Nov. 30, 2022

Schoppert’s Piano Gallery, which opened a little more than a dozen years ago, will close in early 2023.

Owners Cindy Schoppert-Pickett and Jay Tripp announced the closing late last week. The closing sale will run through mid-January. Schmitt Music is assisting with the sale.

The building at 1020 E. 41st St. is being sold to the city of Sioux Falls and will be torn down. The area has a history of flooding.

“We will acquire it to get it out of the flood plain,” said city engineer Andy Berg.

The city also has acquired a small lot where an ATM stands adjacent to the property. Properties along the south side of Pam Road going west of Cliff Avenue also have been purchased, Berg said.

The 41st Street interchange with Interstate 229 is scheduled for reconstruction in 2025-26, Berg said. That work also might involve reconfiguration of the on- and off-ramps at that intersection. While the property on which the Schoppert building sits is not now needed for the interchange, it gives the designers flexibility.

“It’s an opportunity for us, not a necessity in design,” Berg said.

The purchase is expected to be completed in late January. While there is no timeline for the building’s removal, the city generally moves as quickly as possible to prevent vandalism and other issues, he said.

The city’s plans served as the impetus for the decision to close, Schoppert-Pickett said.

Schoppert-Pickett, who also serves as CEO and CFO, and her late husband, Scott, purchased Schmitt Music’s piano department in May 2010, naming it Schoppert’s Piano Gallery. Scott Schoppert died in 2011. Jay Tripp then joined the company and also is the sales manager.

Schoppert’s Piano Gallery offers Steinway, Boston, Essex and Kawai pianos, including Kawai digital pianos.

Schmitt once again will be the dealership for those piano manufacturers, Schoppert-Pickett said.

“We are just stepping back, and that makes the dealership available for them,” she said.

Tripp has accepted a sales management position at Centennial Homes of Sioux Falls. Schoppert-Pickett plans on semi-retirement with a focus on volunteering and substitute teaching.

Working with Tripp has been a good partnership, Schoppert-Pickett said.

“It wasn’t how we intended it in the beginning, but it worked out well for us,” she said. “Hopefully, we provided a good service to the community. We tried to continue the way Scott would have and keep his legacy going.”

Hours will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays by appointment only and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, open to the public.

Tenants in the building include Bob’s Piano Service, which is separate from Schoppert’s and remaining open, Dynamic Martial Arts of Sioux Falls and Sioux Falls Sword Academy.

Dynamic Martial Arts is moving to a strip mall at 1516 S. Sycamore Ave. Owner Joe Herreman started the martial arts academy almost 20 years ago after first teaching in Brookings while a student at South Dakota State University. He has been in several locations and moved to his current site when the COVID pandemic required him to move from Southern Hills Church. His new location is the former site of a Snap Fitness center.

The Sword Academy ‘s owner and instructor, Jesse Adams, subleases space from Herreman and will follow him to the Sycamore Avenue site, reopening right after Jan. 1. It has been offering lessons in fencing in Sioux Falls for almost 10 years.