The Woodwind & Brasswind
Ted Thompson
Woodwind & Brasswind was just acquired by the Guitar Center which also owns
the Music and Arts Centers. Anybody know if that`s true or not?
Barry Sachs70
It's true ww&bw filed for bankruptcy.
Just google guitar center woodwind brasswind-- you'll find the article
josephm...@netzero.com
The deal was clearly worked out in advance, since the bankruptcy filing
was 11/21 and the announcement of the acquisition by the Guitar Center
was 11/22. That may explain why I've been receiving those non-WWBW
guitar catalogs along with my WWBW reed orders recently. I ordered
banjo strings once and so got on the mailing list for the WWBW's own
string instrument catalog, but it's been replaced by what I guess is
the Guitar Center's catalog.
Assuming the WWBW bankruptcy is legitimate and reflects a substantial
debit/asset imbalance, it makes you wonder about the future of the
business. What does the WWBW do? Just a few things:
1. Buys musical instruments and resells them, shipping them around the
country.
2. Operates a large warehouse/retail facility in Indiana.
3. Operates an online/mail order system (website + mailed catalogs),
with a small call center.
Where did all the debt come from? There's been no huge, overly
aggressive expansion of the type of that often gets companies into
trouble. The WWBW isn't operating 100 stores around the country. The
new Indiana facility was built years ago. This suggests that the
problem stems from *core operations* -- buying and reselling
instruments and accessories. That's a bad sign.
Joe Ramirez
mike
josephm...@netzero.com wrote:
snip
> Where did all the debt come from? There's been no huge, overly
> aggressive expansion of the type of that often gets companies into
> trouble. The WWBW isn't operating 100 stores around the country. The
> new Indiana facility was built years ago. This suggests that the
> problem stems from *core operations* -- buying and reselling
> instruments and accessories. That's a bad sign.
>
> Joe Ramirez
it suggests nothing of the sort. they lost a lawsuit.
Steve Marsh
- SM
"mike" <mik...@bitstream.net> wrote in message
news:1164997861.7...@f1g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
Pete Thomas
> What lawsuit did WW-BW lose? Please fill in some details.
The Ancient Order of Moriorduria?
Best Regards
--
Pete Thomas
Site & contact - www.petethomas.co.uk
On-line saxophone exercises,jazz theory, Saxophone Instruction DVD.
mike
Steve Marsh wrote:
> What lawsuit did WW-BW lose? Please fill in some details.
> - SM
i do not know. it appears that Stephen and Richard Zapf sold a business
to the WWBW and where unhappy with the treatment they recieved. they
sued and won a nine million dollar judgement. the WWBW then filed for
chapter eleven.
funquaY
"Court documents show LaSalle declared a default Sept. 20 as a result of a
$9 million judgment against the debtor. Zapf, his brother Richard and their
Zinc Properties LLC had sued Bamber, Woodwind & Brasswind and subsidiary
Zapf's Music123 Inc. in June 2004 in the Superior Court of New Jersey.
[. . . ]
Woodwind & Brasswind filed for Chapter 11 protection on Nov. 21.
[. . . ]
The company, founded in 1978 by University of Notre Dame music instructor
Bamber, is the third-largest retailer of musical instruments and accessories
in the U.S., with 240 employees and more than $136 million in retail,
mail-order and Web-based sales in 2005.
In court documents, however, Woodwind & Brasswind attributed its problems to
a merger with the Zapfs' Zapf's Music Store Inc. in February 2002. A
disagreement between Bamber and the Zapfs led to their dismissal in June
2004, and they sued their former partner the same month.
[. . . ]
The Zapfs alleged that Bamber had agreed to sell his 72% stake in Woodwind &
Brasswind for $15.7 million but later reneged, instead plotting with
consulting firm Christman to oust the Zapfs and buy their shares at a
discount. They charged the defendants with counts including breach of
contract, breach of fiduciary duty, tortious interference and civil
conspiracy.
[. . . ]
The two sides settled this March, but further disputes led to the Zapfs
seeking a judgment enforcing the settlement.
Judge Joseph E. Irenas of the District Court on Sept. 12 entered the
judgment of $9 million plus postpetition interest. Upon payment, the Zapfs
would surrender their stock.
Woodwind & Brasswind said the dispute with the Zapfs had forced the company
to move from its current software system -- licensed from an associate of
the brothers -- to a new platform at a cost of more than $800,000.
Competition and problems from combining three warehouses into one
distribution center also hurt sales, which approached $145 million in 2004.
Brian Axelrod
site for quite a while now, same prices etc. Too bad it'll hurt most of us
in the long run..
"funquaY" <gna...@yourselfesteem.org> wrote in message
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