B&G Music History
Bud
and Jenny Leresch open B&G Music in 1962 on East Main Street in Belleville,
IL, just across the river from St. Louis.
Bud
had worked for a large music dealer in Belleville
and like many of us wanted to own his own store. His desire in having his own store was not to
be the largest dealer in the country but to serve the music and musical
instruments needs of Belleville
through sales, service and teaching.
His
store was always noted for having just about what ever anyone would need and if
He didn’t have it the customer probably didn’t need it anyway. However if it was really needed Bud could
usually come up with it, which made his customers very happy and kept his
business growing. They moved the store
to a larger building on west main in Belleville
in 1964.
Bud
and Jenny decided to retire in 1980 and sold the business to Ken Fette in the spring of 1980. Ken and his brother owned a very large music
store chain in the St. Louis
area which they started in 1964. Ken
decided to move on and was delighted to find such a well run and stock store
available for sale.
Ken’s
philosophy of a music store was the same as Bud and Jenny’s. He had taught piano for many years and had
helped his brother establish one of the largest chain of music stores in the St. Louis area with sales
of all types of musical instruments and accessories.
It
didn’t take long for B&G Music to again out grow their building and in 1985
Ken moved the business back to East Main only
a few doors from where it started. It
remains at that location today and is the most respected and longest
operational music store in the Belleville
area.
If
you are in the Belleville, St. Louis area it will be a treat for you to
visit the store. The staff is always
interested in meeting new people and serving their needs. If you have any needs for a musical product
call or send an email and we will enjoy the opportunity to serve you.
