Guitar Center Going out of Business ?

[Norton666]

Its easy to sit back and say "good riddance" , but if they did close their doors (which isn't going to happen) , it would have a HUGE impact on how much we pay for our gear. People always say how much we miss mom and pop shops but I think a lot of us have forgotten how much more we used to pay because there wasn't a company making shops be competitive. I don't shop at GC a lot , because Im 100 miles from one , but what they've done for the retail music industry is pretty amazing. Like them or hate them , they are the Wal Mart of the industry and if they disappear , we are all fucked

 

[Shark Diver]

I live in Houston and there are probably 5 GC Stores withing a 100 mile radius around the city, pretty stupid. The one closets to me has their "Platinum" room with boutique amps and guitars (pretty nice stuff actually). But most of the inventory is pretty sloppy, Fender with poor setups, wall hangers beat to hell and lots of crappy combo amps. Nothing wrong with having stuff for beginners, but they probably should try to do a little better market research to where and how many stores they need, especially when buying online is so easy. Especially from King Guitar (free plug)

I used to tech at a "mom & pop" store that usually had about 50 guitars in stock. Even with that few guitars, it was hard to keep them setup decently. Whenever I had down time, I was restringing and cleaning them. With the quantity of guitars that each GC has in stock, they would probably have to employ 2 full time people just to restring and setup their inventory. I understand that it sucks to grab a guitar with crusty strings off the wall, but it is not financially feasible for a store like that to constantly change strings. Stores like that are better of waiting for the customers to point out guitars that need to be restrung. I'm not making excuses for GC, but it's really the way that it is.

One word: Elixers

Its easy to sit back and say "good riddance" , but if they did close their doors (which isn't going to happen) , it would have a HUGE impact on how much we pay for our gear. People always say how much we miss mom and pop shops but I think a lot of us have forgotten how much more we used to pay because there wasn't a company making shops be competitive. I don't shop at GC a lot , because Im 100 miles from one , but what they've done for the retail music industry is pretty amazing. Like them or hate them , they are the Wal Mart of the industry and if they disappear , we are all fucked

I don't remember paying more. But it's irrelevant, online competition will do more to hold prices down than any "Walmart" could. I see direct only sales growing - cutting prices while increasing profit. win/win Plus you will be in contact directly with the manufacturers who will hopefully know more about the product then a GC employee. Hopefully

 

[crwnedblasphemy]

Harmony Central = flush flush. Screw Bain Capital.

 

[benduncan]

by owning musicians friend, is guitar center taking part in putting themselves out of business?

 

[blackba]

Its easy to sit back and say "good riddance" , but if they did close their doors (which isn't going to happen) , it would have a HUGE impact on how much we pay for our gear. People always say how much we miss mom and pop shops but I think a lot of us have forgotten how much more we used to pay because there wasn't a company making shops be competitive. I don't shop at GC a lot , because Im 100 miles from one , but what they've done for the retail music industry is pretty amazing. Like them or hate them , they are the Wal Mart of the industry and if they disappear , we are all fucked

I remember paying more, in my home town, the 2 local shops would charge list. For me what changed the game was buying online, not go. I do get what you are saying though.

 

[Ye Black Knight]

Forsooth, for in close proximity to this knight's village is ye municipality of West Los Angeles, home to instrument merchants West LA Music.

A fortnight ago this knight did venture to this West LA Music to try mine hand at one of ye many fine axes that grace'th this establishment.

Verily, whence I arrived at this emporium, ye entrance 'twas locked, and no instruments lay within! A sign upon ye door did proclaim'eth that this vendor had indeed been purchased by none other than ye Guitar Center!

Perplexing that ye Guitar Center should choose'th to acquire a competitor, whence their own ledger bleed'eth crimson ink!

This post now concludeth!

 

[stephen sawall]

Here in the Northwest, there was a small music store chain called American Music.

I believe the Fremont & Bellevue stores are still open. I also prefer them to GC....

 

[FUZZboat]

Its easy to sit back and say "good riddance" , but if they did close their doors (which isn't going to happen) , it would have a HUGE impact on how much we pay for our gear. People always say how much we miss mom and pop shops but I think a lot of us have forgotten how much more we used to pay because there wasn't a company making shops be competitive. I don't shop at GC a lot , because Im 100 miles from one , but what they've done for the retail music industry is pretty amazing. Like them or hate them , they are the Wal Mart of the industry and if they disappear , we are all fucked

I remember paying more, in my home town, the 2 local shops would charge list. For me what changed the game was buying online, not go. I do get what you are saying though.

ditto - mom/pop shops here in OHIO back in the day (before online
stores ) charged list $$ !!(maybe more ) ?

 

[ctoddrun]

Harmony Central = flush flush. Screw Bain Capital.

