Make Room For Daddy’s Employees
The new year has been looking a little brighter for several former Daddy’s Junky Music employees, as a Manchester NH entrepreneur has made a commitment to putting them back to work. The closing of Daddy’s left several highly skilled repair technicians out of work and with few options. Realizing the void that the closing of Daddy’s repair shop would leave with the industry and its workforce, Joe Lacerda of Manchester Music Mill quickly stepped up to the plate.
“As a lifelong musician, I understand what instruments mean to their owners. Musicians spend years personalizing the tone, feel and action of their instruments. Having a professional with the aptitude, acumen and attention to detail that these technicians have is invaluable,” said Lacerda.
The closing of all the Daddy’s locations left customers questioning what would happen to the quality service to which they were accustomed. For these technicians, who possess more than 80-plus years of combined experience repairing, tuning up and upgrading customers’ gear—and many of whom are certified to do warranty repairs for several major brands—the questions were far more considerable. Lacerda’s wife, Dawn, explained, “Here we were, heading into the holiday season, which is usually a huge boost for music stores, and then the news of the closings hit. It really knocked the wind out of us; we really felt for those guys.”
Not sure as to how the closing would affect the community and the former employees, Lacerda immediately took action. Just a little over two months since Daddy’s closed for good, Lacerda opened the doors to a brand new, fully equipped facility, offering repairs on nearly all instruments and related electronics. This facility, named The Music Techs, is located at 159 Auburn St. in Manchester NH. Lacerda has worked closely with the technicians to provide everything they needed to continue providing the level of service to which their customers were accustomed.
“When he came to me to discuss his plan, it was a no brainer. I knew there would be no stopping him,” Dawn said. “I’m just so proud of Joe and his commitment to the music community.”
“New Hampshire has been really fortunate to be such a hotbed of talented musicians, quality gear and unmatched technical expertise. I just couldn’t let that slip away. These guys are way too talented to do anything else, or nothing at all,” said Lacerda.
The opening of The Music Techs not only means continued employment for a highly skilled workforce, but also that New England can continue to rely on their expertise and craftsmanship for years to come.