Doug Creighton Posted June 2, 2021 Share Posted June 2, 2021 After 31 years managing The Button Box, I have decided to retire and put the business up for sale. I am posting this in hopes that someone in the c.net community might be interested in becoming the next owner/manager. The sale would include the retail business, and R. Morse & Co. Concertinas, our concertina manufacturing operation. Our building in Sunderland, MA will also be available as a separate transaction, but does not need to be included in the purchase of the business. The Button Box was begun by Rich Morse in the mid-1980’s and has strong connections to the accordion and concertina communities in North America and beyond. It has a customer base that includes over 20,000 people in 30 countries around the world. If you’re interested in exploring possible next steps, please send me an email at doug@buttonbox.com so that we can set up a time to talk when I’m not working with customers. I'm not often on this forum, so responses to postings might take a bit longer. Doug Creighton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimR Posted June 2, 2021 Share Posted June 2, 2021 Good luck, Doug. I hope you find a good, qualified next owner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Middleton-Metcalfe Posted June 2, 2021 Share Posted June 2, 2021 Best of luck with the sale, I hope the business will long be able to continue offering its good variety of hybrid concertinas. Morse concertinas are one of the only sources of new baritone anglos to my knowledge, which is great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Smith Posted June 2, 2021 Share Posted June 2, 2021 Just for information, I believe Andrew Norman also sells Baritone & Bass Anglos now (http://www.acnorman.co.uk/). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Day Posted June 2, 2021 Share Posted June 2, 2021 I would like to add my thanks to Doug for the very professional way he and his staff treated me during the sales of Anglo and English Internationals. I had nothing but praise from anyone who had dealings with your company and it is a great loss to the Concertina World that you have decided to move on to pastures new. Good luck Alan . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Besser Posted June 2, 2021 Share Posted June 2, 2021 Doug - I hope you find a buyer who will be as committed to the free reed community as you and Bob have been, and Rich before that. Doing business with the BB has always been a pleasure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Franch Posted June 3, 2021 Share Posted June 3, 2021 3 hours ago, Jim Besser said: Doing business with the BB has always been a pleasure. Agreed! In fact, agreed with gusto! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Mansfield Posted June 3, 2021 Share Posted June 3, 2021 (edited) Good luck finding a new owner and best wishes for your retirement. I love my Geordie baritone EC and it would be a real shame to see them going out of production Edited June 3, 2021 by Steve Mansfield Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Colpitts Posted June 3, 2021 Share Posted June 3, 2021 (edited) I agree with all the positive comments regarding what you and your colleagues have provided to us, Doug. Thanks so much....Without your help, I'd've been just another "straignt harp" harmonica player. With your help, I am a chronic novice in diatonic button accordion, anglo 'tina, and Hayden duet. I better get there before you hand off, since I still haven't ever owned an English, or a CBA! In all seriousness, it has been a tremendous pleasure to make my "quarterly pilgrimage" to Sunderland, and to get to know you and some of your staff a bit over the years. I have only bought/traded/rented/had repaired perhaps 10 or a dozen of these machines at the Button Box, and still have at least five with your "mark" on them, including the best among them, the Morse G/D. I do hope some worthy successor awaits, and that you have a much-deserved and lengthy retirement. Edited June 3, 2021 by David Colpitts typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu10ntDn Posted June 6, 2021 Share Posted June 6, 2021 When I ordered my R. Morse & Co. Beaumont in January, I had no idea I'd be purchasing one of the last Hayden Duets made by The Button Box. I haven't had it a long time but I'm thrilled with it. Best of luck Doug, in all that you do. -Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Barnert Posted June 6, 2021 Share Posted June 6, 2021 1 hour ago, Lu10ntDn said: ...one of the last Hayden Duets made by The Button Box Do you know something I don’t know? Doug looking to retire and sell the business need not signify the end of production of R. Morse Concertinas, any more than the passing of Rich Morse did. Doug doesn’t make them personally, his employees do, and I would think it reasonable to expect that those same employees would continue to do so even under new ownership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu10ntDn Posted June 6, 2021 Share Posted June 6, 2021 Sorry, I just meant to say "under current ownership". I sure do hope somebody purchases the business and the instruments continue. -Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deborah Posted June 6, 2021 Share Posted June 6, 2021 I finally visited the Button Box a week ago after years of dreaming about it. Living without a car in downtown Boston, it took time for the planets to align. But I made up for the delay by ordering a Beaumont. I will be a beginner concertina player and am thrilled to discover this site. And hopeful about the future of the business. It's a gem of an opportunity for the right person. Best to Doug and the rest of the BB team! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted June 6, 2021 Share Posted June 6, 2021 This leaves me wondering who is the current "owner". Doug, is the BB owned outright by yourself? I'm wondering whether a possible option -- hopefully a temporary one -- could be for it to continue under current ownership while hiring a new manager who would have the right skills but not the wherewithal to buy it. I know that if I won the lottery (difficult, since I don't play), I would offer to buy the business if Doug could find an appropriate manager... a position for which I'm not suited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Creighton Posted June 7, 2021 Author Share Posted June 7, 2021 Thanks for your generous comments, everyone. This transition won't happen overnight, so concertina production will continue as usual for the time being. My focus is on finding a buyer and moving the business to a new chapter. In answer to your question, Jim, I inherited the business from Rich when he passed away in 2009. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seth Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 Hmmm, tempting…. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanc Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 Doug, congrats! I very much hope that BB continues. And continues at it’s current location. You and Bob have been awesome. And come to my rescue on several occasions! I really hope that BB goes on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Hersh Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 As mentioned in another thread, Button Box has announced on their website that they will be closing their retail store on March 31 but continuing their repair service after that. I would guess that means that Doug was not able to find a buyer for the business. They say, "Orders for new R. Morse & Co. Céilí anglo concertinas will be accepted through March 31, 2022," which seems to imply that those concertinas may be built after the retail store is closed. With luck, Doug will chime in here to tell us if new Morse concertinas will continue to be made after those orders are complete. It's possible that that hasn't been determined yet. More info at https://buttonbox.com/transition.html . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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