Sam Ash Closing All Stores

[greatmutah]

Just saw this on facebook. Effective now, all sales are final. Also their website is being flooded with traffic now.



Here's a link to the all sales final:

https://www.samash.com/all-sales-final

[Guitarbilly]

Damn.... I spent so many hours at Sam Ash 48st NYC during my teens. Incredible to think the whole chain won't exist anymore.

But on the other hand, I don't remember the last time I bought something at a Sam Ash store and I'm sure that's true for a lot of people. I think I bought something from them through Reverb but that was it. So it makes sense. They were no longer the powerhouse brand they once were.

[ninjaraf]

I just saw this, too. Crazy. I am going to stop by the 2 in town this weekend and see if they have anything good on sale.

[I'MAPUNKROCKERDAMNIT]

Wow.
Brick and mortar... only restaurants and nail salons will be left.

It is with a heavy heart that we announce that all Sam Ash Music store locations will begin store-closing sales today. This unfortunate news also presents a fantastic opportunity for great deals across our premium selection of musical instruments & pro sound equipment.
We will also be offering specials on samash.com during this time. Thank you for allowing us to serve musicians like you for 100 years.
With much love and deep gratitude
The Ash Family

[Guitarbilly]

I think it's possible to do brick and mortar but you have to be unique. A store like Atomic Music for example, is packed every weekend because they have a ton of cool used gear, charge fair prices, pay well on trades etc every time I go there I end up walking out with something I didn't even know I wanted lol

The "big box" store format is dying though. In Sam Ash's case, they have places like Sweetwater beating them on new gear, Reverb beating them on used gear and Amazon beating them on strings accessories etc so it's hard. You really have to find a niche and develop an unique business format or you're not going to survive. Simply put, there was nothing at Sam Ash we can't get a better deal and service somewhere else.

[greatmutah]

Yeah Motor City Guitar in Waterford still does really well. And a newer shop, Rock City Music, also seems to do well. They both have solid lineups of gear and brands too, Motor City even more so.

[trey85stang2]

Not that I ever frequented Sam ash because they were too far away… we’re not far away from no music stores at all. GC has only been hanging on by a thread since mittens drained every dollar they ever had.

[Guitarbilly]

GC is up next for sure unless they revamp their business model. A bunch of mid priced guitars hanging on the walls is a recipe for disaster.

They need to try to have more interesting gear and hopefully not under lock and key like they do now to the few items they have I'm actually interested in.

The GC in Hollywood CA always did well because of the huge selection of vintage, used and premium gear they had.

The other stores just have run of the mill shit that anyone can order online with free shipping

[macaronisalad]

Yeah Motor City Guitar in Waterford still does really well. And a newer shop, Rock City Music, also seems to do well. They both have solid lineups of gear and brands too, Motor City even more so.

When I tried to visit MCG, the power was out, so I was out of luck! Haha

Next time I’m in the area I’ll have to give it another try.

[lol]

this actually makes me sad bc i really liked my local sam ash.