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David Louthan is a native of Salem, a product of Salem schools,
and has been involved in music making as long as he can remember.
He has been part of Weathers Music Corporation since 1967,
and with his wife, Jean, has been involved in the store ownership
since the mid 70's. In addition to his duties as general assistant
store manager, he maintains a private teaching studio for
adult piano and organ students, is an organist at St. Vincent
de Paul Catholic Church and involved in the music department
of his own church, St. Timothy's Episcopal.
As a keyboard expert, he has said, "You don't sell pianos
the same way you you'd sell a car or a refrigerator."
Going on to say that one needs to keep up with your skills
and changes in products and the market place. Also you need
to qualify the customer. "That means finding out what
the buyer needs, what the use of the instrument will be, and
what sort of expectations the customer has."
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Art Erickson and Elmer
Berg were two young men from Salem who went into World War II
and experienced retailing on a large scale, such as the PX (Post
Exchange) on each military base. They came back to Salem with
the intent to move Salem out of the corner grocery mode and
into the "super market" era. Berg built Berg's market
in the Capitol Shopping Center, and Erickson built Erickson's
Market on Commercial Street, where Weathers Music Corp. is now.
They were the first locally-owned supermarkets in Salem. |
