Sam Ash now closing all stores?

[JohnH]

Just saw a You tube post and checked this too.

 

https://guitar.com/news/industry-news/sam-ash-rumoured-closing-all-stores/

[RABid]

Wow. Hate to see that. Their online component never did catch fire like Sweetwater, American Musical, etc...

[Docbop]

That's really sad seeing a family owned business go under.   

[Franz Schiller]

Oh no! I really liked Sam Ash! Always felt warmer than Guitar Center, with cooler stuff. Damn.

[JohnH]

it's official. https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/gear/sam_ash_to_begin_store-closing_sales_today_thank_you_for_allowing_us_to_serve_musicians_like_you_for_100_years.html

[Old No7]

Dang...  Sure glad I got to see the NYC store last summer...

 

Old No7

[Stokely]

Uh....I just ordered something from them online.

Cancelling now.

[Mike Martin]

Just now, Stokely said:

Uh....I just ordered something from them online.

Cancelling now.

 

They're closing stores. Online operations will continue for quite a while. 

[Stokely]

4 minutes ago, Mike Martin said:

 

They're closing stores. Online operations will continue for quite a while. 

I'm giving it some thought.  Not even sure I can cancel my order.  Knowing they haven't just declared bankruptcy and made off with my money is good....but I'm still feeling a bit shaky right now.  

The first way it impacts me is if I could return locally if I had issues within the first 45 days (as you can with Guitar Center).

After that, since I didn't buy their extended warranty I'd be on my own anyway except for any limited warranty from Roland.

Any thoughts on this and what you all might do?    

[GovernorSilver]

I ordered a digital piano from them just this past Saturday.  Tried calling them yesterday to get a status on the order because I hadn't received a shipping notice, and the rep said he'd look into it.

 

Called again today because I didn't hear anything.  The rep who answered the phone said his internet connection is down so he can't look up the order, then apologized.

 

I'll give them a few more days.  If no progress is made after those few days, I'll cancel the order.  If I can't do that I'll call my credit card provider to dispute the purchase - but hope it won't come to that.

[Stokely]

Wow I'm in the same boat,  called them this morning and they told me it was moving through the warehouse or something like that.  I purchased 3 days ago.   On the website it just says "processing".

My situation may be tougher because I used paypal balance for part of it (gig money for a long while was paid to me via paypal!).

I also hope it won't come to a struggle to get my money back.

Any concerns about receiving your keyboard knowing the stores (and likely the online shop) will be gone soon?

[GovernorSilver]

No return policy is the concern that comes to mind.  Can't return a product to a store that is out of business.    But this particular product is from a mainstream manufacturer (Roland)  and I'd already auditioned it in person at a local shop - which I would have supported if they had it in stock in the color I wanted, but I deliberated too long and the shop ended up selling out all units of this product.

[MathOfInsects]

I hate to be a bottom-feeder, but my local Sam Ash has some cool keyboards. I guess it's time to visit...

 

[Stokely]

Well first concern (that seems unfounded....) is that they are just up and going bankrupt immediately.

One would like to think that when your "store closing" message mentions sales online that you will be a legit business selling and supporting those sales for at least a while.   Being a paranoid skeptic as I am though...

If only Sweetwater had had the Fantom 6 in stock.  I'd gladly pay a couple hundred more for peace of mind about now (and that couple hundred includes a nice warranty).

 

[GovernorSilver]

wow, our situations really do parallel.  I really like the Roland FP-90X that I tried at the local shop, and was going back and forth between that and the Kawai ES-920.  The FP-90X in the shop was the white one - I found black labels on white housing easier to read than white labels on black housing.  Of course that was just the cherry on top of an action that I liked almost as much as the ES-920's and onboard sounds that I liked enough.  

 

That was a few months ago.  As of May 2024, the white FP-90X is sold out at this shop, and also sold out at multiple online shops.  Sam Ash claimed to have 5 units in stock, and accepted their own 20% off coupon.

 

I'm not so concerned about the FP-90X itself, or the possibility of having to return it to non-existent store.  By all reports it has a solid build quality and it certainly felt like it was built solid when I tried it.  I know what to expect as far as action and sound, so the only reason I'd try to get a refund is if it arrived crushed by an 18-wheeler or something.

[Mighty Motif Max]

The first thing that comes to mind are their house brands - Samson audio stuff and Michael Kelly guitars. Samson gear isn't bad...

