Hey Kids, Have You Heard The News? MOSAIC's IN TROUBLE!!!

[Brad]

41 minutes ago, mjzee said:

They're probably just in the long process of closing up shop in an orderly manner.  I'm surprised they still own the Fairfield Avenue building.

Do they own it or rent it? I'd be surprised if they own it; ties up a lot of capital. 

[mjzee]

bluenotesound has a bunch of titles on Ebay now.  So does a seller named jackie_martling.

[ghost of miles]

I would guess the chances of a Bill Barron Mosaic are probably pretty low at this point--and the Armstrong's undoubtedly in the mix because they feel confident that it would sell well.  The "open house" does give me pause for concern, but perhaps it is simply a matter of looking to possibly close several years down the line, which wouldn't be surprising at all.  Or they could simply need cash to move forward with the Armstrong and any other projects on the drawing board.  

[JSngry]

50 minutes ago, ghost of miles said:

I would guess the chances of a Bill Barron Mosaic are probably pretty low at this point...

You're waaaaaayyyy more optimistic abut that than I have been for, like, the last 5 or so years, whenever Cuscuna started backing more and more out of driving projects.

[T.D.]

Looks to me like Mosaic are setting up to close the Stamford office. I would guess (pure speculation) that if Mosaic stays in business to some degree, they'll maintain a smaller office.

Edited March 4, 2018 by T.D.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Well, Michael Cuscuna is 68 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Cuscuna) and has be thinking about retirement in the next few years. I hope I will be retired by the time I'm 68. Life is too short to spend 70% of my waking hours at work. Of course, if work is your life, different story.

[mjzee]

I'm surprised they still have the Stamford building.  I'd have thought they'd have sold it when they outsourced the warehouse and shipping functions.

[T.D.]

29 minutes ago, mjzee said:

I'm surprised they still have the Stamford building.  I'd have thought they'd have sold it when they outsourced the warehouse and shipping functions.

Do you think they own the building? I expect they rent space; buying a building would require serious capital.

Stanford office space has boomed over the past 25 years, so if Mosaic does own the Stamford building (which I seriously doubt), they probably have a sizable mark-to-market real estate profit.

[Added] No possible way they own the building. 425 Fairfield Ave. in Stamford is 80,000 square feet on 5 acres, zoned industrial. There are a whole bunch of tenants beside Mosaic (which is in Suite 421).

Edited March 4, 2018 by T.D.

[Eric]

4 hours ago, mjzee said:

bluenotesound has a bunch of titles on Ebay now.  So does a seller named jackie_martling.

How do you search for buyers on eBay?  Thanks 

[T.D.]

I bought a Mosaic (Tristano, Konitz, Marsh) from jackie_martling last week. Will receive soon.

Advanced search on eBay can find members or sellers. Ebay says (to search for a buyer, follow instructions below but click "Find a member" or "Find contact information" instead of "By seller"):

To search for items by seller:

• Click the Advanced link at the top of the eBay home page.
• Under the Items heading on the left side of the page, click By seller.
• Enter the seller's user ID. If you're not sure of the seller's user ID, select the Show close and exact user ID matches option.
• Click the Search button.

 

 

Edited March 5, 2018 by T.D.

[mjzee]

1 hour ago, T.D. said:

[Added] No possible way they own the building. 425 Fairfield Ave. in Stamford is 80,000 square feet on 5 acres, zoned industrial. There are a whole bunch of tenants beside Mosaic (which is in Suite 421).

OK.  I used to live in Stamford, and bought some things at their old address...assumed from (faulty) memory that it was 425 Fairfield Ave.  Their old address was a small building in the industrial side of Stamford, and it looked to me like it was their building (sign on the door, you walk into a receptionist area, receptionist was very nice...sigh, those were the days).  I remember looking to the left and seeing a bookcase with discographies, probably used in their research.

[JSngry]

Jackie Martling?

[T.D.]

Damn...I'm out of touch with popular culture and didn't recognize the name (Google says ex-Howard Stern jokester).

Item I purchased was mailed from PA, so I doubt it's the real guy (who seems to be a Long Islander), just an eBay handle.

[sidewinder]

Bluenotesound has been selling some vinyl test pressings of the recent LP sets in the last month or so, so not totally surprised by this notification. Wish I could be at the open house.

[ghost of miles]

Maybe the open-house sale is also in the interest of raising revenue for this year’s tax bill?

[David Ayers]

Perhaps they are emptying the premises in order to vacate. With stock and shipping outsourced, maybe they no longer need so much space. 

[paul secor]

We're all (including myself) a bunch of speculators. 

[sidewinder]

4 hours ago, David Ayers said:

Perhaps they are emptying the premises in order to vacate. With stock and shipping outsourced, maybe they no longer need so much space. 

That sounds quite plausible.

[hbbfam]

Someone should just call Scott and ask them if we should be concerned.

[JSngry]

1 hour ago, hbbfam said:

Someone should just call Scott and ask them if we should be concerned.

[king ubu]

They don't answer mails by customers anymore, do they?

[AllenLowe]

is the Teddy Wilson still going to come out?

[king ubu]

No clue ... wrote about combining my pre-order with a pre-order for the Savory ... no reply. 

Either trouble is so that they're gone or they're so far outta trouble that they no longer need my money ...

Definitely not Mosaic-like 

[T.D.]

It's glib and negative to be a doomsayer, but everything I've heard of / from Mosaic over the past few months clearly spells "liquidation" (I worked in the financial business and have been perusing financial news for decades). Would love to be proven wrong...

[Brad]

I emailed Scott today, asking about the Open House and he replied that things are fine; they’re just cleaning house and getting things out of their storage facility they really don’t need.