History
Chuck Surack started the company as a recording studio in 1979, originally based out of his home in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Surack became a Kurzweil dealer, but his clients were asking for advice regarding other products as well. Surack expanded Sweetwater to become a music retailer whose emphasis was pre- and post-sale customer service. In 1995, Sweetwater mounted a website: www.sweetwater.com. By 1999, most of the inventory was available for purchase online. Electronic Musician named the website one of the nine best information sources for a musician, due to its 63,000 pages including instructional videos, demos and technical documents. Between 1990 and 2005, Sweetwater had grown to 220 employees and had expanded its building four different times, but still needed more room. Choosing to remain in Fort Wayne, in 2006 the operation moved to larger, custom-built headquarters using 14 acres (57,000 m2) of a 44-acre (180,000 m2) parcel; enough area to allow for planned further expansion.
Specialties
Sweetwater Sound is the third largest retailer of music technology and music instruments in the U.S. We are committed to providing our customers the ultimate in expert advice and customer service.