Regretfully we have made the decision to cancel the Amigo Chicago Guitar show scheduled this May. A combination of factors has led to this decision. First and foremost, we don’t see any way to produce the quality of show that we are known for producing and we would rather cancel than have a mediocre event. We have lost about a dozen dealers since our last Chicago show in 2019 that have either passed away or closed their doors. In the past two. months there have been three successful post-pandemic shows. Gary Burnette had a successful in Asheville followed by a stellar Nashville Amigo show and Jimmy Wallace just completed the Dallas show. Many of our dealers attended all three and the California So Cal Show is scheduled for June 4-5.
While in Dallas we were able to project who would exhibit in Chicago, and we can only envision a 50 dealer show at best, and several of those are primarily heavy buyers. Several more are accessory or new product dealers. Too many of our base are simply low on inventory and don’t have time to re- load. Some western U.S. Dealers that have traveled to Chicago in the past are choosing to go to So Cal. Additionally, we have some health issues among the Amigo family that is impacting Chicago.
We apologize for the inconvenience and know that the public attendees in Chicago were ready for a return to an Amigo event, but we would rather cancel than produce an event that isn’t up to our standards.