Portman’s Music Superstore celebrates 90 years

Staff Reports

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ALBANY – Georgia’s oldest continuously operated music retailer is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year, and Albany is part of this musical legacy that is based on the motto “Everything for the Musician.”

Portman’s Music Superstore, which has locations in Albany, Augusta, Brunswick and Savannah, grew to be a music retailer and music education resource across Georgia and South Carolina,.

Founded in 1936 by Sam Portman, the grandfather of current owner Jerry Portman, the history dates back even farther to as early as 1910 when Sam Portman was selling musical instruments on Broughton Street.

His son, Ben Portman, and wife Pearl Portman built on that entrepreneurship to formalize in 1936 the business that would become Portman’s Music Superstore as it is known today. 

Portman’s Music was also recognized as the first full-line music store in the state of Georgia, a pioneering achievement that set the standard for music retail across the Southeast. It was recognized by the National Association of Music Merchants as a Top 100 music dealer in 2022, 2023 and 2025.

Jerry Portman began working alongside his father as a pre-teen in the 1950s and has guided the company’s growth ever since with wife Myra Portman. As Portman’s celebrates another milestone anniversary, Jerry and Myra are still the driving force behind the company’s commitment to each customer who walks through the door at a Portman’s store location.

“My father coined the phrase, ‘Everything for the musician,’ and that’s still absolutely true in 2026,” Jerry Portman said. “Our top priorities have always been taking care of the customers, offering the best equipment from the best brands and providing excellent music education options for anyone who wants to learn to play. 

“For years, people I see in the grocery store or in a restaurant will tell me they learned to play an instrument at Portman’s Music, and now they’re coming to us for their children or grandchildren.”

Each Portman’s Music store has instructional studios as well as a faculty of instructors covering a wide variety of instruments. In Savannah, Portman’s was instrumental in helping start band programs in virtually every public and private school in Coastal Georgia, south Georgia and the South Carolina lowcountry.”

Countless students have taken their first musical steps with an instrument and instruction from Portman’s – a legacy that now spans multiple generations of families. Band and orchestra instruments have always been the foundation upon which Portman’s Music was built.

In recent years, Portman’s Music has expanded beyond instruments and music education to become a leading regional provider of professional sound systems and public address systems, outfitting stadiums, churches, schools and gymnasiums throughout Georgia and South Carolina with state-of-the-art audio equipment.

“Over the 90 years, our business has changed with the music and sound industry,” Jerry Portman said. “When our family started the business, we helped organize band programs for just about every school in and around Savannah, and now we’ve installed incredible sound systems in the stadiums and gymnasiums for those same schools and more facilities all over the state of Georgia. The business grew by providing everything that the musician needs, and that’s how we have been able to stay on top for 90 years.”