After 71 years of selling pianos and organs in Tacoma, Prosser Piano & Organ is closing for good. Owners Kerry and Gail Prosser are retiring at the end of 2026, and a retirement sale of all remaining inventory is already underway at the company's stores in Tacoma and Shoreline.
The sale runs from Friday, Oct. 30, through Wednesday, Dec. 23, or sooner, according to the Tacoma News Tribune. As reported by Shoreline Area News, the sale includes new and used pianos, organs, sheet music and store fixtures. The Tacoma location is at 5849 Tacoma Mall Blvd., Suite A.
“Gail and I are ready to retire, but we wanted to say thank you the right way,” Kerry Prosser said, per the same account. Kerry Prosser also said it was time to retire and that he was pursuing another career, while expressing gratitude to the community, teachers, students and families who supported Prosser Piano over the decades, according to the Tacoma News Tribune.
A Family Business Rooted in 1955
The story of Prosser Piano stretches back more than seven decades. Duane and Laurie Prosser moved to Washington from South Dakota, where they had previously worked at a piano store, and opened the first Prosser Piano store in Tacoma in 1955, the station's report notes. The business, according to NAMM, has served the Tacoma music community ever since, and over the years the family operation expanded to locations across three states, per NAMM's oral history archive.
Kerry and Gail Prosser are Tacoma natives, and Kerry grew up inside the family trade. He began refinishing pianos at age 10 and started moving pianos at age 14, according to the Tacoma News Tribune. Accounts differ on exactly when he began selling instruments: the Tacoma News Tribune reports he began selling pianos at age 18 at the Puyallup Fair, while NAMM's oral history states he helped sell pianos and organs at a local fair at age 17, in 1979.
Carrying the Torch Through the Decades
From there, Kerry Prosser progressed through sales positions, store management and eventually corporation president, the Tacoma News Tribune reports. When his parents retired, Kerry and his brother Kevin worked together to carry on the family tradition, according to NAMM.
The business's long history includes some memorable marketing moments. In 1971, Prosser Piano & Organ advertised its Conn Home Organ cassette program at its then-location at 3010 Sixth Ave. in Tacoma, per the Tacoma News Tribune. The program included self-instruction cassettes, and Larry Whitman demonstrated it that year as Duane Prosser inserted the cassette during the demonstration, according to the same report.
What's Left on the Shelves
For now, shoppers can still browse what remains at the Tacoma store, which keeps hours of Monday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday by appointment, per the Tacoma News Tribune. With the sale set to run through Dec. 23 or sooner, the clock is ticking on more than seven decades of Prosser Piano's presence in Tacoma.
