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Guitar Shop That Served Dylan and Springsteen Could be Getting the Ax

By Nicholas Rizzi | November 2, 2015 3:24pm
 The shop is reportedly looking for buyers before it's forced to close down.
Mandolin Brothers
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WEST BRIGHTON — A famous Staten Island guitar shop that's served musicians including Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and George Harrison could be forced to close its doors for good.

Mandolin Brothers, at 629 Forest Ave., has started decreasing its selection of new and classic instruments, has made permanent staff freelancers, is opening only by appointment and has searched for a buyer since its president, Stan Jay, died last year, Crain's New York reported.

"It was a hard decision," Jay's daughter Alison Jay, 36, told DNAinfo New York.

"Initially when Stan passed away my brother [Eric Jay] and I felt like it was the right thing to keep it going. As time went on, Eric and I sort of learned what owning a guitar store was like."

The siblings said that things really got bad after their web server crashed in the summer and they lost online sales. That's when they decided to search for a buyer.

"We've spoken with a handful of people and thus far nobody feels like the one," Alison Jay said.

Eric Jay estimates the shop could survive for about two months if they don't find a new owner.

The shop, which has been open for more than 40 years, had a huge selection of guitars, mandolins, basses, resonators, slide guitars and banjos for all experience levels, but it's big draw was it's vintage selection.

The spot regularly had Gibson, Fender and Martin guitars and mandolins dating back to pre-1920 which could fetch more than $10,000 each.