Crossroads Campaign Online
Michael Clark’s Oct. 12 announcement that Crossroads Music would close at the end of 2015 was not necessarily the end of the story. An outpouring of surprise and sadness over the imminent demise of the musical-instrument shop at Amagansett Square was quickly followed by a campaign to save the store or, at minimum, pay down some of the debt incurred by Mr. Clark and his wife, Christine.
Megan Collins Ganga, a friend of the Clarks who lives in Springs, and John Hanford, a musician who teaches at Crossroads, launched a fund-raising campaign at the website GoFundMe.com. Created on Monday, the campaign had raised $4,825 from 44 donors as of Friday.
“I adore the store and everything they’ve done for the community,” Ms. Ganga said of the Clarks. “I feel so bad about what’s going on. They’re going to be in a lot of debt when they close the store.”
Mr. Clark told The Star on Oct. 12 that maintaining the store was not viable given the South Fork’s long off-season, coupled with incessant competition from the online marketplace. On Monday, as he spoke live on WPPB about the store’s situation, Ms. Ganga called in to tell Mr. Clark about the fund-raising campaign.
“It was wonderful,” Mr. Clark said of the surprise call. “I was so taken aback.” He admitted to an awareness that his store has had a positive impact on the South Fork’s large community of musicians, “but that people are stepping up now is amazing.”
While he is grateful for the many expressions of support, however, Mr. Clark said that they are unlikely to change the long-term status of the shop, which has served customers including Paul McCartney, Leon Russell, Chris Martin, Chad Smith, and Gwyneth Paltrow.
“Obviously, it’s not working in its current state,” Mr. Clark said of Crossroads. “You can throw a Band-Aid on it and fix it on a temporary basis, but you really need a whole new business plan, fresh ideas, and a whole lot of money to make it viable. It all helps, don’t get me wrong, but what it’s about is the amount of people walking through the door on a daily basis, year round. Summer is never an issue, December is not an issue. But there’s eight more months in the year.”
The store has hosted concerts and workshops by musicians including Simon Kirke, a co-founder of the bands Bad Company and Free, and Andy Aledort, who performs with Dickey Betts and Great Southern. Cynthia Daniels, a music producer who lives in East Hampton, recorded many performances by local musicians at Crossroads for later broadcast.
“We tried a lot of things,” Mr. Clark said of efforts to diversify revenue streams, “but at some point you run out of money. It’s a very deep problem, and it’s not only me.”
“It’s absolutely amazing,” he said of the fund-raising campaign. “I was crying in the radio station; it’s amazingly touching. But in terms of overall impact on the business, that remains to be seen.”