NASHUA – For the first time since its closing in October, founder Fred Bramante visited one of his Daddy’s Junky Music stores – the location in downtown Boston.

He said the experience was heartbreaking.

“Looking around, seeing 39 years of work and seeing it as an empty shell, it’s hard,” he said.

He can’t even look at his stores when he drives by in the car, he said.

The situation has made for a depressing holiday period, but Bramante still is trying to work through the bankruptcy filing process with lawyers and responding to customer concerns on Facebook.

“This is not my idea of what Christmas should feel like,” he said. “I know I’m not the only one, I know I’m luckier than most. I’m just doing my best to keep my chin up and go at it every day.”

Daddy’s Junky Music still hasn’t filed for bankruptcy after it abruptly closed its 12 New England stores Oct. 26, but Bramante said he hopes to do so in the next week to 10 days.

“We are probably well inside the red zone on getting the paperwork done,” he said. “We’re close.”

Daddy’s Junky Music had four locations in New Hampshire: one in Nashua on Daniel Webster Highway South and the others in Manchester, Salem and Portsmouth.

A total of 52 full-time and 14 part-time employees lost their jobs in New Hampshire, as did dozens of others at eight stores in Massachusetts, Vermont and Connecticut.

GE Capital, the retailer’s financier, confirmed it has received layaway information from Daddy’s and is working to check the records against inventory. GE Capital has about 48,000 items in its possession, according to its Web site.

The financier said it will honor layaway contracts once it has a finalized list of the Daddy’s inventory. If a customer’s layaway item is included in that inventory, the customer can bring their contract and receipts and pay the remaining balance to retrieve the equipment.

“We’re working on grinding our way through this,” said Ned Reynolds, director of media relations at GE Capital.

Once Daddy’s Junky Music files for bankruptcy, customers with unspent gift certificates can fill out a form to be listed as a creditor. State Senior Assistant Attorney General James Boffetti said to contact his office, the Consumer Protection and Antritrust Bureau, at DOJ-CPB@doj.nh.gov with any questions.

GE Capital also is advising customers to keep receipts and other records.

There are a number of ways to file for bankruptcy in New Hampshire, including Chapter 7, Chapter 10 and Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Each is different, and it’s not unusual for a company to consult a lawyer before filing and considering each set of consequences, Boffetti said.

“We’re trying,” Bramante said Thursday. “We’re doing our best. We have nothing to gain one way or another.”

Let’s Play Music, a musical instruction company in Derry, also has offered to honor lessons that customers already paid for at Daddy’s Junky Music. The business was affiliated with Daddy’s for several years before its closing.

Director Jay Latulippe said he’s helped about a dozen people who came over from Daddy’s to finish their lessons.

“We felt like it was a good thing to do,” he said. “If somebody had gone in and paid and we were able to take care of the lessons, we wanted to do that. We had a good relationship with Daddy’s. We were surprised like everybody else when it closed.”

Bramante also talked about the frustrating and time-consuming process to return repaired equipment to customers.

Most of the customer repairs have been exchanged, but there are still people clamoring for their equipment. Bramante said it’s been difficult to tie up loose ends, as some customers have out-of-service phone numbers, full voicemail inboxes or fail to show up at arranged meetings with the Bramantes.

“We have no employees; it’s basically my family and my partner, and we’re doing yeoman’s work,” Bramante said. “We have made arrangements to meet customers at other music stores and tried to be there with repairs, and about half of them show up and half don’t.”

The company still is writing occasional updates on its Facebook page – www.facebook.com/daddysjunkymusic – where Bramante’s daughter, Candi, last posted more information on customer repairs Monday, Dec. 12. She urged customers with questions to post comments and get in touch with Daddy’s Junky Music that way.

More information also is available online, at www.gecdf.com/DaddysFAQ. Customers can contact GE Capital with questions at gecacontactus@ge.com.

Cameron Kittle can be reached at 594-6523 or ckittle@nashuatelegraph.com.