{{short description|American musical instrument retailer}} {{Infobox company | name = Sam Ash Music Corp. | image = File:Sam Ash New York City, 333 W 34th St., Manhattan, New York City (2015-10-06 by Kazuhisa OTSUBO).jpg | caption = | type = Private | traded_as = | genre = <!-- Only used with media and publishing companies --> | predecessor = | successor = | founded = {{start date and age|1924}} | defunct = 2024 | fate = Liquidation | founder = Sam Ash | hq_location_city = Hicksville, New York | num_locations = 27 (by May 2024)<ref name="Weller" /> | area_served = | key_people = | industry = Musical Instruments | products = Musical instruments, Recording equipment and accessories | services = | revenue = $360M<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Top 200: Ranking America's Leading Music Products Retailers: Ranked by Revenue |journal=The Music Trades |date=August 2018 |volume=166 |issue=7 |page=92 |url=https://mydigitalpublication.com/publication/?i=512088#{"issue_id":512088,"page":92} |access-date=23 December 2018}}</ref> | operating_income = | net_income = | aum = <!-- Only used with financial services companies --> | assets = | equity = | owner = | num_employees = 995 | parent = | divisions = | subsidiaries = | website = {{URL|http://www.samash.com}} | footnotes = | intl = }}
'''Sam Ash Music''' was a United States chain of musical instrument stores, headquartered in Hicksville, New York.<ref>{{cite web |title=Long Island Music Hall of Fame: Sam Ash |url=http://www.limusichalloffame.org/inductees/sam-ash |website=Long Island Music Hall of Fame |date=3 November 2017 |access-date=24 December 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.retail-merchandiser.com/reports/retail-reports/1771-sam-ash-music |title=Retail Spotlights: Sam Ash Music |publisher=Retail Merchandiser |access-date=December 23, 2018}}</ref> The chain sold musical instruments, recording equipment, DJ and lighting equipment, and professional sound.
==History==
===Early years=== Musician Sam Ash, born Shmuel Ashkynasye, and his wife Rose, whose families had emigrated from Eastern Europe to New York City, New York when they were children, opened what would become the first Sam Ash Music Store in 1924 as a way to transform Sam's work as a violin teacher and gigging musician in the Sam Ash Orchestra into steady income. Over the next ten years Sam and Rose had three children, Jerome (Jerry), Paul, and Marcia, who all took an active role in the family business.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.limusichalloffame.org/inductees/sam-ash/ |title=Long Island Music Hall of Fame: Sam Ash |date=3 November 2017 |publisher=Long Island Music Hall of Fame |accessdate=April 7, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sapoznik |first=Henry H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V6ZFEQAAQBAJ&dq=%22shmuel%22+%22sam+ash%22&pg=PT292 |title=The Tourist's Guide to Lost Yiddish New York City |date=2025-08-01 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=979-8-8558-0174-3 |language=en}}</ref>
In 1944 the Ash family moved their business to a new Brooklyn location on 236 Utica Avenue, gradually expanding the store's initial offering beyond sheet music, music instrument repairs, and phonographs, and capitalizing on area school music programs by delivering sheet music and stocking a growing selection of band instruments. In the 1950s as rhythm and blues and rock and roll gained popularity, Sam Ash was among the first stores in the area to add guitar brands like Gibson and Fender, as well as a record shop begun under the supervision of 15-year old Paul, which at one point accounted for nearly half the store's overall revenue.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Martin |first1=Douglas |title=Paul Ash, Who Made Music Store a Chain, Dies at 84 |url=https://nytimes.com/2014/02/11/business/paul-ash-president-of-music-store-chain-dies-at-84.html |access-date=21 December 2018 |agency=The New York Times |publisher=The New York Times Company |date=10 February 2014}}</ref>
===Multi-store growth=== Sam declined his son's requests to expand the original store to additional locations, but in 1961, five years after his death, Paul and Jerry (then company president and chairman, respectively) expanded into Long Island and Westchester County, opening new stores in Hempstead, Huntington and White Plains. By 1990, there were eight Sam Ash Music stores in the New York area, and in 1992 the first Sam Ash Music store outside the New York area opened in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
