Music & Arts Opens Expanded Instrument Repair and Distribution Center

FREDERICK, MD--(Marketwired - Jun 20, 2013) - Music & Arts, the largest band and orchestra instrument retailer and lesson provider in the country, has opened a newly constructed 112,000-square-foot musical instrument repair, refurbishment and distribution center near the company's Frederick, Md., headquarters. More than 100 full-time employees, plus another 40 providing seasonal help, will occupy the space.

"The new technology and the larger space have led to improved efficiency, better customer service and faster order fulfillment," said Executive Vice President of Operations Allan Greenberg. "Music & Arts has grown rapidly in the last few years -- from 60 stores in 2005 to 114 today -- and this distribution and repair center expansion and upgrade will support our aggressive growth strategy and ensure that we can continue to provide the service, selection and quality that our customers expect."

Music & Arts now has the largest full-service repair facility in the country. The new facility has allowed Music & Arts to significantly enhance its repair and refurbishment capabilities, enabling technicians to restore more than 100,000 band and orchestra instruments each year. Composed of a repair and refurbishment area covering more than 20,000 square feet, the repair shop features two buffing rooms, a wet room with two ultrasonic machines, a training center, a tool room, a high-humidity room, a centralized parts department and a dust room, plus a centralized dust collection system. Given musical instruments' sensitivities to variations in temperature and humidity, the facility is carefully climate controlled by a building climate automation system.

Music & Arts is an authorized service center for the most widely respected band and orchestra instrument brands. All repairs and overhauls performed by the company's technicians are unconditionally guaranteed. The new facility has 70 repair technicians, a number of whom have completed a comprehensive training program that includes cross-training on flutes, clarinets, saxophones, trumpets and trombones. 

The distribution center will receive in excess of 200,000 purchase orders per year and will ship more than 225,000 orders, including instruments, accessories, sheet music and other music-related supplies. A state-of-the-art scanning system and automated storage and retrieval systems keep this high volume of shipments moving smoothly, efficiently and accurately throughout the year.

"This expansion is all about enabling us to better serve our growing customer base," said Kenny O'Brien, CEO of Music & Arts. "My dad started the company 60 years ago with the firm conviction that music education contributes to children's development and overall well-being. We still believe that. That's why we focus on student musicians and music educators and why, in this age of budget cuts, we fight to preserve and promote music in the education system. The new repair and distribution center will help us share our passion for music with even more young musicians."

For more information, please view a video documenting the new distribution and repair facility, or visit www.musicarts.com.

About Music & Arts
Music & Arts, the nation's largest school music company, has served students, teachers and families through retail stores and school representatives since 1952. Based in Frederick, Md., the company specializes in sales and rentals of musical instruments, instrument repairs, and music lessons -- especially for the beginning and student musician. Music & Arts now has 114 retail locations across 22 states.