Description
Photograph of Lovell's music in 1925 on Main East. Brick painted sign visible on right side of photo as well as Brunswich Phonographs sign above and H.G. Lovell sign above windows. Two years after this photo was taken, the store moved to the larger location on Main West.
John Thomas Lovell moved to North Bay in 1888 and opened a store on 43 Main Street East where he sold Singer Sewing Machines and farm machinery. As the Northern Ontario representative for the Singer Manufacturing Company, he travelled as far west as Sault Ste. Marie on a regular basis. John Thomas Lovell closed the store in the early 1920s before passing away in 1937.
John Thomas' son, Henry (H.) Gordon Lovell, opened Lovell's Music Store on 47 Main Street East in 1920. The business quickly grew and moved into a larger location at 185 Main Street West in 1927. The store carried sheet music, records, pianos, gramophones, and other musical instruments. H. Gordon, as he was known, once joked that the “only instruments he played were the phonograph and the radio.†However, he had a vast knowledge of all the instruments in stock and was known for providing excellent customer service.
The store moved into a smaller location at 188 Oak Street in 1965. H. Gordon ran the store in the new location with help from his son, Keith, who repaired instruments in the shop. H. Gordon retired in 1981. His daughter, Doris, took over the store in 1983 and she continued to run the business after her father passed away in 1985. The store closed in 2000 after serving the community for 80 years.
