About Groth Music

A Brief History of Our Company

Beginning

Groth Music (pronounced with a "long O" vowel sound) was founded in 1939 by Chester E. Groth, a professional musician who sought to bring a quality music store to Twin Cities musicians. Once established, Groth's earned a reputation of integrity, a place where one could find a knowledgeable sales staff and quality merchandise at fair prices. The store thrived at its downtown Minneapolis location at 9th St. and Marquette Avenue for nearly 50 years.

Transitions

Chester Groth died in 1985 and ownership was assumed by his daughter, Nancy Groth Kersten. With the downtown building having been sold to make way for a modern skyscraper, Nancy Groth relocated the store to the southern Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington. She expanded inventory to include ethnic instruments from around the world and gift boutique items not normally found in the Twin Cities.

Expansion

After a decade of operation in the lower level of a furniture store on Dupont Avenue, Groth Music moved into its current 21,000 square foot building at 8056 Nicollet Avenue in 1997. The store established a web presence in 1999. From 2005 to 2019 the company published a music education catalog, which at its peak was distributed nationwide and included 164 pages packed full of items used in schools and churches around the country, and even overseas. That vast selection of educational products remains available to browse and purchase through our website.

Groth expanded its business further through the acquisition of Music Products Inc. (MPI) in 2013, Eble Music Co. in 2014, and Dorn Publications in 2024. MPI's focus was classroom music, including an MPI-branded line of student recorders, while Eble's specialty was classical printed music. Dorn Publications is a music publisher best known for saxophone and clarinet music. All three brands are still maintained under the Groth umbrella.

Present and Future

Groth Music remains an old fashioned family music store with an emphasis on quality products, integrity, and satisfied customers. We hope you enjoy browsing our website and invite you to entertain yourself by visiting our Bloomington, MN, showroom, or taking a virtual tour of the store.

Read our Mission Statement.

The Gjallarhorn

In 2007, Groth Music was asked by the Minnesota Vikings if we were able to help them procure a Gjallarhorn. Our staff did some extensive research and scanned through our list of thousands of vendors and manufacturers, but found no occurrence of the elusive instrument. In an effort to live up to the company motto, "We know what you want and we have it," Groth Music General Manager Todd Johnson manufactured the Gjallarhorn himself. The rest is history. Read more about the Gjallarhorn.