Guitar Center Going out of Business ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter stephen sawall
  • Start date Start date
Yup, old news...they have been in financial trouble for years
 
Might explain the sudden flush off low priced Gibsons.
 
Good news for any Mom and Pop Music stores still around? :dunno:
 
These guys should have down-sized a looooong time ago. They should have stopped building more stores and concentrated on making the ones they had a success. The "you gotta spend money to make money" theory only goes so far especially when the economy is such a huge brick of a turd.
 
But wait, Obama won and Romney lost so all is well!!!!
 
It doesn't help that they really only cater to beginners and most employees know nothing about what they are selling. I haven't stepped into one for years. It's so much easier to buy picks and strings online than stand there for a half hour waiting for help. And they carry nothing else I would even want. It is harder and harder for any brick and mortar business to compete with the internet. I think overall it's going to be harder and harder for the new economic model to support an ever growing populous. :scared:
 
Shark Diver":1kzp8hb3 said:
It doesn't help that they really only cater to beginners and most employees know nothing about what they are selling. I haven't stepped into one for years. It's so much easier to buy picks and strings online than stand there for a half hour waiting for help. And they carry nothing else I would even want. It is harder and harder for any brick and mortar business to compete with the internet. I think overall it's going to be harder and harder for the new economic model to support an ever growing populous. :scared:
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I've worked at 2 different GC's and know many people at others. At both my stores they don't even care if you play(ed) an instrument. I work with 3 people right now that probably don't even know standard tuning. But as long as they sell the managers don't care. Honestly if they went under the only 2 things I'd miss would be: my discount :rock: , and at times the selection of gear you can't normally find, but that really only counts for the bigger stores with platinum rooms.

I'd much rather pay a premium and get amazing service that lower prices and shit service.
 
Mailman1971":2ixh9wnl said:
Good news for any Mom and Pop Music stores still around? :dunno:
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I thought the same thing. :thumbsup: It's about time for the little guys to make a come back. :yes:
 
LP Freak":2tcpo95h said:
Mailman1971":2tcpo95h said:
Good news for any Mom and Pop Music stores still around? :dunno:
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I thought the same thing. :thumbsup: It's about time for the little guys to make a come back. :yes:
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That's the rub with GC going down. How many mom & pop shops can afford to carry an extensive selection of gear?

The store that operates in my town has Fender, Epiphone, Ibanez, Gretsch & Schecter guitar & bass instruments. The only hi-end stuff would be some of the Fender goods. Amp-wise they're limited to Vox, Blackstar, Ampeg, Peavey & some Line6 stuff. They have just about any pack of strings & picks you'd want. Effects pedal wise they're limited to the Boss & DigiTech stuff.

Pretty much like Shark Diver said, "they really only cater to beginners" would seem to be the case with most mom & pop shops as well. But I could be totally off the mark; not sure how mom & pop shops look in the bigger metro areas.
 
I'm waiting for all of the gear builders to become like Carvin, sell it/build it/ship it.
 
Dont they owe Fender millions of dollars alone? I remember reading an article about this a very long time ago where Guitar Center's debt is partially the reason why Fender seems (seemed) to be struggling.
 
Apart from the occasional sweet used price on something I won't be sorry to see them go. They cherry pick so much on what a they offer new that they never have a model of new guitar or amp I want to check out anyway. The sales staff is laughable and it is the car lot experience to a tee. There are some good people, no doubt, but they're hen's teeth. Honestly I would welcome some diversity with smaller chains or sole proprietorship stores. Granted the Economy isn't doing them any favors either. If GC goes down watch Gibson try and get back in with smaller stores and drop their ridiculous purchase requirements. GC has reaped what they've sewn.
 
glpg80":2o5pn89r said:
Dont they owe Fender millions of dollars alone? I remember reading an article about this a very long time ago where Guitar Center's debt is partially the reason why Fender seems (seemed) to be struggling.
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A good chunk of the 1.6 billion dollars they owe is to Fender, Martian & Gibson. They owe Fender a lot more than a few million.

Pretty amazing they only made 170 million on the 2 billion in sales last year ?
 
I use to enjoy stopping at gc , Sam ash and other music stores while on a road trip or the weekend just to see what cool used stuff they had but also to check out amps and guitars. Within the past two yrs I stopped going because most music stores only seem to carry 95% beginners imports and starter kits with hardly any USA made yet alone top tier stuff. Gc is mostly squires and epi's with a few fenders and low end gibsons, amps are bottom end Marshall at best and the used gear deals I used to find are non existent or way overpriced. I think that music stores sadly are a thing of the past for the most part. Internet with no sales tax and a larger selection seems a bonus.
 
How do I get a hold of one of these cheap gibbys?

Good riddance to gc
 
Wonder what happens to Musicians Friend, Guitar Center of course owns them, wonder if they are tied financially or a separate entity.

But his is typical, successful publicly held companies try to expand crush the completion and earn the shareholders money. As long as the money comes in, the share holders don't care about the debit, they want the profits to be paid to them, not pay down the debt. But them money stops coming in when the economy slumps, or the business model fails. Then the credit companies, and debt holders want their cash, and bankruptcy happens.

I am in Wichita KS. Guitar center came here. But all the mom and pop shops are still here, and even a new one opened that caters to very high end gear, and boutique stuff. and they are doing well.

Best Buy is in the same boat, they too are in trouble for many of the same reasons.

I remember when I was in Phoenix where I am originally from, the Guitar Centers there were pretty cool in the late 90's. High end gear, etc. But now, as others have mentioned, cheap crap, ridiculous prices on used gear.
 
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