Guitar Center is Doomed

J

Jim Zumbo

Freshman
Mar 8, 2014
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I must admit that I've spent a lot of time in GC over the years. Not the best prices, but a safe bet if you
needed something quickly.

Now, It's the end of an era. GC has too much debt, the suppliers are running scared, and all the good employees are leaving. Smells like disaster in the making. They have had years to fix this problem, but they can't. It's just an old and outdated business model (ie. Borders books). Also, too much competition from companies like Amazon and Walmart.

My friend works for Fender and they are worried. GC carries a lot of Fender stock. Fender just had a lay-off.

The industry is changing

I say bring back the mom and pops


Deep in Debt, Big Retailer Guitar Center May Be Acquired - Create Digital Music
 
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Re: Guitar Center is Doomed

Two out of three posts on the same thing...Smells like a troll to me. You lost all credibility when you said "all the good employees are leaving". I have yet to meet anyone there that knows a thing!
 
Re: Guitar Center is Doomed

David Sturzenbecher said:
You lost all credibility when you said "all the good employees are leaving". I have yet to meet anyone there that knows a thing!
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:lol:Fair point on this one. But they did serve a purpose.
And I did post this twice (first time in the wrong category). :D~:-D~:grin:
 
Re: Guitar Center is Doomed

Here in europe, brick and mortar stores are all dying and thomann is eating them all up... it's all ecommerce now

in the usa i assume it is the amazon's and sweetwater's.

wonder what will happen if guitar center will go down... many manufacturers will go down as they have all their money in gc
 
Re: Guitar Center is Doomed

I would never advise anyone to buy a guitar at GC. Always go to a local shop even if it costs you more would be my advise. Music electronics are like cell phones and you cna pretty much buy them online, but you need help when buying a real musical instrument that's been hand made. There is a place in NYC called Rudy's Rudy's Music I would for example go there long before Sam Ash across the street. I spent several hours in both and had personal service in Rudy's and mostly the cold shoulder in Sam Ash. I have usually been offered help in GC, but no one could. Clueless. Rhythm City was much much better. Even though it was large, Thoroughbred Music was also quite good. The best service I ever had was at Encore Music in Hudson, FL. I'm afraid the online retailers and the downed economy is putting them out of business slowly but surely. I always got the best deals there and they became good friends over the years. I even did shows in the parking lot, brought in a stage and all to help them out because they were so great. I actually bought a drum kit there last Summer and got a fantastic deal even after being away for 13 years. Support your local music store, if you can. Thanks for listening.
 
Re: Guitar Center is Doomed

Juergen Riemann said:
Here in europe, brick and mortar stores are all dying and thomann is eating them all up... it's all ecommerce now

in the usa i assume it is the amazon's and sweetwater's.

wonder what will happen if guitar center will go down... many manufacturers will go down as they have all their money in gc
Click to expand...


Sweetwater is a great place to buy the electronic stuff. You get a salesperson and you keep them forever. You always deal with the same person. Only time I have talked to anyone else is when the regular guy was on vacation. There is a huge lack of loyalty and appreciation of customer service in the US. I don't know about the rest of the world.
 
Re: Guitar Center is Doomed

Juergen Riemann said:
Here in europe, brick and mortar stores are all dying and thomann is eating them all up... it's all ecommerce now

in the usa i assume it is the amazon's and sweetwater's.

wonder what will happen if guitar center will go down... many manufacturers will go down as they have all their money in gc
Click to expand...
I am not aware of manufacturers being dependent on GC for their future existence. Likewise manufacturers generally stop shipping product to merchants that owe them significant money so I doubt GC will take any manufacturers down with it. Last I heard GS was owned by Bain Capital or some hedge fund.

The logical shift for any major bricks and mortar retailer is to embrace web sales too. GC has an unique history due to their early association with Musician's Friend mail-order catalog, so they were doing direct sales well before the web retail explosion. Why they are falling on hard time now when they were on the leading edge of non brick and mortar retailing decades ago, may be related to upper management cashing out, and weak leadership left to run the shop (just a guess from the outcome).

JR
 
Re: Guitar Center is Doomed

Guitar Center has pretty much been a terrible place shortly after their move from their original location on Sunset Bl. in Hollywood to their current location across the street from that spot, and subsequent expansion. That started in the late 80s. So it's been over 30 years of lameness in my opinion. I used to get decent service when it was only a 2 store company. That first crew of of people in their Lawndale location (2nd store) were good folks. After they left or got replaced by the knowledge-less kids, the seeds of poor customer service were sewn. The final straw for me was when I needed an emergency cymbal replacement for show I had one night in the early 90s. I had a very specific need for a high end model. So I started calling around. GC was last choice. I was living in the South Bay of Los Angeles at the time. None of the local shops had it. So I called the GC in Hollywood after the venerable folks at Pro Drum in Hollywood said they were out. The guy who picked up the phone in the drum dept. at GC said they had it. I asked him more than once, "are you sure?". He insisted. So I drove across town in over 2 hours of rush hour traffic. I got there, found dude. He then said, "well, we don't have that exact model." Bullshit. They hand nothing. He lied and tried to bait and switch me. I have never been so livid with a retailer in my life. But that was the culture there. And the manager didn't give shit either. So I didn't set foot in a GC for 20 years after that. The place is dismal.
 
