Trade Regrets: Mel Wisniewski

On November 2, NAMM’s Dan Del Fiorentino shared the following sad news:

Mel Wisniewski, founder of the Wisniewski Brother’s Music and longtime music advocate, passed away last month. He was 82 years old. 

Mel gave music lessons in a small music store in upstate Wisconsin and soon discovered he was interested in the idea of owning his own store. Not wanting to compete with his friend, Mel and his brother, Joe, moved to Southern Illinois where they established Wisniewski Brother’s Music in 1963. A year later Joe returned to his full time job for a phone company and Mel continued to run the store. With the home organ boom of the late 1960s and 70s, Mel expanded to six stores, including several in local shopping malls.