Daddy's Closure Truly an End to an Era

Normally, I wouldn't write opinion pieces about local issues, but I do feel the need to publicly wish everyone in the Daddy's Junky Music chain the best of luck in the wake of Wednesday's .

I worked at Daddy's in Portsmouth for two years while attending college at the University of New Hampshire, and I have to say the relationships I forged there were pretty instrumental (pun not intended, but it's not really avoidable) in where I am today.

I made some great friends while working at the store, both with coworkers and with a strong group of regular customers — some of whom by Nashua Patch Editor Carol Robidoux — and it's truly sad to see a New England institution close after 39 years of customer-focused business.

My connection to Daddy's runs even deeper than just employment, as I've purchased most of the music gear I've ever owned at Daddy's, including my first guitar nearly 10 years ago.

The closure, predicated by legal and economic reasons, truly leaves a void in the area. While there are many great music stores on the Seacoast, there truly is no store in the area that balances a vast new and used inventory as well as exceptional service like Daddy's — which is why I shopped there and even wanted to work there in the first place.

My heart goes out to all my friends who no longer have jobs, the customers who lost a business always willing to help support a passion (even if it meant not making the sale), and of course, to owner Fred Bramante, whose dream essentially was crushed Wednesday after years of rave reviews and success.

Hopefully there will be a positive end to this awful ordeal, as the people who helped make Daddy's a New Hampshire (and New England) institution truly deserve better.

Best of luck guys. Music just won't be the same without you.

Kyle Stucker

Hampton-North Hampton Patch Editor