A month before all non-essential businesses were shuttered across the country because of the coronavirus pandemic, Waukegan-based Family Piano owner Alice Alviani felt business was going so well that she decided to open a second store
Finding a location in the Golf Mill Shopping Center in Niles to supplement the store she opened in 2006 on Genesee Street in downtown Waukegan, Alviani opened her second shop.
Frightened about the future after investing in a new store, Brendan Alviani, the company president and now a 50% owner, said they found an unexpected silver lining inside the COVID-19 cloud.
“People who always wanted to learn how to play the piano came out of the woods,” Brendan Alviani said. “They wanted to learn to play.”
Knowing they could only enter the store to clean or do tasks like bookkeeping, Brendan Alviani said they did a lot of those chores, especially when one of those new found pianists was about.
“We were there when we knew people were coming,” Brendan Alviani said. “For a little while we were bootlegging pianos. Everyone wore masks. We kept our distance and stayed safe.”
After several boom years, Brendan Alviani said all the new piano players had their pianos. Business slowed not only in Waukegan and Niles but around the country. Piano sales dropped fourfold nationally since they opened in 2006. It was time for a hard decision.
Family Piano started its store closing sale Thursday at both its Waukegan and Niles stores and will continue until its last piano is sold offering customers reduced prices discounted from 20% to 50% on new and used pianos.
Further discounts are not planned. Though sliding prices are the norm during a store closing sale, Brendan Alviani said it is not the idea at Family Piano. Working with customers to give them a quality piano at a significantly low price is the intention.
With 203 pianos spread over the two stores as of Saturday set for a price reduction, Brendan Alviani said 72 digital instruments will range in price between $487 and $5,300.
Most used upright acoustic pianos will be sold between $987 and $3,456. Brendan Alviani the vast majority of used grand pianos will be sold between $1,499 and $28,952. There is a used 9-foot 4-inch Steinerton concert grand piano originally priced at $200,000 on sale for $72,568.
Brendan Alviani said manufacturers agreements prohibit him from revealing the price of new acoustic pianos before a customer walks into the store. For those interested, he suggests a visit
“Anyone who wants something new, it’s worth their while to come in,” Brendan Alviani said.
For more than 30 years before opening Family Piano, Alice Alviani said she was a piano technician going from home to home tuning pianos throughout Waukegan, the North Shore and beyond. She sold used pianos out of her Waukegan garage. By 2006, she decided to open her store.
Finding other ways to produce revenue, Brendan Alviani joined the business in 2016 and initially ran a coffee bar there. Eventually, the coffee bar was closed and he became company president dealing with the music business.
A year ago, Alice Alviani transferred ownership of the business to her son and Linda Sorensen, the vice president. Though retirement is in her future, she is not walking away from music.
“I’ll still do some piano tuning,” Alice Alviani said. “I’ll be busy with family and I’m going to kick back some.”
With a degree in education from Vanderbilt University, Brendan Alviani has also developed antiracial intelligence and high-tech skills. He writes for a trade publication. As the sale progresses, he will be deciding his next career move.
