Sammy Ash passed away recently and it seems the others in the family are no longer interested in keeping it going.

Competing with Sweetwater, Thomann and Amazon is probably a PITA and it seems not enough people put a premium on actually trying a musical instrument before buying it.

https://www.musicradar.com/news/sam-ash-music-to-close-its-doors-after-100-years

 

Guitar Center i think is next which sucks cause i work there and they refuse to change their business Model. trying much to hard to be the Target/Walmart of Music stores

 

Local brick and mortar locations are so nice to have around. But really, they function as an in-person demo center for every online retailer.

Lots of foot traffic, every unit gets abused and marked down by becoming a floor model. Then the customer buys it online, and the store does not even get any sort of sales credit for it. If the customer doesn't go buy from a competitor like SW, etc anyway.

Great in a pinch if you need something immediately. It's a wonder GC still have many stores either. What do they change their business model to? Most used gear is done on Reverb and ebay too.

I would not even want to be a human sales/tech employee at SW type of retailer either. ChatGPT is smarter at this stuff then SW Sales Engineers already. Those employees should probably consider their days numbered too.

 

Last edited: May 5, 2024

Maybe they should join forces somehow, if it's even possible... Just my few cents