Re: Guitar Center is Doomed

Greg Cameron said:
Guitar Center has pretty much been a terrible place shortly after their move from their original location on Sunset Bl. in Hollywood to their current location across the street from that spot, and subsequent expansion. That started in the late 80s. So it's been over 30 years of lameness in my opinion. I used to get decent service when it was only a 2 store company. That first crew of of people in their Lawndale location (2nd store) were good folks. After they left or got replaced by the knowledge-less kids, the seeds of poor customer service were sewn. The final straw for me was when I needed an emergency cymbal replacement for show I had one night in the early 90s. I had a very specific need for a high end model. So I started calling around. GC was last choice. I was living in the South Bay of Los Angeles at the time. None of the local shops had it. So I called the GC in Hollywood after the venerable folks at Pro Drum in Hollywood said they were out. The guy who picked up the phone in the drum dept. at GC said they had it. I asked him more than once, "are you sure?". He insisted. So I drove across town in over 2 hours of rush hour traffic. I got there, found dude. He then said, "well, we don't have that exact model." Bullshit. They hand nothing. He lied and tried to bait and switch me. I have never been so livid with a retailer in my life. But that was the culture there. And the manager didn't give shit either. So I didn't set foot in a GC for 20 years after that. The place is dismal.
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I recall one meeting with some high level GC folks somewhere in No Cal in connection with some special project I was working on, well over a decade ago. I was pretty impressed with their professionalism, grasp of the market, and business sense, but this was back when they were strong and growing. I don't know if the same folks are there now. It seems like there is still value in the brand for consumers (not professional customers). So it will probably not go away, just re-arrange the deck chairs on the poop deck, and sale on...

JR
 
Re: Guitar Center is Doomed

My local GC rep takes care of me. Yes they often don't know what they are talking about but he gives me good pricing and doesn't jerk me around.

He treats me well so if I can I give him business. If he can't supply it he tells me and I go elsewhere and he's cool with it.

Just my experience...
 
Re: Guitar Center is Doomed

I moved this to the basement and deleted the identical post in the marketplace (marked [URGENT]? We have been watching this happen for most of a decade. Nobody on this forum is unaware of what is happening with GC), for obvious reasons.
 
Re: Guitar Center is Doomed

Bennett Prescott said:
I moved this to the basement and deleted the identical post in the marketplace (marked [URGENT]? We have been watching this happen for most of a decade. Nobody on this forum is unaware of what is happening with GC), for obvious reasons.
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No problem with the move.

I started the thread because there is a clear shift in the retail industry overall and ProSound is not immune. Doesn't matter if you like big box or not, GC is a place where you can touch and feel gear and see many competing products in one place. That's over.
 
Re: Guitar Center is Doomed

Jim Zumbo said:
No problem with the move.

I started the thread because there is a clear shift in the retail industry overall and ProSound is not immune. Doesn't matter if you like big box or not, GC is a place where you can touch and feel gear and see many competing products in one place. That's over.
Click to expand...

When Banjo Depot came to our city there was much fanfair. They killed off about half the local music stores within 2 or 3 years. There's a certain irony at play...

Perhaps the smaller firms that do understand "click and mortar" will become more valuable, but the gear and price structure will have to sustain the value-added model of display/demo inventory or ultra-convenient return policies.

Should GC actually close, where do you think those sales will go?
 
Re: Guitar Center is Doomed

I worked for the original GC, when there were just 6 and the furthest East we were was Chicago. We had good stuff back then. We 2" analog 24 tracks, TC generators, large format mixing consoles, great mics, etc, etc. It is sad to see it go this way. Of course, I was sad to see it become so corporate.

Didn't Mackie go into bankruptcy in the 90s partially because GC canceled orders? Any old Mackie reps here?
 
Re: Guitar Center is Doomed

Tim McCulloch said:
When Banjo Depot came to our city there was much fanfair. They killed off about half the local music stores within 2 or 3 years. There's a certain irony at play...

Perhaps the smaller firms that do understand "click and mortar" will become more valuable, but the gear and price structure will have to sustain the value-added model of display/demo inventory or ultra-convenient return policies.

Should GC actually close, where do you think those sales will go?
Click to expand...

I am a student of such trends and I think there was a secular change with last Christmas' shopping season where big internet stole the tempo from big bricks and mortar. I recently bought some UPS stock, based on that thesis.

The number of converts from brick to click last December IMO, was not a one time thing, and they keep clicking. I have heard the same old arguments against mail order sales decades ago. Some niche products will always require kicking the tires, but mass produced products can and will always be bought blind. The future is coming fast,,, duck...

JR
 
Re: Guitar Center is Doomed

John Roberts said:
I am a student of such trends and I think there was a secular change with last Christmas' shopping season where big internet stole the tempo from big bricks and mortar. I recently bought some UPS stock, based on that thesis.

The number of converts from brick to click last December IMO, was not a one time thing, and they keep clicking. I have heard the same old arguments against mail order sales decades ago. Some niche products will always require kicking the tires, but mass produced products can and will always be bought blind. The future is coming fast,,, duck...

JR
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I think you're right about any product type that has been commoditized.

What effect will this have on audio product development and manufacturing, at the mid & upper market level?
 
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