Vern Schafer, founder of Colton Pianos and president of Schafer Piano Movers, passed away on December 8.
As a teenager, Schafer joined the family business, Schafer Piano Movers, and developed an interest in the piano retail business. Soon after opening Colton Pianos, in the southern California town of Colton, Vern was able to expand, opening other locations. In the process, he wanted to train his employees to be able to run and manage the stores, so that he could continue to run the moving company. As a result Vern became a mentor to many successful piano retailers who went on to own and operate their own stores including Dennis James of the Piano Warehouse in San Diego and Bobby Shaw of Desert Pianos in Palm Springs. In 2011, Vern was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Piano Travelers.
Click here to view a clip from Vern Schafer’s NAMM Oral History interview: https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/vern-schafer