Disclaimer: I'm a hard-core political junkie LIBERAL Democrat, so take this with that grain of salt...

Rolling Stone did a GREAT expose' on Bain/Romney and if you're willing to invest some minutes into a good read, you'll see what GC's problem is.

In a nutshell:

a) Bain located a business that was promising but unguided.

b) Bain put down about 5% of money towards a takeover and borrowed the rest at surprisingly awesome terms from Wall Street.

c) Bain buys GC by giving the principals TONS of executive compensation so that they can "restructure" the company to make it more efficient.

d) Bain charges "consulting fees" and interest on all of the consulting they do. To the tunes of millions per year.

e) Basically the consulting consists of how to maximize profits for the principals by cutting labor costs (make them part time, lay them off, etc) and robbing the funds that used to provide benefits to the workers.

f) maybe the company makes enough to pay back the management/consultant/interest on the loan fees and maybe they dont.

g) either way, Bain wins due to the way the rules work (regarding taxes and loans) and they give two fucks about the destruction they leave behind.

h) GO FREE MARKETS!! AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM AT ITS MOST AWESOMENESS!!!

 

[jlbaxe]

Financing musicians and selling gear on revolving credit is a losing proposition, especially with deep discounting and giving credit to anyone coming in the door. It had to happen.

Hmmmm maybe I will go there and finance my Fender select Tele

 

[Shark Diver]

Its easy to sit back and say "good riddance" , but if they did close their doors (which isn't going to happen) , it would have a HUGE impact on how much we pay for our gear. People always say how much we miss mom and pop shops but I think a lot of us have forgotten how much more we used to pay because there wasn't a company making shops be competitive. I don't shop at GC a lot , because Im 100 miles from one , but what they've done for the retail music industry is pretty amazing. Like them or hate them , they are the Wal Mart of the industry and if they disappear , we are all fucked

I remember paying more, in my home town, the 2 local shops would charge list. For me what changed the game was buying online, not go. I do get what you are saying though.

ditto - mom/pop shops here in OHIO back in the day (before online
stores ) charged list $$ !!(maybe more ) ?

Maybe it was different here because there were more shops? Also, that deep GC discount really doesn't apply if they inflate the cost and then "discount" it. You just think you are getting a discount.

 

[mmolteratx]

If they do fail, they'll probably have to liquidate all of that sweet vintage gear at the LA location. Will be there waiting.

I live in Houston and there are probably 5 GC Stores withing a 100 mile radius around the city, pretty stupid. The one closets to me has their "Platinum" room with boutique amps and guitars (pretty nice stuff actually). But most of the inventory is pretty sloppy, Fender with poor setups, wall hangers beat to hell and lots of crappy combo amps. Nothing wrong with having stuff for beginners, but they probably should try to do a little better market research to where and how many stores they need, especially when buying online is so easy. Especially from King Guitar (free plug)

Yea, Dallas has 4 or 5 and Austin now has 3. They literally just opened up the Round Rock/Cedar Park store. No idea why, as the original location is central enough to be easily accessible by everyone and there aren't near as many people in Round Rock/Cedar Park.

sales personnel can make a big difference, most mega music stores just have morons that don't know a guitar from a bass. but on rare occasion when there's a good rep, that makes the difference in buying something or walking out pissed off. there is 1 guy at the GC local store that helps me when I am in the market for something they have, get a decent discount too which is nice. I wonder with them struggling if I can get a nice Les Paul Custom in 2013 for $2500?

I scored my brand new 2011 Custom from them for $2400 last year on Black Friday. The original Austin store is always willing to deal.

 

[squank]

Harmony Central = flush flush. Screw Bain Capital.

Disclaimer: I'm a hard-core political junkie LIBERAL Democrat, so take this with that grain of salt...

Rolling Stone did a GREAT expose' on Bain/Romney and if you're willing to invest some minutes into a good read, you'll see what GC's problem is.

In a nutshell:

a) Bain located a business that was promising but unguided.

b) Bain put down about 5% of money towards a takeover and borrowed the rest at surprisingly awesome terms from Wall Street.

c) Bain buys GC by giving the principals TONS of executive compensation so that they can "restructure" the company to make it more efficient.

d) Bain charges "consulting fees" and interest on all of the consulting they do. To the tunes of millions per year.

e) Basically the consulting consists of how to maximize profits for the principals by cutting labor costs (make them part time, lay them off, etc) and robbing the funds that used to provide benefits to the workers.

f) maybe the company makes enough to pay back the management/consultant/interest on the loan fees and maybe they dont.

g) either way, Bain wins due to the way the rules work (regarding taxes and loans) and they give two fucks about the destruction they leave behind.

h) GO FREE MARKETS!! AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM AT ITS MOST AWESOMENESS!!!

