music store in Durham, North Carolina.

In 1969, Mr. Boyce purchased the Durham business from E.R. Poole, that was operating in the Northgate Shopping Center and continued operating under the E .R. Poole Music Company name. However, in 1970, the business was changed to Bill Boyce Music Center, and a second store was opened in the Holly Hill Mall in Burlington, North Carolina. During the 1970's, Bill Boyce Music Centers operated stores in Fayetteville, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina. All locations were general music stores selling guitars, amps, band instruments and accessories, sheet music, pianos and organs.

Bill Boyce (back row, second from left) was elected as a director for National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) in 1974.

Bill Boyce in 1974

In 1972, Mr. Boyce was able to purchase three acres of commercial property on Highway 70, halfway between Durham and Raleigh, and erected a 12,000 sq. ft. warehouse building to use as a distribution center. However, sales from this location proved very successful, so a retail outlet was opened within this distribution complex. Presently, this complex has expanded to three buildings and has over 30,000 sq. ft. dedicated to keyboard marketing.

During the 1980's, the Burlington, Durham and Greensboro locations were changed to focus solely on pianos, eliminating all other categories of products.

In early 1980, Bill's son, Cliff, came into the business full time after serving his teen years “helping out at the store.” In 1993, Bill retired from day-to-day activity with Piano & Organ Distributors of North Carolina with Cliff Boyce handling the day-to-day operation “with better success than his father.” Although Bill Boyce has stayed involved with the piano business, he also ventured out, more aggressively, into the real estate world and soon owned and managed over 300 rental units.

Bill Boyce (left), CEO and President of Piano Distributors, is presented the YAMAHA DEALER of the YEAR AWARD by Yamaha Southeast Regional Manager, Chris Anderson

In 1997, W.C. Boyce, Jr. moved to Florida to retire. However, due to a “lapse in thinking,” Bill returned to the piano business in 2001. Within a very short time, the “new” operation, known as Piano Distributors of Florida, has grown to ten locations— Sarasota,Clearwater, Tampa, Melbourne, Palmetto, Lakeland, Naples, Ft. Myers, and two locations in the Orlando area to serve the musical communities of Central Florida. In July, 2006, Piano Distributors expanded their operation to the St. Louis,Missouri area with one of the Midwest’s largest piano showrooms.

In 2003, Piano Distributors was awarded Yamaha Dealer of the Year. Yamaha is the No. 1 manufacturer of musical instruments in the world.