Kay Koster was a pioneering women retail owner, who not only successfully ran a business on her own beginning in 1940, but also personally repaired guitars and amps of all makes and models for decades – even after she closed her retail store.
Koster Guitar Center in Rockford, Illinois was primarily a guitar store, among the first such stores in the country. As the Fender line developed, Kay was one of the first dealers in the state and soon became an expert of electric guitar repairs. In addition to her career in the industry, Kay was a respected guitarist, first in the big bands and then into rock and roll. Kay passed ion May 7.
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Kay's NAMM Oral History interview can be viewed here: https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/kay-koster
