Sam Ash Music Marketing Manager Ben Ash has been speaking about the future of the iconic gear store in the wake of its acquisition by Mexican retailer, Gonher Music Center. In March, it was widely reported that – including its flagship New York store – as it continued to battle the online gear boom. A few months later, , and shortly after confirmed it had .
At the time, the retailer was said to be evaluating the possibility of selling its e-commerce operations and related intellectual property. Now, following an asset auction, reports that Gonher Music Center has emerged as the court-approved buyer – having lodged an offer of $15.2 million to secure a selection of Sam Ash’s wholesale and online assets.
Sam Ash’s Marketing Manager Ben Ash – a descendent of the firm’s founder and namesake – discussed the circumstances surrounding the retail chain’s decline in the July issue of , and revealed how changing buying habits and the proliferation of online shopping alternatives had prompted the closures and everything that followed. “Unfortunately, despite the sentiment that instruments and pro-audio gear are dependent on feel and sound, our business model was not immune to this alteration in shopping habits,” he says. “Perhaps we could have been more proactive in closing a few store locations that were not as profitable as we needed them to be, but from our perspective, we always viewed music stores as having an important role in the customer journey.
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