Lewis Eady celebrate their 125th birthday

Lewis Eady, the iconic music retailer, is celebrating it’s 125th birthday next month. By far the oldest family owned and run music business in Australasia, and one of the very few in the world surviving to this age, Lewis Eady was founded by Lewis R Eady in 1884.

The Auckland-based company today is best known for its sole agency of Steinway & Sons pianos, its wide range of acoustic instruments and it generous support of the music industry in New Zealand including such events as the Auckland Junior Music Competition and the New Zealand International Piano Festival.

However it grew from much humbler roots initially operating from the home of Lewis R Eady in Mill Lane (now the Sheraton Hotel car park site behind Karangahape Road). Mr Lewis Eady was a double bass player, who previously worked with his older brother Arthur in Arthur Eady Ltd. It was Arthur who encouraged Lewis to open his own shop specialising in pianos and other instruments.

Lewis’ business flourished, the original focus being the sale of pianos, music and classical instruments. He soon moved to his new shop in Liverpool St, then also for a few years to 162 Queen St (the site of the Wiseman’s sports store). In 1927 the company moved to 192 Queen St, its own purpose built music shop, which was built on the ashes of the old Hippodrome Theatre. This was the home of the company (renamed Lewis Eady Ltd in the 1930’s) until 1980, when for many reasons, it moved to Commerce St in the City for ten years, Davis Crescent in Newmarket for a further ten years, and finally to the new family owned property at 75 Great South Road, Remuera.

Through all these years, the Eady family have been innovators in many facets of the music business. In the 1920’s the firm manufactured the famous Goldentone record players and was one of the originals to press records, jointly manufacture pianos and introduce many other exciting products. The company started and operated one of the first radio stations - 1ZR. Through this experimental station, they introduced to the air waves such famous names of the day as Uncle Tom, Aunt Daisy, Scrimmager, Dudley Wrathall and many others.

At one point the company broadened their range of goods and majored in famous radio brands such as Gulbransen and sold some of the original Westinghouse white goods amongst others. They were also one of the first to sell TV sets in New Zealand in the late 50’s. They were agents for pianos by famous companies such as Chappell, Brinsmead, Bechstein, Knight and Danneman to name a few and are still New Zealand agents for Steinway and Sons (now for over 60 years) including Steinway’s offshoot, Boston Pianos. The company has for more than 40 years been the largest supplier of Kawai pianos in New Zealand. They also held agencies for Premier and Singerland drums, Selmer Paris Brass and Woodwind instruments and Paoli Soprani accordions to name a few; sharing most of these with other importing retailers such as Nimmos of Wellington and Sedley Wells of Christchurch.

After all this time Lewis Eadys’ have in recent years almost reverted back to the core business set up by Lewis in 1884, calling themselves ‘The Acoustic Shop’ - specialising in quality acoustic pianos, classic and acoustic guitars, stringed instruments, drums, wind, brass and print music. They are also the only shop in New Zealand to import Harps.

Generations of Aucklanders, and indeed New Zealanders owe their love of music to Lewis R Eady and his devotion to the music industry. The company during the passage of time has been generous to Auckland. It has given four grand pianos to the city of Auckland including one new concert grand piano to the Town Hall , two baby grands to smaller centres, and a magnificent old pre 1880 grand to the Auckland Museum. The company started the music section at the Auckland Central Library and has over the years given thousands of music books to the Lewis Eady Music Library – as it was known then. It has sponsored and financed orchestras and organised music competitions for senior and junior schools to this day.

Lewis Eady is now managed by John Eady – the great grandson of the founder. They will be celebrating their 125th birthday with a concert at Hopetoun Alpha in Auckland on 18 November. That occasion will also be used to launch the Lewis Eady Charitable Trust – a trust to support up and coming musicians by providing performance opportunities, financial assistance and loan instruments. Lewis Eady will also be celebrating their anniversary with a Grand Sale at the Newmarket showroom on 27 – 29 November. For more information visit www.lewiseady.co.nz