===West 48th Street's Music Row=== In 1969, the company established a presence in Midtown Manhattan on West 48th Street's Music Row, a location they gradually expanded. By the late 1980s, after acquiring several struggling competitors, Sam Ash Music's presence dominated the block with an amalgamation of six storefronts with 12 entrances in nine buildings on both sides of the street.<ref>{{cite journal |title=End of an Era |journal=The Music Trades |date=September 2012 |volume=160 |issue=8 |pages=42–26 |url=http://digitaleditions.sheridan.com/publication/?i=122891&article_id=1148216&view=articleBrowser&ver=html5#{"issue_id":122891,"page":42} |access-date=23 December 2018}}</ref> In 1999, the company acquired 64-year Music Row mainstay Manny's Music, which they continued to operate under the same name and management.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Macfarquharaug |first1=Neil |title=Manny's, Haven for Musicians, Is Sold to a Chain-Store Rival |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/04/nyregion/manny-s-haven-for-musicians-is-sold-to-a-chain-store-rival.html |access-date=23 December 2018 |agency=The New York Times |publisher=The New York Times Company |date=4 August 1999}}</ref> In 2012, facing rising rents and redevelopment, Sam Ash Music relocated the flagship 48th street store to a new location at 333 West 34th Street.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ferris |first1=Marc |title=Turning down the sound on Times Square's music row |url=http://therealdeal.com/issues_articles/turning-down-the-sound-on-music-row |website=The Real Deal |publisher=Korangy Publishing Inc. |access-date=21 December 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Saying Farewell to NYC's 'Music Row' |journal=The Music & Sound Retailer |date=September 2012 |volume=29 |issue=9 |url=http://msretailer.com/saying-farewell-to-nycs-music-row |access-date=23 December 2018}}</ref>
===Third generation=== Following Paul's death in 2014, management shifted to a third generation of Ash family, Jerry's sons David, Richard, and Sammy.<ref>{{cite web |title=David Ash: Behind the Music |url=https://libn.com/2005/01/21/david-ash-behind-the-music/ |website=Long Island Business News |date=21 January 2005 |access-date=26 December 2018}}</ref> Sam Ash Music remains family-owned, with a fourth generation of family members already employed by the company.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wissmuller |first1=Christian |title=Don Johnson Music Industry Service Award: Jerry and Sammy Ash of Sam Ash Music Corp. |journal=MMR Musical Merchandise Review |date=January 2019 |volume=178 |issue=1 |pages=44–45}}</ref> Sammy Ash, who served as COO died on 16 September 2023 following a battle with cancer. <ref>{{cite web |title=Sam Ash Music's COO Sammy Ash Passes Away |url=https://www.musicincmag.com/news/detail/sam-ash-music-coo-sammy-ash-passes-away|website=Music Inc. Magazine|date=18 September 2023|access-date=16 October 2023}}</ref>
===Store closures, bankruptcy and liquidation=== In March 2024, the company announced the closure of 18 stores nationwide, nearly half of its locations,<ref name="Weller">{{Cite web |last=Weller |first=Phil |date=2024-03-08 |title=Iconic gear retailer Sam Ash Music reportedly set to close 18 branches nationwide – including its flagship New York store |url=https://www.guitarworld.com/news/sam-ash-store-closures |access-date=2024-03-11 |website=guitarworld |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Zaretsky |first=Mark |title=Sam Ash patrons singing the blues about New Haven store closing |url=https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/sam-ash-patrons-new-haven-music-store-closing-18707680.php |access-date=2024-03-11 |work=New Haven Register |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-03-05 |title=Clearwater Sam Ash Music Store Among 18 Closing Nationwide |url=https://patch.com/florida/sarasota/clearwater-sam-ash-music-store-among-18-closing-nationwide |access-date=2024-03-11 |website=Sarasota, FL Patch |language=en}}</ref> including the Manhattan flagship store,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bauman |first=Ali |date=2024-03-08 |title=Sam Ash's Midtown Manhattan location set to close its doors - CBS New York |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/sam-ash-new-york-city-manhattan-location-closing/ |access-date=2024-03-11 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref> originally located on the famed 48th Street "music row".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Donnelly |first=Tim |date=2015-08-01 |title=NYC's famous Music Row is about to be a ghost town |url=https://nypost.com/2015/08/01/nycs-famous-music-row-is-about-to-be-a-ghost-town/ |access-date=2024-03-11 |language=en-US}}</ref>
