Portman’s Music turns 90, carrying ‘Everything for the Musician’ motto into 2026

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Portman’s Music Superstore is celebrating a major milestone—90 years in business, making it the oldest continuously operated music retailer in Georgia.

The longtime Savannah business opened downtown in 1936 on Broughton Street. Ben and Pearl Portman founded the company’s first storefront known as the MusiCenter.

Music was meant to be for the Portman family. Before the store was formally established, Ben’s father, Sam Portman, sold instruments at his pawn shop, according to the current owner, Jerry Portman.

Jerry, who runs the business with his wife Myra, started working at Portman’s Music in the 1950s under his parents Ben and Pearl. The now-owner said he did everything at the store—from helping customers who stopped by to delivering instruments and equipment across Georgia and South Carolina.

When reflecting on the store’s decades-long legacy, Jerry said one of their family photos stands out as a reminder of how closely the business and family have been linked.

“It shows myself, my parents, my brother and my sister, who all worked in the store at one time or another,” Portman said. “Every time I see the picture it reminds me that I spent a lot of time with them, as well as learning from them, and sometime teaching them if they were younger too.”

The family says Portman’s Music became the first full-line music store in the Peach State, offering instrument rentals to students and performers, music lessons for multiple instruments and in-store repairs and maintenance.

Beyond retail, music education has been a top priority for the business since the beginning. The family says Portman’s Music helped launch band programs in nearly every public and private school in the Coastal Empire, South Georgia and South Carolina Lowcountry.

Today, Portman’s Music has locations in Savannah, Brunswick, Augusta and Albany. It’s also been recognized by the National Association of Music Merchants as a Top 100 Music Dealer in 2022, 2023 and 2025.

Jerry said the store’s longevity comes down to a family motto: “Everything for the musician.”

“[People say] why do people come here? And why’d it last 90 years? Our goal is to follow my parents; they had a motto: ‘Everything for the Musician,’” said Portman. “We always follow that motto, and that’s why not only do we sell electric guitars and basses, but we’ve got departments.”

Jerry said as the industry changed, so did the business. Portman’s Music expanded to provide professional sound and public address systems for schools, churches, and stadiums.

The family says the 90-year milestone is really about the community—the generations of musicians who got their first instrument or took their first lesson at Portman’s Music.