Sam Ash closing ALL stores ...

[mr. beaumont]

My local Sam Ash closed about 10 years ago. Was a bummer, far superior store to the GC 6 blocks away.

There's still one in the west burbs of Chicago...now I play the waiting game to get the best deal on a strat...

[Skarsaune]

Twenty-some years ago, the Sam Ash on the north side of Nashville - Goodlettsville, technically - was where I bought a Takamine, my first "nicer" acoustic. Also went to a Taylor Road Show there which was eduational.

Also saw Justin Townes Earle (RIP) in the acoustic room just trying out a guitar.


The fact that I haven't been in a Sam Ash in at least 15 years probably says something.

[Jeremy]

When the owner of my local independent shop decided to retire, Sam Ash was a potential suitor to take over the store and rebrand it. Thankfully (even more so now), the store manager purchased the business and kept it as is instead of it becoming a Sam Ash.

[musical123]

Originally Posted by LAPlayer

Checked and it looks like most/all of their prices are simply "original prices" changed to full retail and the "sale" price is now the same as all other vendors. Nothing special yet.

Agree. No great deals as of today.

[Steve DeRosa]

Sorry to hear as my own history with Sam Ash goes back nearly 60 years, when they moved in late 1966 from a dicey (an understatement if there ever was one) part of Brooklyn to the Kings Highway store that became their flagship operation for many years; located at the junction of two major thoroughfares with heavily-traveled bus routes (and four blocks' walk from an elevated line), Mama Ash herself still ran the register and Paul was a young guy working the floor when I started spending my teenage Saturday mornings there, checking out the hot new gear, loading up on the latest sheet music, and hoping to run into one of the hometown celebrities they proudly listed on their customer board just inside the entrance. Although I've made some moves over the years, I've always found whatever Sam Ash branch happened to be at hand to have the best deals: before the lockdown our last band used to make a monthly roadtrip to the Edison (NJ) store - ostensibly for the usual expendable odds-&-ends (picks, strings, cables, drumsticks. etc.) but on several occasions at least one of us would come away with a heavy-duty piece of gear...

Frankly, watching the evolution of the business from a few branches to what would become one of the megaliths of music retail I believe that, as a family-owned/operated company, it was/is a matter of overextension: IME they always prided themselves on a personal touch (in contrast to the other big-box operations that have come/gone/threatened-to-shut-down-but-never-did), and while that may have been feasible in the days when they were a local outfit with a handful of branches and an international reputation, there simply weren't enough family members to ride the reins on a coast-to-coast business...

FWIW (and for those outside the NYC area who may not know) there is a potential solution, rooted in Sam Ash's own past. When the Kings Highway store closed down in the early-80's and relocated to Queens, there was a massive outcry from loyal local musicians (in spite of the fact that there were still three other music stores in the immediate area) such that they were forced to open an "affiliate" branch two blocks from their former location, under the Paul J. Ash name (and managed by same); far smaller in size and scope than the previous store they dealt in accessories, sheet music, and a small selection of beginner-quality instruments kept on hand for the school trade, with pro-level gear "unofficially" available on an if-you-know-you-know special-order basis. Although demand caused them to revert to a full-line store within a couple years (eventually leading to a fourth relocation to larger quarters in Brooklyn), the model is still there for maintaining a brick-&-mortar presence in the trade: keep it small (maybe 6-8 branch stores), focus on their traditional NYC region customer base, and run it on the Paul Ash limited-stock/special-order format (with the possible addition of a selection of used gear a la Music-Go-Round) - along with a total revamp of their internet site along the lines of Sweetwater/GC, it might indeed keep them afloat into their second century of operation...

[pcjohnson]

About 15 years ago went to GC to buy my first acoustic, a Yamaha FG700. Nobody seemed to want to talk to me. Went to Sam Ash about a mile down the road, and the customer service was very good. Bought my Martin D-28 there about a year ago (after buying a few of other guitars there over the years), and the customer service was still great. Sad to see it end.

[sinistral]

It’s definitely the end of an era. This year is Sam Ash’s 100th year in the music retail business. From many of the posts here, it’s clear that Sam Ash has slipped into relative obscurity. If one reads Sam Ash’s wikipedia page, one will discover what a dominant presence Sam Ash became in the New York music scene. The page notes that, at its height, Sam Ash had “six storefronts with 12 entrances in nine buildings on both sides of the street” on NYC’s “Music Row” on 48th street. And I don’t think that included Manny’s Music, which Sam Ash acquired in 1999. Anyone alive today who visited Music Row in its hey-day can attest that there was nothing really like it anywhere. It was literally an entire city block of music stores, and musicians like Jimi Hendrix and many others bought instruments there. Anyone interested in reading about the history of Music Row, here are a couple of articles:

Rockeology: When 48th Street Was the Center of the Universe

The Vanished Music Stores of New York City’s Forty-Eighth Street


Today, I think Rudy’s Music in SoHo is now the only survivor of Music Row.

[Osage]

Originally Posted by sinistral

Anyone alive today who visited Music Row in its hey-day can attest that there was nothing really like it anywhere.

It was really pretty amazing. My 14 year old mind was completely blown the first time I went to 48th st. Ochanomizu Japan is like a more insane version and is still very much thriving. I haven't been in 20 years but Denmark St. in London was pretty amazing as well.

