Los Angeles herald., 1906-09-29
TIE HOUSE THAT
WILEY B. ALLEN
BUILT
A Brief His tory Of This Enterprls'
Ing Concern from Its Begin.
Ming Up to the Present

Thirty years ago (1S76) in the city
of Portland, Ore, a Shingle appeared
one day over the door of a small
music store bearing the name Of
Wiley B. Allen. The proprietor was
under 20 years Of age.
Twenty years more rolled by, the
great northwest grew rich in every
sense of the word. Men who had
the right material in them kept step
with the great tide of population
and wealth that swept over Wash
ington, Oregon, Northern California,
Western Montana. Idaho and Ne
a great music house grew until it
covered all the above territory and
rea ached inland as far as Salt Lake
City, and was now recognized as the
leading house in a 1OOO-mile square.
Wiley B. Allen, the head of this
house, now looked upon as one of
the brightest financiers in the west,
felt that he had outgrown his field
and turned his face toward San
Francisco, the natural business CEN
ter Of the Pacific coast states. The
business world knows the result.
Five years from the day he opened
his doors in San Francisco and bid
for a portion of the big business
already being done there he had
established the largest and best APP
pointed music house in the city, the
retail business occupying a building
45x155, seven stories high, at 9S1-
933 Market street, the wholesale
business occupying a like building
directly opposite on Mission street,
the Wholesale business Of the house
having extended to the Mexican
line and now covering more than
eight states.
Five years ago the trade was
startled by hearing that Wiley r.
Allen had given an order for 1000
Ludwig pianos for immediate de-
livery, the largest order ever giveE
by any firm at one time in the
United States.
Soon the wonderful grow tn Of the
southwest, and especially the City
of Los Angeles, excited the heads Of
this now great house. Representing
as 1t did nearly a score of the best
known manufacturers in the east,
among them William Knabe & Co :,
Mason & Hamlin, Ludwig & Co., j.
& C. Fischer and the Packard Piano
company, and with capital now
nearing the million dollar mark,
they decided they could not afford
to stay out of the second largest
and in some respects the best retail
city in their territory. They at
once began to look about for a
fitting location with ample room TO
display this immense line of cele-
brated instruments. Within six
months they acquired the Metropoli-
tan Music company, including it's
several branches. This was the be-
ginning.
The next step was TO employ IL
well known real estate man to make
a thorough canvass of all the busi-
ness blocks on Broadway and Spring
streets with a view to securing tho
best location available for the per-
nanent establishment of music
house along large and liberal lines
second to none in the city, and that
would also become headquarters for
their large and growing Wholesale
business in the southwest The
Broadway Van Nuys hotel property y
(Martz building), Nos. 416-4lS South
Broadway, was in the market and
was secured. The new quarters with
a floor area OF nearly $4,000 square
feet, make 1t possible to display an
acre of pianos
With practically unlimited oapi-
al, a management we'll known to
the local business and financial
world and the good will of the peo'
pie this house bids fair 10 become
a large factor I'm the future grow h
of this section OF the country.