An all-around musician's shop located in
New York City, on 48th between 7th and 8th avenues. Opened in 1937 by Manny Goldrich, the store has been serving the
professional music industry for over 67 years and is now co-managed by Goldrich's grandson, Ian (who had it passed down to him from his father, Henry). Legendary clients from
Benny Goodman,
Charlie Parker,
Buddy Holly and
the Beatles to
Jimi Hendrix,
U2,
Eric Clapton and
Nirvana have shopped there on a regular basis, and they still have the signed photos up on the walls to prove it.
Generally regarded as
the place to go for musicians not only in
Manhattan but also worldwide, it managed to stay afloat amidst a rise in
Walmart-style retail tactics used by the likes of the
Sam Ash corporation and
Guitar Center. Even after
Sam Ash came into the neighborhood and took over nearly all of
48th street,
Manny's still was doing rather well, drawing support from its famous client base and dedicated customers.
However, in 1998, due to a lack of
business smarts,
Manny's went heavily into debt and
Sam Ash offered to buy them out, leaving them to appear as a seprate entity and yet treating the employees and even Ian Goldrich himself as a puppet of the cruel
corporate environment that
Sam Ash was and still is spreading across the country. Installing their own severely outdated inventory system and a few
Sam Ash store veterens (such as co-manager
Timothy Brown), they began to exert a slow
stranglehold on the famous store, sucking it dry of the love and care with which it had previously been regarded.
Sadly,
Manny's is beginning to resemble that which it was supposed to oppose,
a chain retail establishment where the employees don't care about providing quality service because they hardly get paid at all, let alone enough. The photos, however, still remain on the wall, reminding all who enter
Manny's Music of a time when things were different.