As one of Manchester's most loved family businesses, Forsyth Music Shop has welcomed customers through its doors for decades. Founded in 1857 by brothers James and Henry Forsyth, the business has been located at its home on Deansgate since the 1890s. It goes without saying that this music department store has earned its status as a city centre institution.
Still owned and run by the same family, Forsyth Brothers Ltd is one of the only independents left on Deansgate and the oldest family-run business in Manchester city-centre. Now, 165 years on, the family are still offering a huge range of instruments, music and expertise to loyal customers - and are "honoured" to be part of "the fabric of Manchester."
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Emma Loat, fifth generation of the Forsyth family, told the MEN: "The original Forsyth brothers who set up the business were working for Broadwood's, who were the largest piano manufacturers in the world, and their father was a factory manager there as well. So we’ve got pianos through our blood you could say.
"When they were working there they got to know a well-known French concert pianist - called Charles Hallé - and Charles Hallé also conducted and was invited to set up a gentleman's orchestra in Manchester. He needed a business manager, and obviously got on very well with the Forsyths.
"When he came to Manchester, he said 'why don't you set up a shop and help me run my new orchestra?' kind of thing, so that’s how we started really. Our history is very entwined with the Hallé Orchestra, for fifty odd years it was managed by Forsyth's from our premises."
Through the decades, the family business has continued to evolve, from starting a publishing house to branching out to offer other instruments, like guitars, in the 19th century, but pianos remain at the centre of what they do. Emma said: "It's a real privilege, I feel honoured to be able to carry on such a wonderful tradition and it’s not just about history, we’re very much part of the fabric of Manchester.
"We’re now the oldest business in Manchester city centre, we’re the oldest shop in town with any true lineage from the same family. Being the custodians of something like this is a great thing, but it’s a big responsibility too. I enjoy being part of what makes this place special."
In the time it's been there, we've moved from horse and cart to the car, from gas to electric, the business has survived WWI, WWII - and more recently the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Emma said: "We have lovely staff photographs going way back, with ranks of men with bowler hats on, as the staff were all gentlemen back then.
"We've always catered for a wide spectrum of people, whether it be concert pianists or artists performing with the Hallé Orchestra, right down to everyone wanting a piano in their front rooms. It was the mass entertainment system back in the day.
"Thankfully we've always been a well-established business, we've never financially been on the edge of anything, and the fact we own our building gives us security for the long term future. In terms of wars, they had a major impact but we carried on, and thankfully our building was never bombed.
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"When we had the IRA bomb here we were in the central bomb zone, it blew into our windows at the front and blew our windows out at the back. It had a big impact on everything in the city centre, but we were one of the very first shops to re-open again.
"With Covid, we never stopped trading, we even delivered a cello on a bicycle. Through thick and thin, we always find a way to carry on."
Emma's memories of growing up include Forsyth's hosting lunchtime recitals in the piano showroom. The business had one of the first personal computers in the 1970s, one which can now be found in the Science and Industry Museum. She says people are on a constant "nostalgia trip" coming in, with different generations passing through their doors.
"We’re constantly evolving, we have to as times progress but it’s a gradual thing," Emma said. "It’s lovely, we have so many customers who’ve come in throughout their life.
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"They say 'I used to come when I was a teenager' and they’re now in their seventies, so they’re reminiscing. We had a customer who's granny or great-grandmother bought a piano from us back in the 1890s.
"Pianos last a long time, but they don’t last forever and the family have since moved away. But because they bought the piano from us, they came back to us and asked us to restore it for them for the next generation of their family - and that was just such a lovely thing.
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"The fact they were dealing with me personally, it’s the same family doing the same thing and that piano is now going to go on for another hundred years until it needs rebuilding again. Hopefully we’ll help again in another hundred years time."
Many members of staff have been with the business for decades. And while Emma says she has seen a decrease in footfall post-lockdown, the business continues to thrive and evolve. They recently reintroduced regular concerts in their piano showrooms, as well as teaching. For Emma, the key to their success and longevity is "continuity."
"We are a family business and family has always been at the core. of what goes on here," she said. "We've always treated it as more than a vehicle of trying to make money - it's much more about being part of a musical community.
"Our customers really value that and have always valued us as an institution almost. We're more than just a shop.
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"We're doing the same thing we’ve been doing for decades but we keep evolving and reinventing ourselves to keep relevant. The very business we are in is full of passionate people and customers who love music.
"What they’re buying isn't mundane, they're here because mostly they really care or love what its about. Being in a business where your customers are so enthusiastic about what it is we sell and just genuinely interested, it’s a joy."
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