NOV. 8 I DADDY'S JUNKY MUSIC I CLOSURE
MI Suppliers Discuss Daddy's Closing

Daddy's Junky Music's suppliers were taken off guard by the Northeast chain retailer's sudden closure.

On Oct. 26, the day Daddy's shut down, Rick Young, senior vice president of Yamaha Corp. of America, said his company received a phone call from GE Capital, the retailer's main inventory financer, "saying operations had ceased. That was it."

Bill Reim, president of Hoshino USA, mentioned that his company "always had a very good relationship with Daddy's and part of that was a clear line of communication." According to Reim, he and the rest of Hoshino's team had expected Daddy's restructuring earlier this year to help it regain a stronger footing during the holiday season, "making this sudden closure a real left-turn ending."

Likewise, Chris Bristol, president and CEO of Roland U.S., said he had "no inkling this was going to happen."

"We are all very sad to hear about Daddy's closing," he said. "They were great partners with us for decades. We and their customers will sorely miss them from our music community."

"Everyone recognizes that Daddy's is an institution in this business," Reim said. "They have long been one of biggest and best-run independent music store chains in the country. Losing them is losing yet another piece — a large piece — of the vertebrae of this industry."

Reim added that Daddy's closure is "another bellwether, not only for our industry but anyone who deals in retail." In light of the news, he urged brick-and-mortar retailers to make sure their operations give people a worthwhile reason to "get up from behind their computers" and walk into the store. "Also, if you're not already doing e-commerce yourself, start."

Rick Drumm, president of D'Addario, agreed and said the closing "further demonstrates the need to make any retail operation a destination that will incentivize the consumer to get in his car and make the trip to that store."

On Nov. 2, Daddy's founder Fred Bramante said he would be filing for bankruptcy. The Manchester, N.H.-based company was founded in 1972.