Our Story

Our story began with a dream that wouldn't have been possible without our loyal customers!

Established in 1895

The Ackerman's Pianos you know and love today began as a humble hardware store in Lakeville, Minnesota in 1895. Daniel Gephart began "Gephart Furniture Store and Mortuary"; where they separated their services between funeral preparations and sales. They sold everything from furniture, pianos and kitchenware to  ladies’ corsets and Christmas toys.  As the Gephart's store continued to grow, they chose to sell off part of their business. The Gepharts would continue to focus and specialize in furniture and pianos, and the funeral business was sold to the White Family in 1917.

Family Legacy

When Daniel Gephart passed in 1963, the business was passed along to his sons, Richard and Leonard Gephart. They would continue to service the Lakeville community until the late 1970s. Daniel's daughter, Elizabeth (fondly known as Betty), married James Ackerman at the All Saints Church, in Lakeville, Minnesota on February 12th, 1946. James Ackerman would open the first Ackerman's Furniture store in Bloomington, Minnesota in the early 1950s. James would pass down his knowledge and experience to his four sons: Jeffrey, John, Jim, and Jerry. When James closed the business his sons would be the ones to take up the mantle of

Daniel Gephart's community legacy, and launch their own restoration services. 

At this time the family chose to break down the business further into to separate specialties: home furniture and pianos.  John Ackerman continues Ackerman's Furniture in Burnsville, MN now focusing solely on large home items; and Jeffrey (Jeff) Ackerman began what is now Ackerman's Piano Sales and Restoration. Jeff Ackerman continued to grow our business by refurbishing family and community heirlooms.  His knowledge was passed down Father to Sons until his retirement in 2015. His eldest son, Tim Ackerman, took up the mantle and continued to grow the family legacy; passing along the history and trade secrets to his younger cousin, Benjamin (Ben) Ackerman.

The Trade Today

Today Ackerman's Piano continues to train our talented staff with our generations of experience and knowledge! From rebuilding aged and broken pianos and refinishing to like new exteriors, to complete action rehabilitation and tuning; our talented team continues to live up to our promise to create quality work that will continue to bring joy for generations to come!