Cosmo Music
Cosmo Guitars, a small business started by Tom Hebert, began in 1966 importing guitars from Italy and Japan. Tom was fresh out of the Canadian Air Force and itching to pursue a business venture in the area he was most interested in... music. Tom had been involved in bands while in the Air Force and his passion was the guitar.
Although importing guitars was promising, in 1968 Tom realized the added potential of his Sheppard Avenue location in Downsview and opened the first Cosmo Music. Selling mostly the guitars and accessories he was importing, the store grew.
In 1970 it was obvious that retail was what Tom enjoyed. He stopped importing guitars and continued full steam ahead opening up a small music school and broadening the scope of MusicAL INSTRUMENTS sold in his Downsview store. This is where the story of Cosmo Music as we see it today began. In 1971 Cosmo Music moved to Richmond Hill and took over the local Mundinger Music location. Richmond Hill was a much smaller town but with the bigger store and Yonge Street locale Tom was thinking into the future. The new store already had a large music lesson studio (65% accordion students!) and big potential for future growth.
Cosmo Music began dealing with brasswind and woodwind sales, rentals and repairs in 1975. The need for a band department became apparent with the population explosion and the lack of service oriented school band program providers. The brass and woodwind department quickly became an area of expertise for Cosmo Music as their rental fleet grew exponentially.
In 1985 Cosmo Music moved again to an even bigger location just a few blocks south on Yonge Street. Taking over a department store and building one of the largest music stores in Canada gave Cosmo customers an increased instrument selection and even more value than before. It also gave way to the construction of The Cosmo School of Music, the largest and most prestigious music school in the area.
Cosmo Music’s Brass and Woodwind department was growing so fast, the decision was made to relocate the department into its own location. The Cosmo Music Brass and Woodwind Centre opened in 1990 and became Ontario’s leading provider of brass and woodwind instruments and accessories. The new building also housed Cosmo Music’s Brass and Woodwind repair facilities, one of the largest in the country, and Cosmo’s ever growing rental fleet (now well over 10,000 instruments).
The dream of the entire Cosmo Team was always to create the world’s most exciting and interactive music making environment. In the spring of 2008 this dream became a reality when Cosmo Music amalgamated both of its locations into one giant store. Cosmo Music – The Musical Instrument Superstore opened its doors on May 22 2008 and has already been declared by many to be one of biggest and best musical instrument retail stores in the world; providing sales, service, rentals and lessons for all types of musical instruments in a one-of-a-kind, world class facility.
Products and services
- Acoustic and Electric Guitars and Amplifiers
- Drums and Percussion
- Early Childhood and Carl Orff Based Percussion Instruments
- Band and Orchestral Instruments
- Acoustic and Digital Home Pianos
- Electronic Keyboards and Sound synthesis Products
- Recording Hardware, Professional Audio Editing Software, Computers and Equipment
- Live Sound
- DJ, Karaoke and Lighting Equipment
- Print Music, Educational Videos and Audio CD's
- Giftware & Apparel
- Musical Instrument Rentals for Personal or School Music Program Use
- Live Sound and Audio System Rentals
- Music Production Services
- Music Lessons
- Complete Musical Instrument Repair Facility
- Venue Rental Space and Event Planning