Brook Mays Means Music
For over a century, Brook Mays Music has been an established, Texas-based retailer with over ten locations. We specialize in musical instruments, sheet music, repairs and supplies for musicians and educators.
Our Start |
Dallas was in the era of player pianos and Sunday afternoon concerts when Mr. Brook Mays founded Brook Mays Music by purchasing the Will A. Watkin Music Company in Aug. 1901. Mays, a transplant from Tennessee, ran the business for nearly 40 years; While he was no musician himself, he was a businessman who saw a need for a first-class piano store in Dallas. When the original store opened at 401 Main Street, across from the downtown Dallas post office, the company exclusively sold pianos and became the largest dealership of its kind in the region, becoming the only music company in the Southwest to survive The Great Depression.
Upon Mays’ death, he left the company to his employees; the Houston employees purchased the use of the Brook Mays name from the Dallas employees and established the Brook Mays Piano Company of Houston.
Brook Mays |
In the 1940s, Brook Mays Music expanded into organs, sheet music and instruments. After World War II, the downtown store moved to a three-story building at 1005 Elm Street in Dallas. The next decade of growth included the development of the band and orchestra instrument division, which became the largest supplier of instruments to schools in the Southwest. Much of that growth was attributed to the expansion of school band and orchestra programs at the time.
In the 1950s, the Everitt family became involved. Bill Everitt Sr., a Dallas-area band director who also worked in the instrument division, along with a partner, bought that division, the piano department and eventually the remainder of the company. When Bill Everitt Jr. entered the business in 1968, the Everitt family bought out their partner and took full control.
The rock n’ roll of the ‘60s brought an entirely new demand for musical instruments. Electric guitars, amplifiers and drums were now being sold, with the ‘70s and ‘80s introducing high-end electronics like keyboards, synthesizers and drum machines.
In the early years of the new century, Brook Mays had grown to over 60 stores in 13 states. In 2003, the company took a public stand against cheap, low-quality instruments being sold and expressed that these instruments had a negative impact on music education.
H&H Music |
Band Directors Clint Hackney Sr. and his brother-in-law, Maurice Halbert, both band directors, founded H&H Music, an instrument and accessory store, on Dec. 8, 1945 in an 8’ x 16’ building at 1309 Main Street, Houston, Texas. After their first year, the store moved into a 20’ x 50’ building at 1717 Main Street in Houston and added a third employee.
In 1950, the company moved to a 50’ x 100’ building and added a piano, sheet music and repair department. In 1955 the company moved to 1211 Caroline Street in downtown Houston and added a guitar and drum department.
By 1968 the company had grown to five stores, and in 1969, Brockstein Music and Carter Music were purchased, bringing the company to seven stores.
The ‘70s were a period of consolidation for H&H Music and a transition period for retail music companies as old businesses closed and new businesses opened. In Dec. 1982, H&H Music was purchased by Brook Mays Music of Dallas, and it was agreed that all stores would function as one company; They used the same business philosophy and systems, but the Brook Mays name would be used in Austin and northward and the H&H name would be used south of Austin.
Brook Mays and H&H Music |
In Oct. 2006, Everitt Jr., previous CEO, purchased the names of the old companies under Universal Melody and started over with a focus on music in schools. The goal was to provide repair services to rental customers, and a repair network covering 13 states was established. The new company started with three locations in Houston under H&H Music and two store locations in Dallas under the Brook Mays name. At the core of the new company were 50 loyal employees with an average age of 50 and an average of 25 years experience in the music business.
Today Brook Mays and H&H Music employ over 100 Texans across 13 locations, and ship orders to musicians, educators and stores across the United States.