FI V E M INUTE S W ITH
Brenden Cohen
Co-Owner, CEO and President, D’Angelico Guitars By Brian Berk
Of course, dealing with the coronavirus pandemic has been a tough time for all. For some perspective on how to do business during this crisis, we reached out to D’Angelico Guitars, whose headquarters is located in the heart of Manhattan in New York City, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States. We asked D’Angelico Guitars CEO Brenden Cohen to discuss these crazy times, how his business can be stronger once the crisis resolves and much more.
The Music & Sound Retailer: Please tell us about yourself, your family, your background and your love for music. Brenden Cohen: I grew up in Long Island, N.Y., and Florida. I’ve always had a diverse set of interests. I’m an avid snowboarder and traveler, and music has always been an integral part of those passions. Though I don’t come from a musical family, we have a deep appreciation for it, culturally. When we re-launched the D’Angelico brand, I had the opportunity to become part of the world of live music and musical instruments, where my appreciation and passion for music really deepened. The Retailer: Tell us how long you have been at D’Angelico and why you re-launched the company. Cohen: John Ferolito Jr. and I re-launched the D’Angelico brand in 2011. At first, I was handling all marketing and branding, making sure we had an identity that was informed by our history, but also restated itself in the modern age. As soon as I started learning about John D’Angelico, I fell in love with the brand — the story, the legacy and the instruments. And as we started (very slowly at first) producing guitars and gauging the public’s reaction, we were extremely encouraged to continue. I realized that we were in the position to be a company with its own niche, and from that point forward I was solely dedicated to growing the brand. The Retailer: We have been going through an awful health and economic crisis. Please tell us how you have weathered the storm personally and how D’Angelico has weathered the storm as a company. Cohen: This is an unprecedented time, and my heart goes out to everyone affected by the crisis. Personally, I have tried to play my part every day, taking social distancing extremely seriously, keeping in touch with family and friends, and making sure I am doing absolutely everything I can to protect our company. And, as a business, we’ve prioritized protecting our staff and trying to remain connected to our audience online. We’ve launched a few challenges via social media that have harbored a lot of remote connections among musicians, which we really feel the world needs right now. It’s been very encouraging to see the response from players of every stripe. We are also fortunate to say that our online sales have remained strong throughout this time. Not only is it a testament to all of the businesses who work so hard to connect with their customers despite all circumstances, but it’s also great to see people bringing music into their homes during such a difficult time. It shows how much we need music and music-making in times like these. 28
The Retailer: New York City was of course hit extremely hard by the coronavirus. Can you tell us what the experience was like for you seeing empty streets near D’Angelico’s NYC offices? Cohen: New York City was and is in a very difficult position. As with anything in NYC, when something happens there, it happens in a big way. That’s just the nature of having eight million people in a relatively small geographic area. But it has been eerie. In a city that really comes alive as the winter gives way to spring, seeing the streets and restaurants and parks empty is just surreal. But it’s an illustration of our communal decision to help stop the spread of this virus! So, in a way, it’s encouraging. Through all of the tribulations that history has thrown at New York, its strength and resolve have always been clear. We’ll get through this, too. The Retailer: D’Angelico has been ver y active during the COVID-19 crisis, hosting plenty of virtual events and more. Please tell us about these ef forts in detail and what your philosophy behind them is. Cohen: We think it’s important to prioritize staying connected during this time. With the #DreamOfMeChallenge that we launched on our Instagram channel, we took the opportunity to issue a fun goal and important message: Though we are living in a lonely time, we are in it together. Watching our fans learn a piece of music they otherwise may never have learned, collaborating with one another remotely and using this time to get impressively creative has been heartwarming. We’ll be working with our artists and partners to continue facilitating this kind of creative output. D’Angelico has always been extremely grateful for and dedicated to our audience, and this is a time when we want to be more connected than ever. We plan on exiting this phase with an even stronger relationship with our audience than we had before. The Retailer: Any advice you can provide for MI retailers tr ying to sell your products during these tr ying times? Cohen: First, I’d like to say that we have reached out to all of our dealers with messages of support. We want to be as supportive as possible during this time. While we are in this naturally slow state, especially if you are a mostly brick-and-mortar retailer, we encourJUNE 2020
