This thread hits home kinda hard for me.
I debated for a couple days on whether to 'complain' here. I don't like being the whiner.
But it's a current issue.

My parents owned a music store for 30+ years.
The main income was supplying rental horns to schools. Everything from the local elementary schools up here in the thumb, over to Michigan State University in Lansing and down to University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. <- (I probably lost Eddie right there).

They retired and sold it to an employee who did a great job for the first few years, the payments were right on time and everybody was happy.
Then came Covid.

My brother is still employed there as a repair tech (25+ years), fixes everything from piccolos to tubas to guitars. Lead guy on a team of four.
Think about that; enough instrument repairs alone to keep four guys busy.

With the current situation I don't see band classes happening again anytime soon.
Having 50 kids in a room blowing a lot of air just "doesn't seem prudent".
So horn rental/repair/lessons just stopped.

They do also sell guitars, synths, mixers, strings, sheet music etc., but that can't carry the store for long.

The store is going through rough times to put it mildly, and it really saddens me because so many came to appreciate what it was.
If the new owner fails, we as a family have to decide how to proceed, and I would hate to see something that has become pretty much a regional institution fail. That said, there are a couple thousand horns sitting on shelves not being rented. That stings a lot.

It's just sad.
They grew that store from a tiny little storefront to one that occupied most of a mid size 2 story mall. A dozen lesson rooms, lecture/clinic rooms that used to have regular use, a local symphony room for learning adults, repair rooms ... all in peril now.

If it closes, there is nothing in SE Michigan to replace it if/when this all turns around, and most of the state's music students relied on it, whether they knew it or not. They and our family could lose a whole lot if things don't improve soon. Music classes in schools around here wouldn't be possible without the supply of horns.

Sorry for being the downer in this thread. Sometimes it's not the big box stores that cause the closing of the local store, at least not in our case.


The saddest part is it is a catch-22.
If there are no band/music classes, the store may not survive.
If there is no store, the music classes won't be able to be there when the kids go back.

Make your sound your own!
.. I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome