In the late 70’s, Gary Scott and Ray Falcsik, both natives of Swissvale, Pennsylvania were playing in a popular local band and working at a factory called the Union Switch & Signal which was located where Edgewood Town Center is today. Neither Gary nor Ray wanted to work there for the rest of their lives, so Ray decided to go into business.

Their initial idea was to open a motorcycle shop; more specifically, a Suzuki franchise in Monroeville, as they enjoyed riding dirt bikes in their spare time. Due to exorbitant costs, however, they opted to open a music store. Thus, after taking out business loans, Swissvale Music Store was opened in the summer of ’78. The grand opening itself took place September 30. Gary came up with the slogan, “Run By Musicians, For Musicians” that still holds true 30 plus years later.

For the first five years of business, the store was run by three men. All were members of the Pittsburgh band Magpie. Gary, Ray, and their long-time friend and drummer Paul Martello ensured the store got off to a very strong start. The future looked stronger still.

The store opened with an impressive line of products including Gibson, JBL, Hamer, SAE, Kramer, and many more. Business was naturally calm in the first few years as the neighborhood was quiet. The store was small and took only one person to run at any given time. Clientele mostly consisted of professional musicians that the band played with and/or knew from the local scene.

 

The 1980's brought many changes to Swissvale Music Store. Chris Boyle joined the staff as luthier, which gave the store full-line guitar service, and it was at this time that Chris began building his own line of Boyle guitars. Staff expansion didn’t end with Chris, as many other notable and still-present staff joined around this time as well.

The store also took on a whole slew of new product lines, including Yamaha, Crate, Ampeg, Seymour Duncan guitar amps, and was the first store in Pittsburgh to carry Simmons Drums, the original electronic kit. Swissvale Music was beginning to become a very boutique-product based outlet.

The biggest expansion of the store in the 1980’s, however, was a literal one. The hardware store that operated next door for almost a decade became a vacant property around 1986, at which time, two days after Christmas, Swissvale Music bought it out. This alone tripled the size of the store, but it wasn’t the last expansion to be made. What was a beauty parlor on the corner became the keyboard and acoustic room in 1988 when SMS assumed control of that property as well.

Throughout the ‘90’s the store became very stable in its operations. Top-notch professional guitar service continued, Paul Martello began handling all electronic repairs, and the recording studio, today managed by Sean McDonald, opened up. The Pro Audio Install division became very popular and profitable with notable installs and equipment sales taking place at Kennywood Park, Sandcastle, Carnegie Science Center, and numerous auto raceways, including Pittsburgh Motor Speedway, Dog Hollow, Challenger Raceway, Pittsburgh Raceway Park, Lernerville Speedway, and many, many more.

As the store closes out its third decade in business with everyone that was present when the store began, all eyes look forward and all minds are focused on new and innovative ways to run a well-established music business in the 21st century and beyond.