Brewerytown Beats

Brewerytown Beats STATEMENT:

 

First and foremost I’d like to personally thank each and everyone of you who have come in the shop, supported from near and far, given words of encouragement and shown signs of support for this little mom & pop shop.  Over the past eight years I have seen this place thrive, bring together tons of people in the best of ways and create a loving, caring, creative environment for all to enjoy.  We have had three locations throughout Brewerytown, first on 29th St which lasted a little less than a year, then the main shop on Girard Ave for over 5 years and our mid-pandemic move into this large beautiful warehouse on Bailey St.. 

 

Here’s where it started to get tricky.. The space on Bailey Street seemed at the time to be a financially smart move, only a few blocks off the main strip, big enough to house everything that was in the Girard Ave shop, as well as the off-site storage and big enough to handle more incase of any large collections that came through.  I was full of hope mixed with tons of uncertainty.. At the time I had applied for and been approved for the EIDL loan of over $100K - and after further digging into our finances by the SBA, they found some discrepancies between our LLC / S-Corp status and realized an old accountant had done a number on us, (promised to switch us from a LLC to an S-Corp, and for some reason didn’t do so, all the while we were thinking we were an S-Corp and filing as such..) because of the pandemic slowdown, the political party in office at the time and general red tape at the IRS, by the time they had gotten around to dealing with us the EIDL loan had “timed-out” - SBA even had the nerve to try and collect $100 from us for a “filing charge” haha… 

 

So, we moved on without the promise of that money, that safety net.. It hasn't been easy.  Part of that money was for a proper heating/cooling system for this space.. well that never happened. Another part was for updates/improvements for this space, that also didn’t happen.. And so for three years we have struggled to make things work, having a few good months, but mostly having mediocre months, with little “extra” money to buy new collections or pay rent or pretty much anything.. Somehow for three years (it's been a lot of borrowing, begging, and outside incomes: ie: label funds) we have “found” money that has allowed us to continue on.. But with this most recent L&I issue (that could be resolved with more money I don’t have) it just seems like a good time to put this thing to rest.  The physical store has to close.  However this is not the end of Beats (well maybe it is of Beats, but not the label end of things, or the preservation work, or anything else I find myself involved with)

 

Looking forward I’d like to continue to work on the Ron & The Hip Tones project (if you haven’t listened PLEASE DO) - I’d like to work on more reissues, continue finding the lesser known artists from Philadelphia and surrounding areas, digitizing reel to reel tapes, preservation, celebration and education of all things Philly music.

 

Things YOU CAN DO:

Spread the good word of Philly music to the world

Listen & enjoy & share: Ron And The Hip Tones

I still have a few months of rent to pay.. So if you feel so inclined please purchase a Beats gift card in any amount.. It would certainly help.

Pay attention to our socials for “fire-sale” announcements

Request a private digging day

Offer positive and uplifting messages (need those right now)