Reader Jim Duffy lets us know that A-1 Music, on First Avenue in the East Village, is closing.
As Jim says, "It's an old-school storefront music shop for students, children, beginners, and hobbyists. You won't find vintage gear or Fender or Gibson, but you'll find student trumpets, harmonicas, melodicas (I bought mine there a few years ago), mouth-harps, shakers, student violins, tuners, picks, and other small items. They also provide lessons and piano tuning. A little dog comes up and sniffs you and then returns to its doggy-bed in the back of the shop."
I've always liked walking by this place, with its cluttered window, and bought some books of music there over the years.
I went in to say goodbye and pick up a few last items. The owner told me they've been there for 26 years, but business isn't great and the rent is just too high. They looked for a more affordable space in the neighborhood, but found nothing.
They plan to be gone by January 26. Until then, everything is "buy one, get the second half price," books are two for the price of one, and she'll make you a good deal if you want to buy an instrument. "We have to get rid of everything," she said.
Meanwhile, in the back, an older gentleman watched television while his dog lay in the doggy-bed, huffing in my general direction.
4 comments:
A soulful, beautifully written piece, Jeremiah.
These people are my neighbors and they always have a kind word for everyone. Bloomberg's NY is one stripped of family business and personality. And the East Village will be less colorful without this lovely little music store. Feeling lousy having read this...so sick of seeing nice and thoughtful people being pushed out to make room for ANOTHER bank.
Thank you for this beautiful yet very sad post. A (happy?) note regarding Fedora restaurant. I don't think that this is in quite the same category of the other closing businesses since the family was very involved in the turnover to keep the name and at least on a surface level some essence of its history and past. It's true that family businesses like this don't last they way for generations they did in this city, but at least it wasn't sold out and disappeared like so many others on this list. Thank you again for this list and all your bittersweet posts...
So sorry to learn (extremely late) of this. It feels like it was only a few weeks ago that I went in and succeeded finding a beginner classical piano book for my son who's just started playing, but obviously it was months back. If there were "going out of business" signs, I must have somehow willfully failed to notice them. I'd passed by and noticed the cutesy candy shop (best wishes to them) many times, but it never registered that that was the same location, and that A-1 was gone. Just yesterday I headed down there to look for another classical piano book, and I actually walked up and down a few blocks more than once, wondering if I had just not been paying attention and had passed it. And then I suddenly stopped in front of the candy place, and the dimensions of the storefront and the vague visual imprint of the surroundings suddenly clicked. Gone. Wish I could have at least thanked them for their years of serving the neighborhood. Shoot. Anyone know what the owners are now up to, or how to contact them? Thanks...
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