“An end to 100 years of service to the music community”: Why the closure of Sam Ash marked the end of an era

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2024 Year in Review: One of America’s best-loved music stores went out of business this year

Sam Ash
(Image credit: Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

2024 Year in Review: In March, retail giant Sam Ash Music announced it was preparing to close 18 of its 44 locations across the U.S., including its Manhattan flagship store.

Two months later, the company revealed it would be going out of business and liquidating the remaining 27 stores, bringing an end to 100 years of service to the music community.

The revenue losses were blamed on rising rental costs as well as other challenges faced by business in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Not long after, Mexican-based retailer Gonher ended up purchasing the remaining assets at bankruptcy auction for $15.2 million, and the Sam Ash online store was reopened for sales.

The Scene New York: Sam Ash Music - YouTube The Scene New York: Sam Ash Music - YouTube
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Amit Sharma
Amit Sharma

Amit has been writing for titles like Total Guitar, MusicRadar and Guitar World for over a decade and counts Richie Kotzen, Guthrie Govan and Jeff Beck among his primary influences as a guitar player. He's worked for magazines like Kerrang!, Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Prog, Record Collector, Planet Rock, Rhythm and Bass Player, as well as newspapers like Metro and The Independent, interviewing everyone from Ozzy Osbourne and Lemmy to Slash and Jimmy Page, and once even traded solos with a member of Slayer on a track released internationally. As a session guitarist, he's played alongside members of Judas Priest and Uriah Heep in London ensemble Metalworks, as well as handled lead guitars for legends like Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols, The Faces) and Stu Hamm (Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, G3).