Hoover Music to close after more than a century

Downtown staple Hoover Music Co. is scheduled to close in mid-January after more than a century in business.

Brian Hoover, the 440 S. Jefferson Ave. store’s president, announced the closure yesterday on Facebook.

“It is with a heavy heart that I announce the upcoming closing of Hoover Music Co. Hoover has been a part of our community for 107 years, and a part of five generations of my family,” Hoover wrote in the post. “I want to say a special ‘thank you’ to our customers who have made it possible to stay in business for as long as we have, and wish you the very best along your musical journey.”

Reached this morning, Hoover Music Co. Purchasing Manager Alex Huff cited changing times in the retail industry.

“The market for music retail has changed, once again, and we're not able to adapt adequately to it,” Huff said. “Online shopping is a major convenience to people these days.”

The business traces its roots back to 1912, when Herbert L. Hoover opened the store as H.L. Hoover Music on McDaniel Street. It moved to South Avenue in 1937; four years later, Hoover died and his son, Paul, took over the business. He changed the name to Hoover Music and Books and in 1967 rebranded it as Hoover Music Co., along with the relocation to its current home on Jefferson Avenue. His sons, Kenny and James, took over the business in 1978. Kenny died in 1999, and James passed the reins to his son, Brian, in 2000, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.

Hoover Music Co. sells instruments and sheet music, and it also provides music lessons and repairs.

The business is currently advertising a liquidation sale.