American musical instruments retailer, Guitar Center, has begun to prepare for a potential bankruptcy filing that, according to people with knowledge of the situation, could come as soon as next month, reports The New York Times.

The retailer missed an interest payment of roughly $45 million earlier this month, setting off a 30-day grace period that could end in default, the people said.

The country’s largest retailer of musical instruments has reached out to creditors to discuss a plan that would involve the company filing for bankruptcy this year and emerging from it in early 2021, said the people, who requested anonymity because the talks are confidential. A spokesperson for Guitar Center did not respond to a request for comment.

It’s still possible that Guitar Center could avert bankruptcy, as it did earlier this year when it resolved a skipped interest payment in April with a distressed debt exchange. That led to a downgrade by the credit ratings agency Moody’s in May, which noted that the transaction did not “fundamentally change” the company’s “untenable” capital structure. It was the third cut in the company’s credit rating this year.

Guitar Center, whose roots go back to 1959, has nearly 300 stores nationwide. It is owned by private equity firm Ares Management, which acquired a majority stake in 2014 by converting some of the debt it owned in the retailer into equity. The retailer generated about $2.3 billion in sales its most recent fiscal year, according to Moody’s. It has about $1.3 billion in debt. Ares declined to comment.

Read more at The New York Times.