In an effort to establish a profitable line of keyboard instruments, the Conn company purchased the Haddorff Piano Company of Rockford, Illinois, parent company of Bush & Gerts Pianos (1940) and the Straube Piano Company of Chicago (1941). Straube production ceased in 1942, but Conn continued to oversee the manufacture of pianos in Rockford for another decade.
The company later purchased the Janssen Piano Company (1964) and pursued acoustic keyboard research under the leadership of Earle Kent. This led to the short-term production of the Conn piano. In January of 1969, Kent led a team of Conn researchers to the LTV Aerospace Laboratories in Dallas, Texas, where they utilized sophisticated, space-age equipment to gather acoustical data for future use in piano design and development. But, by the time Kent and his research team returned to Elkhart, negotiations for the sale of the Conn Company were already underway. By May, the company had been sold to Crowell-Collier MacMillan, Inc. Within seven months, the new owners phased out Kent's promising keyboard research and development department. The Conn piano line was eventually purchased (1970) by former Conn employee, Charles R. Walter, who established the Walter Piano Co. in Elkhart.
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