The Rice Music House first opened for business in the spring of 1924 in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The firm’s original title was the W.S. Rice Music House. As a young man Mr. W.S. Rice, the founder began his career as a retail piano salesman. Later he was affiliated for 20 years with one of the largest piano manufacturers, first as a store manager, then a traveling wholesale representative and lastly as a wholesale manager. This unusual experience contributed to the quick success of the complete retail music business he started in Spartanburg, South Carolina dealing in pianos, player pianos, band instruments, sheet music, phonographs, records and other small instruments.

EXPANSION
In 1926, Mr. Emert S. Rice, the only child, graduated from Purdue University and became an employee of the firm. As a training program he started in the service department, then the collection department, sales, and in January 1934 he opened and managed a branch store in Anderson, South Carolina. That same year other stores were opened in Greenwood and Greenville, South Carolina. By this time the firm was almost exclusively a dealer in new and used pianos.

SURVIVAL
During the depression from 1929 to 1935 very few new pianos were produced and many piano manufactures went out of business. The firm then specialized in preparing and selling thousands of used pianos both wholesale and retail. Again the unusually broad experience of Mr. W.S. Rice preceding the opening of his retail stores helped make this possible.

In August 1935, Mr. Emert S. Rice opened the Columbia, South Carolina, branch and in the same year the firm became a family partnership comprised of Mr. And Mrs. W.S. Rice and Mr. Emert S. Rice. The title was changed to W.S. Rice and Son Music House. Early in 1937 the Greenwood branch was discontinued.

“SPINETS” REVIVE SALES
By 1936 the development of the small or modern “Spinet” and “Console” pianos were encouraging people again to buy new pianos. In turn one by one all piano manufacturers started to make the small modern pianos.

On September 18, 1935, the company received the most prized award any dealer could achieve, the STEINWAY & SONS franchise. In 1938 the firm became a representative for the famous Hammond Organ, the first successful electric organ. Today, Rice Music House is the oldest Hammond Organ dealer in the United States.

The W.S. Rice and Son Music House as well as the piano industry continued a renewed sales growth until the spring of 1942. Then, because of World War II, the United States Government stopped, along with many other products, the making of both piano and organs for sale to civilians.

Because of the depression and now the war, new piano production ceased. Dealers across the country either went out of business or sold used pianos. Again, the vast business background, musical experience, and know how of both Mr. Rice and his son Emett and the fact that its repair shops were already reconditioning used pianos, kept the W.S. Rice and Son Music House operating without interruption during the war years.

THE WAR YEARS
In the fall of 1942, Mr. Emert S. Rice accepted a commission in the United States Naval Reserve. When his father, Mr. W.S. Rice, passed away in April of 1944, Mr. Emert S. Rice became attached to the headquarters of the 6th Naval District at Charleston, South Carolina. This made it possible for him to keep contact with the business, which was managed solely by his mother, Mrs. W.S. Rice, and the office secretaries in each of the four stores. Aside from the shop technicians and delivery employees, no men remained to operate the business. Mr. Rice was released from active duty in June of 1945.

POST-WAR PERIOD
It was not until 1946 that a trickle of new pianos and organs could be purchased and the business began to increase as men also became available to be trained as salesman, store managers, etc. In June of 1946 Mr. A.J. Connor joined the staff of W.S. Rice and Son Music House, having completed his tour of military duty Mr. Connor quickly became a valuable part of the service department traveling to each of the company’s four locations. The four stores were continued until the close of 1958 when the Anderson store was released to Mr. Frank Farr and its title was changed to Rice-Farr Music House, Inc. Except for a period during World War II, Mr. Farr had been the Anderson Store manager for 23 years. The name was changed to Farr Music House in 1978. The W.S. Rice and Son Music House sales volume continued to expand and in the following year, 1959, the three remaining stores did a more business than the four stores had ever done.

NEW NAME
The family partnership ceased in January of 1960 with the passing of Mrs. W.S. Rice. The title was then changed to Rice Music House, Inc., With Mr. Emert S. Rice as President and Treasurer, and Mrs. Emert S. Rice as Secretary. The firm, headquartered in Columbia, continued to operate stores in Spartanburg, Greenville and Columbia, South Carolina. The sales volume had doubled since 1946. Long before, it had become South Carolina’s largest piano and organ retail business. December 31, 1972, the Greenville store was released to its manager, Mr. James Galloway, who changed the name to Galloway Music House. By 1977 the sales volume of the two remaining stores exceeded that of the former three stores. September 30, 1980, the Spartanburg store was released to Farr Music House of Anderson.

The family connection ended in 1988 with the passing of Emert S. Rice. In accordance with Mr. Rice’s will, the business was passed on to longtime employees Thomas Gamble and A.J. Connor. Thomas Gamble was employed by Mr. Rice in 1966 and A.J. Connor in 1946. The company maintained steady growth each year under the stewardship of Thomas Gamble and A. J. Connor. In 1998 Robert Schaeffer joined the company as Manager for Retail and Institutional Sales. In 2001, after the death of A.J. Connor, Thomas Gamble became the sole owner of Rice Music House. In 2003, Thomas Gamble decided to retire and therefore sought to sell the business.

In April of 2004, SuMohan Acquisitions, LLC a South Carolina Corporation owned by Jyotindra M. Parekh, an immigrant from Bangalore India, and his wife Mary Samulski- Parekh a native of North Augusta, SC acquired Rice Music House from Thomas Gamble. SuMohan Acquisitions continues to operate the business as Rice Music House out of its present location at 3214 Devine Street in Columbia, SC. They plan to reinvest the profits of the company back into the business and expand the business and grow it aggressively over the next 10 years.

Jyotindra M. Parekh popularly known as JP is a 30 year veteran of the retail piano industry. He graduated with a MBA from the University of Detroit in Michigan and has been in the piano industry since 1973. He served with the Wurlitzer Company of Dekalb, Il from 1973 to 1982 as the Western Regional Manager of their Midwest Retail operations. In 1982, he joined the nation’s largest Keyboard retailer Jordan Kitt’s Music of College Park, MD serving as their Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing until 1998. During his tenure at Jordan Kitt’s Music, JP was instrumental in expanding JKM’s business from $15m dollars in 1982 to over $45m dollars by 1998.

In 1998, JP was promoted to the position of the President of Steinway Piano Galleries in Atlanta, GA where he and his wife Mary relocated. The Steinway Piano Galleries business grew from $1.5 million in 1998 to over $6.0 million in 2000 and continues to grow today. JP left JKM in the fall of 2003 and acquired Rice Music House in early 2004.

His wife Mary, a native of North Augusta, SC is a classical pianist with a DMA in Piano from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She is the Director Institutional Sales and Public Relations of Rice Music House. She works with the both local and state Schools, Universities, teachers and students. Prior to her marriage in 1985, Mary was an Adjunct Professor of Piano at Gardner-Webb University, a Visiting Artist for the State of North Carolina. JP and Mary have been married for over 22 years.

Robert Schaeffer, Vice President of Sales, is an integral part of Rice Music House and brings a wide variety of experience to the Rice Music House team. He previously served as Vice President for Sales and Service for a major piano manufacturer / distributor and has extensive experience as a music educator. Consistently recognized by his peers in the industry, Robert has received numerous awards for his tireless dedication to the piano industry, customer service and music education. He is frequently called on as a clinician, lecturer and performer. Robert is a graduate of University of South Carolina School of Music finishing both a BM and MM degree. He has been associated with Rice Music for over 15 years. He performs professionally and is a Church organist-pianist.