Westheimer Announces New Strategic Direction, Discontinues Distribution of Cort

Westheimer Corp. has announced a new strategic direction that better fits their business model in an every changing musical instrument market.

Laura Gabel, CEO of Westheimer Corp, stated, “As it relates to Cort guitars, we spent this past year re-examining the musical instrument industry and how to position our brands. As many know, Jack Westheimer was a pioneer in the musical instrument industry. Over time, however, the industry evolved in such a way we decided it is best at this time to focus on our proprietary brands. As a result, we made a difficult decision and ended our long term distribution relationship with Cort Musical Instrument Company (“CMIC”), as their U.S. distributor of the Cort brand.”

Gabel continued by saying, “We enjoyed a successful 40-year relationship with CMIC which began with Jack Westheimer and Young Park as partners in an OEM Korean guitar factory. Our relationship with CMIC will continue with other product lines and we look forward to a mutually prosperous future with CMIC and the Park family. Going forward, we will continue to develop and maximize the sales and value of our own brands which include Mighty Mite, a full line of guitar and bass part accessories; Harmony Guitars, a storied brand that began in the 1897, Groove Tools by Conklin; Teisco, Emperor band instruments, Cortez, and BSX percussion.”

Jun Park, president of Cor-Tek, the company that owns and manufacturers Cort Guitars, reflected on the change in strategic direction by Westheimer Corp by saying “We are truly saddened by the decision that Westheimer Corp will no longer be selling Cort Guitars in the U.S. We respect their decision but will be forever grateful for their longterm support and friendship. When they informed Cor-Tek of their decision to no longer distribute the Cort brand, they worked with other companies in the MI Industry and helped us identify our new Cort distributor in the U.S., Davitt & Hanser.

For information on Westheimer Corp. products, contact Larry Goldstein at (847) 498-9850 x13

For information on Cort products and pricing, contact Davitt & Hanser by calling (800) 999-5558 extension 7102 or e-mailing [email protected]