On May 2, 2024, Sam Ash announced that after 100 years, the company would be going out of business and liquidating the remaining 27 stores. The company blamed expensive rent costs at many of its locations that led to major losses. Liquidation sales began at stores and online on May 2, and all 45 stores were expected to conclude liquidation sales and shutter by July 2024.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://therockrevival.com/gear-tech/sam-ash-begins-closing-all-music-stores/|title=Sam Ash Begins Closing All Music Stores|date=May 2, 2024|access-date=May 2, 2024|website=The Rock Revival|language=en}}</ref> The company was looking for a potential buyer to purchase its IP to keep the chain and online presence open. The company also stated it had no plans to file for bankruptcy.<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/sam-ash-music-hunts-for-buyer-as-stores-close-down-family-owner-says-43d998bf|title= Sam Ash Music Hunts for Buyer as Stores Close Down, Family Owner Says|date=May 5, 2024|access-date=May 5, 2024|website=The Wall Street Journal|language=en}}</ref> However, after failing to find a buyer, Sam Ash filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on May 8, 2024, blaming declining sales caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The company owes around $20 million to Tiger Finance and an additional $20 million to landlords and suppliers, including Yamaha, Gibson, and Fender. Around the same time of the filing, Tiger Finance offered to purchase all of Sam Ash's assets and will raise $20 million to fund the bankruptcy proceedings.<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://bkdata.com/business-bankruptcies/trenton-newjersey/05-08-2024/sam-megastores-14732|title=Sam Ash Megastores, LLC files for bankruptcy|date=May 8, 2024|access-date=May 8, 2024|website=BKData|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url= https://nypost.com/2024/05/09/business/sam-ash-files-for-bankruptcy-after-100-years-in-music-business/|title= Sam Ash files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after 100 years in music business|date=May 8, 2024|access-date=May 12, 2024|website=New York Post|language=en}}</ref>
On June 20, 2024 Mexican-based retailer Gonher purchased 'substantially all' of Sam Ash Music's assets at bankruptcy auction.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Post |last2=Share |last3=Post |last4=Print |last5=Email |last6=License |title=Sam Ash assets acquired for $15.2M |url=https://www.retaildive.com/news/sam-ash-assets-acquired-for-152m/720594/ |access-date=2024-08-27 |website=Retail Dive |language=en-US}}</ref> The winning bid was $15.2 million, according to court documents. As of August 2024, the Sam Ash online store (SamAsh.com) has reopened for retail sales.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Sam Ash}}
* [http://www.samash.com Company Website] * [http://www.samashmusic.com/history The Sam Ash Story] * [http://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/jerry-ash Jerry Ash Interview] at NAMM Oral History Collection * [http://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/bernice-ash Bernice Ash Interview] at NAMM Oral History Collection * [http://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/paul-ash Paul Ash Interview] at NAMM Oral History Collection * [http://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/sammy-ash Sammy Ash Interview] at NAMM Oral History Collection
Category:Musical instrument retailers of the United States Category:Hicksville, New York Category:Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2024 Category:Retail companies established in 1924 Category:Retail companies disestablished in 2024 Category:American companies established in 1924 Category:American companies disestablished in 2024 Category:1924 establishments in New York City Category:Family-owned companies of the United States Category:Privately held companies based in New York (state)