Quidoz Piano Ltée

Quidoz Piano Ltée

Quidoz Piano Ltée. Firm of piano builders founded as Sénécal et Quidoz ca 1897 in Ste-Thérèse-de-Blainville (renamed Ste-Thérèse), near Montreal. Its founders were Joseph Sénécal (b Montreal 1872, d Ste-Thérèse 1935) and Georges Quidoz (b Vimines, Savoie, France, 7 Jan 1870, d Ste-Thérèse 29 Jun 1932). The son of a shoemaker, Joseph Sénècal arrived in Ste-Thérèse at about 13 and learned his craft from the technicians at Thomas F.G. Foisy. In 1891, when this company moved to Montreal, Sénécal joined Lesage & Piché where he was manager for a few years. Around 1897 he went into partnership with Georges Quidoz, who had come to Ste-Thérèse at about 17 and who supplied the capital. In 1901 a fire destroyed the factory but it was soon rebuilt and the company prospered. Before the 1930s Depression the company was able to offer nine different models and produced 1700 to 1800 instruments annually, chiefly upright pianos but also some baby grands and player pianos.

When Georges Quidoz died his sons Julien and Gérard and Sénécal's son Philippe took over the management of the business. In 1938 Philippe sold his interests to the Quidoz brothers and the company became Quidoz Piano Ltée. A showroom was opened in Montreal about two years later. In the 1960s production was reduced to some 1200 pianos a year, a drop attributed to increasing imports of Japanese pianos, obsolete equipment, and the Quidoz' lack of interest in developing the business. In 1966 the company liquidated its stock and closed.