HISTORY

Schertz's MusiCenteR is a family-owned and operated music store serving central Illinois since 1972. Owners, Randy and Judy Schertz, opened their first store on the corner of Main and Center in the small town of Eureka IL. In June, 1972 they officially opened their doors under the name Schertz¹s Music providing guitars, PA, lessons, accesories, and service.

Randy and Judy founded the business with a strong emphasis on service.  “We believe the most important aspect of any musical purchase is the personal attention you can only get from a small store.”  Schertz’s Music was committed to servicing even the smallest of needs.

Upon expanding into the organ business we realized the importance of local service and post purchase follow up.  Our relationships with our customers do not end at the cash register.  We are dedicated to keeping the musical instruments we sell working smoothly for years to come. We applied this experience to successfully add our first piano line in 1980.

Entering the piano business seemed to be a natural fit.  Judy was already teaching piano lessons at the store and it allowed us to focus more on music education.  Most musicians would agree that piano can be one of the most rewarding instrument for all ages and skill levels.

In 1989 Schertz’s Music underwent some changes in location. Randy’s brother had a partnership, Byerly Musicenter, which wanted to open a store in Bloomington. Randy sold his existing inventory and joined Byerly’s as the store manager. This new store was located in the Eastland Mall.

Randy quickly realized his business skills were best utilized as an owner/manager and left Byerly’s by 1992 to again open his own store. At this time he purchased part of the Byerly name and reopened for himself under the name Schertz’s MusiCenteR.

We began our search for a new store front and ended up in Historic Downtown Bloomington. The old Miller Music storefront was vacant and in need of some revitalization.

Randy quickly made aragements with Ray Miller the original owner of Miller Music to move into the building. It was very fitting another music store should take over the space. It had been serving as a music store since the 1940’s. The building had been vacant for quite some and needed a little sprucing up. We started in the old fashion way with two hands, a brush, and a bucket of paint. Help came from all directions. Some of our existing customers even pitched in to help us get the doors open.

Randy’s entire family worked on the project for several months before the building was ready to go. We remodeled, and built new teaching studios. We added storage and shelving for inventory. We updated, cleaned, painted, and remodeled some more. Ray and his wife even helped us get the project started. I can still remember Mrs. Miller who was already in her late 70’s sweeping the floor and throwing out trash.

In October of 1993 Schertz’s MusiCenteR officially opened its doors to the public. We had secured 3 main franchise lines and now offered pianos, guitars, amps, PA, accessories, lessons, repair, sound installation, and service. We were still servicing much of our customer base from Eureka and now Bloomington/Normal.

In 2003 we made our first major expansion at the Downtown location. Our rapidly expanding piano department needed more space for more inventory so we took over the adjacent building. This also was part of the original Miller Music and was in need of much remodeling. We now operate our piano showroom out of this building which is attached to our original building.

Since Randy’s first store in 1972, 34 years later we still have the same focus, service. We pride ourselves on providing the highest level of service possible to all of our customers. We go to great lengths to keep our customers satisfied on every level. We are dedicated to keeping our staff knowledgeable and properly trained so when you have a question, we can get you the answer. We have a large network of technicians in the area that we work closely with to provide post purchase service. We also offer in house repair service. We are musicians working for musicians. Come in and talk to our friendly staff with over 60 years combined experience in the music business. Let us show you what a difference people can make!