[Stokely]

Something else that I just noticed when I refreshed my orders page:

ALL SALES FINAL FOR PURCHASES MADE AFTER MAY 1ST 2024

As of 5/2.   They do say that doesn't count for damaged items.  But do NOT order if you think you might not like something and will just return it.  Those days are done.

[ProfD]

1 hour ago, MathOfInsects said:

I hate to be a bottom-feeder, but my local Sam Ash has some cool keyboards. I guess it's time to visit...

 

ITRW, you would be considered a smart shopper.😁😎

[Motif88]

OUCH!

This sucks, I've been a customer for 45+ years hate to see this brand die.

We reap what we sow and have now killed retail across multiple market segments.

Not sure these are the droids we are looking for...

[Stokely]

I guess you could get into a chicken-or-egg discussion on the subject, but my local Sam Ash(es):

- never consistently had much in the way of selection
- never consistently had power connections hooked up
- never consistently had audio hooked up, and if they did it was to some small mono speaker.

The last one I will wave away because I would bring my good headphones in to audition keyboards anyway.   As it was often on lunch break, another challenge was that guy over there sitting at a stage piano playing for literally my entire lunch hour at volume 11.   

 

Often it was hard to get anyone's attention, and IMO some of the people they had seemed "less than interested" in helping you (if say you requested the damn power to be hooked up).

I do hate to see the stores go away as it was exciting to go through the various depts, but end of the day when it comes to keyboards my local stores were not really giving much value (offerings, or prices).

I'm going to call them tomorrow about my order.   I have a general concern that worrying about seeing my order through will be the last thing on the minds of everyone there--they are probably hurriedly doing a lot of job hunting about now.   Just not a warm fuzzy feeling that this will end well.  It's pretty ridiculous that my order is "processing" for this long without a shipping number being generated (same with GovernorSilver's order)

[CHarrell]

32 minutes ago, Stokely said:

I guess you could get into a chicken-or-egg discussion on the subject, but my local Sam Ash(es):

- never consistently had much in the way of selection
- never consistently had power connections hooked up
- never consistently had audio hooked up, and if they did it was to some small mono speaker.

The last one I will wave away because I would bring my good headphones in to audition keyboards anyway.   As it was often on lunch break, another challenge was that guy over there sitting at a stage piano playing for literally my entire lunch hour at volume 11.   

 

Often it was hard to get anyone's attention, and IMO some of the people they had seemed "less than interested" in helping you (if say you requested the damn power to be hooked up).

I do hate to see the stores go away as it was exciting to go through the various depts, but end of the day when it comes to keyboards my local stores were not really giving much value (offerings, or prices).

I'm going to call them tomorrow about my order.   I have a general concern that worrying about seeing my order through will be the last thing on the minds of everyone there--they are probably hurriedly doing a lot of job hunting about now.   Just not a warm fuzzy feeling that this will end well.  It's pretty ridiculous that my order is "processing" for this long without a shipping number being generated (same with GovernorSilver's order)

 

It's interesting this news comes on the heels of a statement by GC CEO this week about a paradigm shift targeting pros more than beginners with their walk-in inventory.

[David Emm]

My feeling over it: surreality. The profit margin on keyboards is woefully small; serious rack effects likewise. Now, more than we've seen in a while, many are too freaked out by the social n' political atmosphere to sustain bigger-ticket sales. There will always be a place for pros and the unsane such as we KC denizens, but as a sales guy, I sold far more guitars, strings and drums. Keys have always been an advanced form of life and not easily engaged without a good start and some mentoring.

 

Between online sales and the rise of software, Sam Ash probably won't be the last to fold. You can also bet that when you see the term "private equity" in the news, the business that's closing is often doing so because they're being gutted. Equity fund participants clean up, people are put out of work and properties become haunted houses. I also know its sometimes a 10-car pileup which isn't that cut & dried, to be fair. Still, I have a seriously vile term for the practice, but this is a family group. Addams Family, sure, but still family.   

 

The real culprit, though, is Us. Music has lost ground as a proactive personal habit as the technology made it more of a consumable. The loss of music and art classes in school is, IMO, part of why we have more nervous & self-centered citizens. Both the discipline and sheer pleasure of it builds personal and philosophical muscle you won't get from just brushing up on C++.

