Eilers Music House - Oakland

Eilers Music House (or Eilers Music Company) was a West Coast chain in the early 1900s specializing in pianos.

The exact lineage is confusing, but it was started by Hy Eiler in 1899 in Portland, Oregon. ¹ There were 3 regions on the West Coast run by 3 corporations until 1910, when 40 stores decided to incorporate. ² Locally, there was a Pommer-Eilers Music Company based in San Francisco, beginning in 1902. ^13,14

By 1904, they had opened a location in Oakland at 473 - 12th St. in the Bacon Block, and put a splashy ad in the Tribune noting that they had just sold 23 pianos to Mills College. ³ Later that same year they moved to 1075-1077 Clay Street. ⁴ (near 12th St.) In 1906, it is listed just as Eilers Music Company, 12th and Clay. ⁵ By the end of 1908, they had moved again, this time to nearby 557-559 12th St. opposite the Orpheum Theatre. ⁶

1911 brought news they were closing the Oakland store, and an ad for a big clearance sale. ⁷ Despite that, in 1912 they had moved again, this time to 1448 San Pablo (behind the First National Bank Building, next to where Kahn's Department Store would soon be constructed) ⁸ They were still in business in 1915, when L. Kowalski, the music director of the Orpheum purchased a grand piano from Eilers. ⁹

What would 1917 bring? Another close out sale, one lasting the rest of the year and into the next. ^10,11 Finally, in October 1918, Brillharts was selling off the remaining stock of the now bankrupt Eilers. ¹² That was the end of Eilers Music House in Oakland at least, though Eilers-made pianos occasionally appeared for sale.

1904 ad ³1912 ad ⁸