The Jordan Kitt’s Music Story

Woodrow Wilson was the President of the United States. Arizona and New Mexico had just been admitted as the 47th & 48th states. And the ‘unsinkable’ Titanic had just met disaster on its maiden voyage.

Elsewhere, a man named Arthur Jordan had just formed the roots of an organization that would become one of the nation’s oldest and largest and most trusted piano retailer: Jordan Kitt’s Music.

Formerly most famous for being the first man to ship poultry from Indianapolis to New York City by train, Arthur, an industry outsider to say the least, entered his first foray into the music business by opening the Arthur Jordan Piano Company at 13 & G street in the nation’s capital. Before long, he persuaded friend Homer L. Kitt to leave his music business in Chicago and become general manager of his burgeoning piano retailer. By 1922, the two had become partners and decided to purchase a large showroom on G street, as well as another music storefront nearby.

Though it was a joint ownership of a single business and in fact had a single manager for both stores, each operated completely independently in an effort to offer consumers the largest range of brands.

However, by the early 1930’s, man could not live by pianos alone, and economic conditions forced retailers nationwide to offer a variety of products not formerly on the balance sheets. The Arthur Jordan Piano Company was no exception with a store log from 1932 revealing two customers interested in pianos, one in a radio, and two others focused on refrigerators.

At 5:32 am on September 14th, 1938, firemen responded to the first of two alarms and found the building at 1330 G Street ablaze. Fires had started separately on three floors. When the smoke cleared, literally, the building had been ravaged to the tune of $50,000 in fixtures and furnishings. Because of minor fires in previous weeks, investigators suspected arson, as reported in the Evening Star the following day. The story shared the front page with coverage Neville Chamberlain’s infamous visit to Germany, from which he would announce, erroneously, that he had achieved “Peace in our time”.

Piano retailing took on a new shape at the Jordan and Kitt’s music companies during the war. Merchandise was hard to impossible to come by. A telegram from the the Wurlitzer Company in 1942 marked a new era for the piano retailers saying simply “ Sorry, we are all out of grands. Also spinets.”

Manufacturers were now engaged in the war effort, and the Jordan Piano Company would be at a standstill for the next few years. Homer Kitt aided the effort by offering free practice space for GI’s and a complimentary repair shop for service band members until his passing in 1943. By 1957, the company had acquired stores in other territories, and was now the DC area’s oldest continuously operating music company.

The second phase of Jordan Kitt’s Music’s unique ownership management would come from an unusual place: The sugar cane fields of the Philippines via Madison Avenue in New York. After a successful tenure as CFO for a sugar mill and half a decade as a marketing management consultant for a variety of fortune 500 companies, Bill McCormick was appointed President of Jordan Kitt’s Music by the Arthur Jordan Foundation.

Though having no formal training in music, he developed talent already within the company, aggressively increased advertising and promotional outreach, and invested in new store locations. Ever passionate about the company and its mission, he acquired controlling interest in 1976, and continued to expand its geographic presence throughout the 1980’s with additional acquisitions, ultimately acquiring sole ownership in 1983.

In the decades to come, the company had acquired new stores throughout the Mid-Atlantic and South, and a reputation throughout the music industry as being America’s most trusted piano retailer (and by the turn of the century, its largest). Jordan Kitt’s Music continued at the leading edge of piano retailing, consolidating into convenient showroom locations, and manufacturing its own piano line designed to offer customers high-end piano features at affordable prices.

Sadly, in 2007, Bill McCormick passed away, leaving a legacy of success unrivaled in the music industry with Jordan Kitt’s Music ascending into an institution through his passion, talent and persistence. At the same time, the great recession that directly followed caused widespread industry retrenchment, with nearly a fifth of the nation’s music storefronts closing.

In 2010, however, this created an opening for the third and current major ownership phase of the company. Long-time Jordan Kitt’s veteran and Executive Vice President Chris Syllaba formed JKM Music Group, LLC to acquire the core stores in the major DC and Atlanta markets.

Along with veteran CFO Ray Fugere and a talented group of company managers, sales associates, teachers and technicians, Jordan Kitt’s Music went on to become one of the largest Yamaha dealers in America.

Today, after continuing the expansion into the Richmond and Virginia Beach markets, Jordan Kitt’s Music is again one of the nation’s largest and most reputable piano retailers. The most highly trained team of managers, sales professionals, technicians and teaching artists in the industry guarantees the highest customer satisfaction.

Jordan Kitt’s now represents the Mid-Atlantic’s best selection of the world’s finest piano brands, including Yamaha, Bösendorfer, Cristofori, Roland, used Steinway, and more.

The combination of guaranteed lowest prices, white glove delivery & service, and quality music education through the Jordan Kitt’s Music School makes the overall value proposition the best in the nation.

Join us to create your own story at Jordan Kitt’s Music, where a lifetime of music begins…