[Pickcity]

Sam Ash did not adjust with the times and their online experience is just plain awful. A chain as big as they are (or were) should have had the website thing figured out years ago. The last time I tried using their website I could not believe how frustrating and useless it was. How did they expect to compete with online retailers like Sweetwater when they did not even bother to have a decent web presence?

The Atlanta store closes this weekend, I’m pretty sure. It was once a pretty good store.

I hate to see it. I really do. I am not at all surprised.

[strummerpsf]

I have bought my last three acoustic guitars from Sam Ash. The GC (which is right next door) did not have any mid-high level acoustics when I was shopping. I got (what I feel) were good deals from Sam Ash on them. I wanted to play them in person rather than ordering on line. If they close the local store, and GC does not start stocking more instruments, I am going to have to resort to buying on line without being able to try the instrument. And I do not want to do that.

[JGinNJ]

It's a shame, they were a much better store than GC ever was. Much wider selection of other instruments besides guitars. They've been circling the drain for a while, though. I used to shop the store outside Philly, it stopped carrying pro brass instruments, for example. The Union NJ one was big, I was in it about 3 yrs ago. I think it might have been their flagship if they weren't in NYC anymore.

[Hogs150]

The acoustic room at the Sam Ash near me (Huntington NY) is great nothing locked up you can seat and play all day and no one would bother you. Sad to see them closing.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by sinistral

It’s definitely the end of an era...Anyone alive today who visited Music Row in its heyday can attest that there was nothing really like it anywhere. It was literally an entire city block of music stores, and musicians like Jimi Hendrix and many others bought instruments there...

The end of an era indeed - and BTW I'm just old enough to remember the last of the real, pre-rockstar glory days of 48th Street:

Although I had passed through on numerous occasions when my family visited the Times Square/Rockefeller Center area, I had my first direct exposure to Music Row in late 1963, when my dad and I began shopping around for my first electric guitar. What many players have either forgotten or didn't realize is that a number of the long-defunct smaller operations (where the "Key Club" first-call studio guys, Broadway pit musicians, and local/touring working pros went to get the ultra-primo stuff the rest of us would never see, at prices we'd never pay - more on which later) had a strict "trade only" policy, posted out front in plain sight, and unless you could show an A.F. of M. membership or business card (my father had one of the latter, thanks to a co-worker who played the local club scene on weekends) they might not even buzz you in the (gated) door; while the original Manny's store anchored the block - Sam Ash wasn't even a presence until the late-60's - there were smaller retail operations along the entire length of the street as well as repair shops, recording studios, teaching studios, and talent agencies (my mother was a receptionist at one of the latter during her high-school years), spilling over to the adjacent blocks as well as across Broadway and 7th Avenue...

For those knowledgeable (but unconnected) NYC players who didn't need/couldn't afford the top-shelf gear, the real bargains were to be had elsewhere - either downtown on Park Row (at Silver & Horland or Harry Newcorn), or at then mom-&-pop Sam Ash in Brooklyn (Mama Ash still worked the cash register well into my twenties) - and it was arguably Sam Ash who broke the unwritten Music Row policy of "40% off for the pros, 30% for the teachers, full list for everyone else" that flourished at the time. Ironically, it would be the same forces of mega-buck redevelopment that drove out the Park Row operations - Silver & Horland would relocate twice, eventually winding up on 48th Street before closing altogether in the early-80's, while once-independent Harry Newcorn spent his last years working the cash register at Sam Ash (to whom he was able to bring his remaining customer base - smart move on their part) - that would, eventually and inexorably, put an end to Music Row. Truth be told, it was a long time in coming - the handwriting was on the wall by the early-80's as the smaller stores began to fold, either to be replaced by the ubiquitous Times Square knick-knack/souvenir shops or absorbed by the ever-expanding Sam Ash; when Manny's sold out in 1999 I saw it as a matter of not if, but when. While Rudy's and Alex Music (once a far larger full-line retail operation, BTW) toughed it out as long as possible, I'm sure they also knew it was a losing proposition - and I'm glad the former was able to make a go of it thereafter, arguably filling the void left by the closing of Mandolin Brothers...

For those of us remaining who were there, it was a time of wonderful memories never to be repeated - and another iconic piece of New York history bites the dust...

[richpjr]

Originally Posted by Skarsaune

Twenty-some years ago, the Sam Ash on the north side of Nashville - Goodlettsville, technically - was where I bought a Takamine, my first "nicer" acoustic. Also went to a Taylor Road Show there which was eduational.

Also saw Justin Townes Earle (RIP) in the acoustic room just trying out a guitar.


The fact that I haven't been in a Sam Ash in at least 15 years probably says something.

I got an absolutely smoking deal on a Taylor 517E WHB from that store last year. Sad to see it go, but inevitable.

[Murphy Slaw]

Originally Posted by sinistral

It’s definitely the end of an era. Sam Ash had “six storefronts with 12 entrances in nine buildings on both sides of the street” on NYC’s “Music Row” on 48th street. And I don’t think that included Manny’s Music, which Sam Ash acquired in 1999. Anyone alive today who visited Music Row in its hey-day can attest that there was nothing really like it anywhere. It was literally an entire city block of music stores, and musicians like Jimi Hendrix and many others bought instruments there.

What is in that area nowadays? I mean, what has replaced music?

I've never been to New York City.