Tatum Music Co.

Tatum Music Co. opened for business on August 15, 1948, on East Tyler Street in Longview. The founder was Alto Tatum, the former director of the Gladewater High School band, who set out to serve East Texas school band programs from a band director's point of view. He hired G.A. Sailor in January 1949 to build a repair department, which at the time was the closest instrument repair shop to Longview outside of Shreveport, Dallas or Houston. The store moved to 2305 North Center Street in 1955 and then to its current home at 301 North High Street in February 1981, on the corner of High and Methvin two blocks from the courthouse. Ownership has stayed in band-director hands the whole way through: Neil Grant joined as a partner in 1969 and later became sole owner, and his son Doice Grant, a former band director at Carthage and Center, has been sole owner and president since 2010. The store sells woodwind, brass, percussion and string instruments, runs a rental purchase plan, and still operates its own repair shop.