 

I'm just wistfully happy that when the Jupiter-8 was new, I had 3 excellent music stores where the gear was plugged in and the help was helpful. I got the Full Synth Monty, which has informed everything since. I'm grateful for keyboards and you should be as well. They're the main reason I'm not in the basement building a dimensional portal to Crom knows where. 

[Stokely]

Music has to some degree  moved on from the instruments sold in Sam Ash.   I use software synths exclusively at home (other than a keyboard to control them).

On a positive note though--after seeing the band programs in both my sons' middle and high schools, music is still kicking.  I was absolutely shocked by the size and the ability of those bands full of kids many of which had never played an instrument before taking Band.  It was a near miracle to me what they could pull off.   And as an aside, band director has gotta be both one of the hardest and most fulfilling jobs there is.  

It's not just music stores in any case.  Circuit City, probably Best Buy soon, places like Bed Bath and Beyond and so on...online stores have done a number on them.   My first thought when I need a pair of shoes is not to drive to a mall or store...if anything, shoe salespeople are just annoying     The way people "drive" glued to their phones I'm happy to mostly stay (and work) at home and shop from there. 

[jazzpiano88]

I don't know.....  something else has changed.     It's not just that mail-order has supplanted local brick and mortar.    Back in the day, unless you lived in a major city you had to mail order from Sam Ash, Bananna's, etc for a lot of stuff.    It was just over the phone.   Lots of keyboards were stocked locally, however - mostly flagships and price points.    So why didn't mail order put the local keyboard music dealer out of this business?  Was it that Sam Ash only gave you a small discount relative to local back then?   I bought a lot of keyboards locally, but all of the esoteric stuff mail order (specific mixers, effects, controllers, modules). 

 

There was something magical about walking into a great music store in the 80s and 90s.    Even in small town western Iowa, we had Griggs Music that stocked all of the Yamaha, Korg and Roland keyboard gear.   It was like a candy store.  All hooked up to a glorious stereo PA designed to make you buy it on the spot.

 

Maybe what has changed the most is that you can nearly perfectly audition gear with YouTube and all the info you could ever ask is ubiquitous online.  So that magic music store experience like a theme park is gone.   Well, one thing is that after the 2010's+ these stores weren't set up to be a theme park.    Guitar Center in San Jose was definitely set up as the theme park in the 90's till ~2010 or so. 

[zephonic]

Not good...

 

 

From the way our local branch looks, I bet Guitar Center is on life support too...

[CEB]

First thing I think of when you say Sam Ash is ... they bought out Thoroughbred Music in Tampa.  I did a lot of business with them.  They custom cut a lot of my cases.  I still use an Armadillo Anvil style rack in my keyboard gig.  I miss Thoroughbred Music.

[jazzpiano88]

In a way, I think Covid also hastened the demise.   The pandemic made people realize nobody has to do anything.   Just stay in your house, have things delivered and live off PPP or savings.   If anyone comes to the door today, you just hit the deck and wait till they leave unless they're delivering groceries or Arby's.   

 

 

[ProfD]

4 hours ago, Stokely said:

My first thought when I need a pair of shoes is not to drive to a mall or store...if anything, shoe salespeople are just annoying     The way people "drive" glued to their phones I'm happy to mostly stay (and work) at home and shop from there. 

 

 

Grab a gaming chair for the home office and you're all set.😁😎

[Reezekeys]

Got my first keyboard - a Whitehall Grand Prix Duo organ - at the Sam Ash in White Plains, NY. It was a bar mitzvah present from my grandma so that would make it 1969. 55 years ago. I guess I am old!

 

Not only onine ordering but free shipping and easy returns have to have spelled the end of b&m music stores. The idea that one might prefer having a place to try a keyboard in person before buying probably bit the dust when you showed up to a space with barely any stock, keyboards not plugged in, and $10/hr salespersons who knew less about the boards than you did. In that sense they kind of did it to themselves, but imo there's plenty of blame to go around - including the reality that today's younger music makers don't really use musical instruments.

 

Still, I'll be forever grateful to the White Plains store for selling me a pristine Yamaha KX88 - the battleship of early weighted-action midi controllers - to replace my original which was lost in a fire. In this case the salesperson's ignorance truly worked to my benefit: I got it for $99!

 

 

[Outkaster]

It's so strange. So many things are closing now. Restaurants, businesses and stores all since COVID.