"However, when I bought the business from my father, it was $97,000 in the red," according to Skip. "The world of music was changing. People were more inclined to buy home entertainment systems than to buy a piano and make music themselves. But despite the trends, I didn't want to see our business go bankrupt."
Skip Daynes followed generations that went before him, using his store premises to house the Utah Opera. Today, he well is known for supporting the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, as well as myriad music programs at the University of Utah; and now, the free "Pops" concerts.
Skip Daynes also brought success back to the family business.
"It is not the kind of business that one makes a ton of money at," he said. "It took years just to get to the point where I could even take a day off."
"Fact is, not everybody understands the importance of the piano as the 'key' to an understanding of music, yet it seems that people would rather spend their money on things that don't last rather than to buy a piano and help their kids expand their minds through music."
But even Skip Daynes was not totally sold on the music business as boy. He preferred to work at his uncle's ranch, the huge Jeremy Ranch that encompassed much of the land adjacent to Park City (now sold and parceled-off to developers). "I wanted to be cool," he said, "and I only worked at the family store during the winter."
But being a ranch hand did teach Skip Daynes how to work and gave him a sense of responsibility, he said. That, and a management degree from the University of Utah, plus a desire to encourage the development of musical talent in the state's families drove him to buy the store from his father, despite its dire financial straits.
"We've been fortunate to be in Utah," he said. "Utahns sacrifice for their families, in most cases. They sacrifice to help their children find success ... Even during the (Great) Depression, music didn't go away (here). In many ways, it's an easy business, because Utahns love great musical traditions.
Skip Daynes did not have to push the store through a Depression, as his grandfather did. But over the years, he has moved the store, opened and closed new stores and franchises and survived through tough financial times.
He also took care to educate his sons, Todd, a physician, and Tim, who works in the successful Discount Piano Warehouse, to become the fifth generation at the helm.
"They have been well-tutored, they love music, and they're ready to do it," Skip Daynes said.
He said they share his desire to improve music education in Utah's schools. And to make sure the family business keeps their interest, Skip Daynes said, he has tried to make it worth something.
"One of the keys to keeping a family business alive for more than a hundred and forty years is, after all, communication with the next generation," he said.
Another is patience. And, in the case of Daynes Music, a desire to keep bringing families together.
"One day, everything may go south, who knows? But if you hang in there and have patience, there will be good things that will come, too ...," Skip Daynes said.
"If people are in the business simply to make money, they cannot continue a family business. They have to be oriented around service to the community."
