Academy Music has repaired instruments for more than 50 years

Behind the front desk of Academy Music Co. Photo by Lewis Pollis.
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In a world where many entrepreneurs see expansion and growth as their goals, Tom Ianni embraces the fact that he owns a small business.

"We don’t want to be the biggest," said Ianni, who sells, rents, and repairs musical instruments as co-owner of Academy Music Co. at 1443 Warrensville Center Road, near the intersection with Mayfield. The smallness of his business (he has only one full-time employee) enables him to offer better customer service than he could if he had a larger operation, he added.

Originally opened in 1958, Academy was started by Ianni’s father, Tom Sr., a saxophone maker and a professional musician—he played in the Cleveland Indians band when they won the World Series in 1948 and nearly joined the Marine Band during the Korean War—and his friend, whom he bought out about 15 years later. When he died in 1977, the business fell to Tom Jr. (then a senior at Baldwin-Wallace College) and his brothers, Mark and Rick.

Ianni, 54, is now in charge of the day-to-day operations of the Cleveland Heights store, which has been in its current location since 1968, while Rick runs the Solon branch that opened in 1981.

As early as his preteen years, Ianni was working in the store, watching his father repair instruments and even tinkering with clarinets himself. After years of learning and decades of experience, "I can make just about anything for any instrument," he said.

Ianni also had a career as a professional musician. Trumpet was his main instrument, but he also played clarinet and saxophone with groups, such as the one that eventually became the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra. He demonstrates his musicianship on an early version of a piccolo trumpet from the 1920s—one of only 50 such handmade models in the world, and part of the store’s collection of vintage instruments and parts dating back to the 1800s. "We never throw anything away," he said.

He gave up his performing career when his kids, Tommy, Patrick, and Laurel—all now grown—began to grow older. Ianni realized that he got more gratification out of things like coaching Little League, he said.

This sentiment carries over to his current work. "We enjoy working with students," Ianni said. In addition to selling and repairing instruments, Academy offers private lessons in its studios. Having local professionals like Dave Sterner to teach students "makes it a little special."

Much of Academy’s business comes from local schools. "I’ve tried to form good relationships with the districts surrounding the stores," Ianni said. A product of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights school system—he attended Oxford Elementary and Monticello Middle schools before graduating from Heights High in 1974. He works closely with the CH-UH school district, as well as with several other schools in Northeast Ohio.

Ianni’s work with the schools has kept business "pretty steady," even with the economic downturn. As an instrument repair business, Academy is "kind of a niche thing," he said. "We’re more of a destination."

That’s not to say that the store hasn’t been affected by the recession. "People can’t afford lessons," he said. Even when partial scholarships are available, from organizations like Reaching Heights, "People won’t spend the time or the money."

Ianni is also troubled by the de-emphasis on music he sees happening in schools throughout the country, both from districts cutting funding and students not wanting to commit to the programs. Many students continue to rent their instruments long after Ianni might recommend buying them out of a desire not to commit to music, he said. "You don’t take a test for arts," he noted, "but it just adds so much to any kid’s education."

The "luckiest thing" about Ianni’s business career has been the support of his wife, Patti. When he worked long hours at the store, "she understood," he said. "Anybody else would have been divorced."

Look for Academy to stick around for a while, as Ianni has no plans to quit: "I enjoy what I do."