Sam Ash is closing 18 stores

[Jhengsman]

It's been years since I last set foot in the Hollywood store. I had no idea there was one in the City of Industry, not that's an attractive option to me.

Retail In Privacy? (online)

When I lived in the SGV I used to hit the City of Industry store every few months and hang in the acoustic room. The vibe I got was way different and laid back compared to Hollywood and the Pasadena and Hollywood Guitar Centers. I didn't like the South Bay Sam Ash when they moved to their smaller space.

 

[NikosP75]

It's not surprising. I wonder if the Long Island store and Queens store are on the rest of the list.

There is no LIC store. Their Queens location is on Queens Blvd.

 

[Aussie Player]

This isn't a case of one store that will be inevitable replaced by another. This is about physical music stores disappearing altogether.

It is likely that a handful of high-quality and/or high-end stores will remain open in big cities, but there's going to be fewer and fewer places to try instruments in person. And given the cost of shipping a bass, you'd better be sure you want it before you order it...

I think you are right and the detriment is that discount prices will disappear. Sales will only be to clear slow moving items. I expect full retail prices plus a chunk as some gun stores are already doing. Retail is already being remarketed.

 

[Gorn]

There is no LIC store. Their Queens location is on Queens Blvd.

I didn't say LIC.

 

[NikosP75]

I didn't say LIC.

Holy crap and to think I wear glasses so yep no excuses.

 

[salmon256]

02, Huntington, NY

Ah man, I really liked that one. Though the Hicksville one is a lot better deal wise online, it is just so out of the way for me where I live. The employees were chill at Huntington... there's a smaller music shop nearby so happy to help mom and pops but it is kind of sad... Well Hicksville is always there if I need it and has the best used prices for me.

Correction: Their Reverb saids Hicksville could just be a storage place but actually it is more in Carle Place... so it is really out of the way for me lol.

 

[_One//Man//Mutiny_]

Wonder if the one in Cherry Hill, NJ is on the list. Seems like they’ve been ready to close up shop for years at this point, they didn’t seem to recover from the holiday season of 2019. There’s a GC a couple of store fronts down and they are back into the full swing of things and have been for a long while at this point.

 

[salmon256]

I was living on Long Island

There were also pretty darn big for Long Island standards. The GC in Commack is so damn tiny and the Sam Ash for me was always a better experience and had better deals. It is bittersweet for sure...

 

[Lance Bunyon]

Now I guess they won't have to honor their PigHog lifetime warranty eh? I have at least 4 PigHog cables.

 

[thunesBARROW]

This is sad news.

 

[james condino]

i don't know if GC impacted them as much as how their store functioned.

one of the sales guys used to play guitars at super loud volume, and he encouraged others to do the same, so whenever i was trying to actually test amps or cabs, i couldn't really get an idea of how they sounded. only once in over 20 years have i managed to buy something - not even when using cash - in under 40 minutes. the one exception a bag of picks i paid for with cash, and it took about 25 minutes. there were always issues, someone would need to confer with another sales guy or call the manager, their own system would confuse them, something had been changed in the system. yet i could trade a guitar at guitar center, pay for one i had had my eye on, and be out the door in 20 minutes with no weirdness at all.

we had a layaway at hollywood sam ash, and when we went to pay it off, they couldn't find the guitar for an hour - it turned out to be somewhere it wasn't supposed to be. the case for that guitar was so lost that they had to call us after they found it days later.

once, we traded them 3 basses and guitars to pay for a guitar my husband fell i love with, it took about 2 hours - the store had been closed for some time by the time we were done.

i could go on and on - oh, wait - i did! - with stories about sam ash hollywood. according to many musicians i've played known, my experiences were pretty typical.

'Sounds like every big box guitar store I have ever been in!

 

[Relayer71]

Holy crap and to think I wear glasses so yep no excuses.

Maybe it's because you're right next door in Astoria .

 

[denton57]

Not SA, but a comment on a brick and mortar experience while I was traveling out of state. This specific retailer has 2 or 3 locations in that state. I went in on a Sat morning and despite being full of what looked like college freshman workers, not one person said a single word to me. I sat in the bass section for about 20-30 min and no one could be bothered to try and sell me something. Left without anyone saying anything as I walked by them to the door. As someone who is a sales professional, it was shocking. No wonder they’re all dying off.

I checked out the local GC right after that. No one tried to sell me anything, but someone did say thank you as I left there after seeing they had basically nothing.

That said, I buy stuff. I’m a middle aged Dad. All the buying signs were there. Nobody cared.

 

[DWBass]

I'm not surprised. These stores are no longer musician friendly. Overpriced products. Store clerks treat people like they know everything. No longer new stock in boxes in the back. What's on the floor is it. So basically the items are used and they want to sell them as NEW! Lowballed trade-ins! The last new bass I bought from Sam Ash NYC was my Ibanez SR505 in the mid 90's.

 

[GretschWretch]

There always will be brick-and-mortar stores in locales with healthy school music programs. Online only simply ain't good enough, especially when it comes to repairs. The personal touch is essential. And my local full-service music store just got franchises for both Fender and Gretsch, and the sticker prices on the Gretsch electric guitars are so low I look at them in stunned disbelief.

Unless we abandon them, the mom and pops will always be around, for the quality of service if for nothing else. With them it is not some disconnected corporate bigwig (can anyone say CBS?) calling the shots. The mom and pops are invested in making the business succeed. The GC and SA staff, not so much. To them it's just a job.

 

[Captain Chaos]

I wonder which Orlando store. If it’s the one at that horrible location I can understand why.

 

[Marley's Ghost]

Very sad. The Clearwater location is my local store. Sad to see them go.

I bought my 74 Rick 4001cs at the White Plains NY store back in 78. Wonder if they are closing.

 

[mapleglo]

I've bought and sold a bunch of stuff at the Phoenix location. I hope that one stays open. When I lived back east, I used to go into the city and visit the one of 48th street. I think that one is long gone. And I visited the one in Paramus, NJ. I didn't like that store - I hope that one closes.

I traded a bunch of pedals for this ABG last year:

 

[Frampton]

It's not surprising. I wonder if the Long Island store and Queens store are on the rest of the list.

Queens and Long Island (Huntington) are both on the list.

 

[jeffb28451]

Not surprised. I saw an ad on Reverb today and "purchased" the item only to be told that they
"checked their inventory" and it was no longer available. Nice inventory control with current
POS controls available...I guess I'm done with them... Shame, I used to drive 2 hours just
to window shop/buy at their store closest to me...but I can shop elsewhere with no problem.