Dive Brief:
- Musical instrument retailer Sam Ash Music announced Thursday that it began store closing sales at all its retail locations after 100 years in business.
- “It is with a heavy heart that we announce that effective May 2nd 2024, all Sam Ash Music Store locations will begin store closing sales,” the company said on its website, Facebook and Instagram pages.
- Signs of trouble emerged earlier this year, when the New York-based company reportedly moved to close nearly 20 locations, including its flagship store in Midtown Manhattan. Sam Ash listed 42 retail locations in 16 states on their website on Friday. The company did not respond to a request for further comment from Retail Dive.
Dive Insight:
Sam Ash’s store closures position rival Guitar Center as the main U.S. music instrument retailer with physical locations.
Sam Ash lists stores in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia on its website.
"Sam Ash was likely fighting three opposing trends at the same time,” Bill Werde, director of the Bandier Music Industry program at Syracuse University, told Retail Dive in emailed comments. “That’s a difficult thing for any business to survive.”
“On one hand, guitar sales boomed during the pandemic, but more recently have been in decline,” Werde said. “At the same time, rent and real estate have generally and fairly rapidly been getting more expensive. And of course, sales in general have continued to migrate online. The scale and lack of overhead of the largest online retailers makes it incredibly difficult for brick and mortar stores to compete.”
Sam Ash’s going-out-of-business announcement on Facebook was shared over 5,000 times in less than 24 hours as of Friday morning. Many people took to social media to express shock and sadness at the loss of community. “So sad,” one person wrote,“Toys R Us for musicians is closing.”
People also shared personal memories of buying their first musical instruments, recalled the opportunity to see and hear famous musicians perform and lamented retail’s relentless shift online. “Soon there will be nowhere to go and actually see the items you want to purchase. I have a love-hate relationship with the internet. Sam Ash will be missed,” another person wrote.
But, store closures may not mean the end of the brand, according to Clayton Durant, founder of CAD Management, a music management and entertainment consulting firm. “Much like Bed Bath & Beyond, which found a buyer, Sam Ash holds substantial brand equity within the music and creator community. It wouldn’t surprise me if another major player in the music or broader retail industry acquired their brand,” Durant said.
Austrian-born Sam Ashkynase traveled to the United States in 1907 at age 10. He and his wife Rose Dinin opened a music store in New York City in 1924. To make ends meet, Ashkynase performed with a band on the weekends, during the company’s formative years according to a company history. The company remains family-owned and operated with the fourth generation currently in charge.
In contrast, Guitar Center opened its newest location in Hialeah, Florida, last month. It also announced the reopening of a newly expanded and renovated store in Westlake Village, California. The company also owns Music & Arts stores, which offer a selection of brass and woodwind band and orchestra instruments, along with online retailers Musicians Friend and Woodwind & Brasswind. Guitar Center also owns AVDG, which provides audio, video and lightling installations for homes and businesses.
Sweetwater is another major player in the musical instrument and professional sound and lighting gear retail sector. The Indiana-based company has a retail store at its corporate headquarters but is heavily online-focused. Sweetwater said it exceeded $1 billion in sales for the third consecutive year 2022.
Correction: This story has been updated to accurately reflect Sweetwater's annual sales.