Who at RS wrote the article? Rolling Stone and great writing aren't usually used in the same sentence

Check your letter "H". It ain't the Free Market that allows venture capitalists to do this kind of thing. It's the Manipulated Market, ala Gov't sweetheart business and tax rules/laws that get written/passed by corrupt politicians (evil Republicans and evil Democrats) that allow this kind of thing to happen. Dems and Repubs are both owned by big corporations and banks who fund their campaigns.

 

[skoora]

Financing musicians and selling gear on revolving credit is a losing proposition, especially with deep discounting and giving credit to anyone coming in the door. It had to happen.

Hmmmm maybe I will go there and finance my Fender select Tele

I'm curious though. How does that hurt GC unless they also are the supplier/owner of the credit. If it's a 3rd party bank, GC's been payed for the goods and it's the banks responsibility to collect the debt.

 

[jlbaxe]

Financing musicians and selling gear on revolving credit is a losing proposition, especially with deep discounting and giving credit to anyone coming in the door. It had to happen.

Hmmmm maybe I will go there and finance my Fender select Tele

I'm curious though. How does that hurt GC unless they also are the supplier/owner of the credit. If it's a 3rd party bank, GC's been payed for the goods and it's the banks responsibility to collect the debt.

nah I was just thinking of financing a guitar, if they give anyone credit, although i have almost reached a 850 perfect credit rating. Got off topic

 

[napalmdeath]

FUCK Guitar Center! Last time I was there, was about 5 years ago, and I haven't been back since, and have NO intentions to.

I was there getting some odds & ends, as well as looking at some OD pedals. Upon leaving, I decide to get a 10-pack of D'addario's, as I almost always bought these in bulk, (and usually from http://www.americanmusical.com, and had been buying from them since 2000).

Long story short, they were $29.99, and to my surprise, GC was charging me $54! After picking up my jaw from the floor, I explained to them that I normally paid $29.99, and at first, the guy called me all but a liar. After he went online and I proved my point, (to his surprise, his sister company MF had them for $29.99 as well), he went on a rant about me paying the higher price, because he was on commission? I told him to go fuck himself, and walked out. NEVER been back since. I buy from AMS, Zzounds, and Sweetwater. I can get better pricing 99.9% of the time, and Customer Service is miles ahead. Hell, I just got my new JVM205 from Zzounds for $1195 - BRAND NEW - not a re-seal, not a B-Stock. BRAND NEW. I say FUCK YOU GC (& MF, for that matter)!

 

[duodecim]

FUCK Guitar Center! [...] Long story short, they were $29.99, and to my surprise, GC was charging me $54! [...]

You Americans are funny. Even $54 for a 10-pack is a steal. I easily pay $12 for one set of strings if I buy them locally, I don't remember even having seen 10-packs here.

I predict that if chains like GC would go out of business, you are going to pay more for strings, cables, stands and other accessories.

 

[crwnedblasphemy]

Harmony Central = flush flush. Screw Bain Capital.

Disclaimer: I'm a hard-core political junkie LIBERAL Democrat, so take this with that grain of salt...

Rolling Stone did a GREAT expose' on Bain/Romney and if you're willing to invest some minutes into a good read, you'll see what GC's problem is.

In a nutshell:

a) Bain located a business that was promising but unguided.

b) Bain put down about 5% of money towards a takeover and borrowed the rest at surprisingly awesome terms from Wall Street.

c) Bain buys GC by giving the principals TONS of executive compensation so that they can "restructure" the company to make it more efficient.

d) Bain charges "consulting fees" and interest on all of the consulting they do. To the tunes of millions per year.

e) Basically the consulting consists of how to maximize profits for the principals by cutting labor costs (make them part time, lay them off, etc) and robbing the funds that used to provide benefits to the workers.

f) maybe the company makes enough to pay back the management/consultant/interest on the loan fees and maybe they dont.

g) either way, Bain wins due to the way the rules work (regarding taxes and loans) and they give two fucks about the destruction they leave behind.

h) GO FREE MARKETS!! AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM AT ITS MOST AWESOMENESS!!!

I read that article at the end of Oct. Great read from Rolling Stone.

 

[squank]

FUCK Guitar Center! [...] Long story short, they were $29.99, and to my surprise, GC was charging me $54! [...]

You Americans are funny. Even $54 for a 10-pack is a steal. I easily pay $12 for one set of strings if I buy them locally, I don't remember even having seen 10-packs here.

I predict that if chains like GC would go out of business, you are going to pay more for strings, cables, stands and other accessories.

We're not silly, we just pay less for some things and more for other things. To paint with a broad brush, your government charges higher taxes on all imports so they can provide services to you that our government doesn't provide to us. Thus, your goods cost you more to buy. But we pay out the ass for health care and medication.

 

[the rossness]

I just wonder what brands like Schecter will do if GC dies?