History

The history of Royalton Music Center dates back to 1964, when entrepreneur and band director Richard Eleck decided to open the doors of his new music store. With his initial modest investment, Mr. Eleck started his business with the help of his loving wife Ida. The foundation of the business is education…from children to adults. Sharing music with others and making it affordable was the compelling force of the family enterprise. With countless hours of hard work the modest investment then grew to allow for expansion when in 1974, Mr. Eleck opened a second location in nearby Brecksville, which was aptly named Brecksville Music Shoppe. His daughter, Sheri (a Baldwin Wallace graduate), ran the second store for the next seventeen years. Both stores established their reputation of quality customer service and satisfaction. Suddenly Richard Eleck became ill and died in 1989; it was an extreme shock to the business, the family and the community. Brecksville Music Shoppe was then sold in 1991, and attention was focused on Royalton Music Center.

When Richard passed away, Sheri led Royalton Music Center into its second generation – expanding into professional instruments, music therapy, nationwide sales, hands-on exhibits, presentations at the National Association of Music Merchants conventions, and much more. Although the next 20 years brought much change in the industry, Sheri had the uncanny knack to move with the changes, yet keep the values which all of Royalton Music Center's loyal customers have grown accustomed to. As an advocate for music education, Sheri participated in many events to promote music awareness. She served as an Ambassador for NAMM (the trade organization for music stores) on a float in the Rose Bowl Parade, lectured music stores at conventions on RMC’s nationally recognized lesson program, hosted VH-1 Save the Music instrument drives, participated in family concert programs at Severance Hall with The Cleveland Orchestra, co-founded the North Royalton Community Band, and sponsored “field trips” for local preschoolers to the music store – which Sheri especially enjoyed. RMC is also proud to offer music therapy for disabled individuals. The music therapy program has blossomed since its inception in 1997, and offers services for a large variety of needs. We are very fortunate to have this assistance so close to home.

Over the years, the North Royalton store has continued to grow. The square footage of the store has tripled since opening, due to the demand for RMC's (Royalton Music Center) wide variety of products and services.

In 2009, Royalton Music Center launched Professional Suite by RMC, a new division dedicated to professional musicians and those aspiring to be. Professional Suite by RMC includes a new website, an extensive and thorough inventory of all step-up and professional instruments, and is already quite well known throughout the country. We travel nationwide frequently to attend instrument-specific shows and exhibitions, attracting customers from countless states and countries! Also in 2009, Sheri was most proud and delighted that her daughter, Lauren Haas Amanfoh, returned home to continue the family’s legacy of excellence in music into a third generation at Royalton Music Center. Lauren is a magna cum laude graduate of The Ohio State University with a Bachelors degree in Music, and is pursuing a Masters degree from New York University in Performing Arts Administration. She is a consummate musician and has performed professionally on French horn, piano, and bass guitar. Upon graduation from college, Lauren moved to New York City where she worked at Columbia Artists in artist management for some of the biggest names in the classical and dance world today. She then spent several years at Young Concert Artists, where she worked in development and special events to help launch the careers of young unknown artists through their concert series at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, and through concert engagements abroad prior to her return home.

Sadly, Sheri passed away in December 2009. Her advocacy for music education and quest for quality instruments was well known throughout the industry and Royalton Music Center will continue to thrive and work to preserve the legacy that the Eleck family has grown over the last 46 years. Royalton Music Center enters its third generation with the continued goal of serving the needs of musicians everywhere.