wholesale electronics supplier

Remembering Our Roots

The Pioneering Spirit Is Alive and Well

A family-owned and operated wholesale electronics supplier brimming with tenacity

Today, you can buy just about anything online from your couch. You can order from your smartphone while sitting in your truck. And, you can buy from any number of distributors throughout the U.S. without ever talking to a single human being. That’s not how it was back in 1869 when Pioneer Music Company (PMC) first opened its doors, and it’s still not. Now on our sixth generation of face-to-face business, the pioneering spirit PMC was founded on is alive and well.

Six generations later and you can buy online from our comprehensive website of more than 30,000 products. But when you want a face and a name to go along with that online or in-store purchase, nobody does that better than us.

Come by any of our wholesale showrooms throughout the Midwest and see why our selection, price, and product knowledge are second to none. Our history goes farther back than Victrolas, the first radios, Philco televisions, and even before the first long-distance electric transmission power line was completed.

All that history and knowledge means you have the smartest sales and support team at your fingertips. After all, we’ve been conducting business face-to-face for over 150 years.

Pioneer Timeline

Our Legacy

1869

James Reynold (J.R.) Haight buys Meyer Implement Co. in Burlington, KS.

1880s - 1900

Frank, J.R.’s son, takes over. He incorporates the business, renaming it Pioneer Hardware & Implement Store.

1901-1920

A visionary, Frank moves the store into music and opens Chanute, KS location selling more household goods and luxury items, like Victrolas, than implements.

1920 - 1930s

Business booms in the early Roaring Twenties, and Frank changes the company name to Pioneer Hardware & Music Store. By the 30s, Frank’s son, Clarence sells $300 pianos for $10 to survive. Frank’s son, Paul “Big Paul” takes over the Burlington operation and we endure The Great Depression.

1940s

Big Paul survives two beach landings in the Pacific during WWII and returns to the Burlington store. Frank signs on to sell Philco TVs in 1945. Pioneer Hardware & Implement Store opens its first checking account with our hometown bank, who we still do business with today.

1950s - 1970s

The economy is in a post-war boom and PMC’s buying power is immense. Jack (4th generation) now runs the Chanute location and begins to sell to smaller southeast Kansas dealers, founding the wholesale arm of the business. Demand for under dash car stereos and citizens band (CB) radios explodes, and Jack’s son, Mark, joins the business, selling Craig, Jensen, and Sanyo in Eastern Kansas and Western Missouri. Big box stores start to cut into our retail business and Pioneer Music Company is formed as an official wholesale distribution company in 1979.

1980s

Jack’s youngest son Dan joins the business as a road salesman, where he spent the next 11 years building and developing the wholesale territory outside of southeast Kansas.

1990s

Consumers begin moving away from in-store purchases. Installers begin forming their own businesses, starting the first waves of Custom Integration.

2000s

Custom installers gain market share across the nation. A Kansas City warehouse opens in 2005 to better serve this growing market.

2010 - 2019

Dan’s son and sixth-generation owner, Alec, graduates business school and joins the company. PMC opens additional locations in Omaha, Nebraska, St. Louis, Missouri, and Des Moines, Iowa.

2020 - Today

PMC continues its expansion, opening locations in Chicago, IL, Minneapolis, MN, and Detroit, MI. After a decade of unprecedented growth, PMC renews its vision for a greater impact on the Technology Integration Industry - Stay Tuned :)