Dave Louthan

David Louthan is a native of Salem, a product of Salem schools, and has been involved in music making as long as he can remember. He has been part of Weathers Music Corporation since 1967, and with his wife, Jean, has been involved in the store ownership since the mid 70’s. In addition to his duties as general assistant store manager, he maintains a private teaching studio for adult piano and organ students, is an organist at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church and involved in the music department of his own church, St. Timothy’s Episcopal.

As a keyboard expert, he has said, “You don’t sell pianos the same way you you’d sell a car or a refrigerator.” Going on to say that one needs to keep up with your skills and changes in products and the market place. Also you need to qualify the customer. “That means finding out what the buyer needs, what the use of the instrument will be, and what sort of expectations the customer has.”

Art Erickson and Elmer Berg

Art Erickson and Elmer Berg were two young men from Salem who went into World War II and experienced retailing on a large scale, such as the PX (Post Exchange) on each military base. They came back to Salem with the intent to move Salem out of the corner grocery mode and into the “super market” era. Berg built Berg’s market in the Capitol Shopping Center, and Erickson built Erickson’s Market on Commercial Street, where Weathers Music Corp. is now. They were the first locally-owned supermarkets in Salem.

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This article originally appeared on the original Salem Online History site and has not been updated since 2006.