GOLIATH - Music Inc. Magazine

The Fork’s
team accepts
top Gretsch
honors
AWARD
Fork’s Top Honor
KMC Music recently named Fork’s
Drum Closet the top Gretsch USA
Custom Dealer for 2009. Gretsch’s
Ridgeland, S.C., custom drum workshop
created a commemorative
award made of a USA Custom snare
shell that was cut in half, wrapped in
black glass glitter nitron and mounted
on wood that was finished in piano
black gloss lacquer. KMC presented
the award to Fork’s Drum Closet during
a Stanton Moore clinic in March.
CONTEST
The Next Blues King
Guitar Center has launched its
fourth annual King of the Blues
contest, a nationwide search for the
next undiscovered blues guitar giant.
Starting April 1, guitarists were invited
to sign up at any GC location for the
chance to compete for thousands of
dollars in prizes and perform alongside
Derek Trucks at the King of the
Blues finals in Los Angeles. Local
competitions are being held at each
of GC’s 214 locations. The final competition
will be held Sept. 2.
APPOINTMENTS
New M.F. Veeps
Musician’s Friend Tim White
has appointed
Tim White as vice
president of sales
and Pamela Turay as
vice president of
human resources.
White brings 15
years of experience
Pamela Turay
in sales and management
and will be
responsible for leadership
of sales activities.
Turay also
brings more than 15
years of experience
in human resources, branding, sales,
marketing and finance. She’ll be
responsible for the development and
implementation of company strategies,
policies and programs for
human resources.
18 I MUSIC INC. I JUNE 2010
JORDAN KITT’S MUSIC I CLOSING
KITT’S PLANS TO
RELOCATE HQ
P iano
retail chain Jordan Kitt’s
Music is currently liquidating
inventory from its College Park,
Md., headquarters and plans to close
the store. From April 16–18, the
company hosted a by-appointmentonly
pre-sale for preferred customers,
dubbed the “Largest Piano
Store Closing in History.”
According to P.J. Ottenritter, the
company’s vice president of sales
and marketing, Kitt’s plans to relocate
the facility but hasn’t determined
the new location yet. He said
recent construction at the University
of Maryland has made the area
around the store less accessible.
“With all the changes to College
Inside Alto Music’s new
Airmont, N.Y., location
ALTO MUSIC I OPENING
Alto’s Design-Focused Retail
Alto Music recently opened a
fifth location in Airmont, N.Y.,
and according to owner Jon Haber,
it’s the company’s best-designed
store yet.
“Everyone’s jaw hits the floor
when they see it,” Haber said. “It is
a full-line store with a really beauti-
The piano chain
liquidates its
flagship location,
prepares to move
Park in the past few years and with
stores now covering area counties
once only served by College Park,
we’re better suited with a more efficient
facility with easier distribution
capability and a more suitable
[administration] office for our current
staffing needs,” Ottenritter said.
He added that store count “may
not change.”
ful design and layout.”
The 5,600-square-foot store is
located a mile and a half from the
original Alto Music location, which
opened in 1966. Haber mentioned
that he also recently purchased a
new building for the company’s
Wappingers Falls, N.Y., store.