Is GC thinning out their Fender stock?

[clintj]

I was in the south Salt Lake GC yesterday, and was struck by how few Fenders there were. There were maybe four Teles, and twice that number of Strats compared with dozens of Gibsons. Has anyone who is in GC more than once a quarter noticed that too? Or, is this just a quirk of that store?

[ADK]

I noticed the same thing at a GC in central NY. Loads of LPs, maybe a half dozen Strats, and only 2 Teles. There was a good number of Squires, though again, it was nothing compared to the Gibson/Epi line. Even in the used section, there were easily ten LPs and only one Strat.

[Twilo123]

i have definitely seen a trend for the quiet room taken over by T, M, Gib with a sprinkle of Breed every now and again for the steel acoustics. outside main room it fluctuates but i have to agree with you that i have seen a decrease in F over the years for steel acoustics in GC.

i don't see it as much for electric though. there were plenty of tele and strats in my local one.

[muscmp]

there are selling some items off their own web store as well as cutting back on GC from what i've read. who knows if it is true but you folks seem to be bearing that out.

play music!

[The Growler]

Plenty of Fenders in the GC I was in today. No sign of backing off there.

[michaeljohnr]

I was at the Oxford Valley store last week and the selection was anemic. I'm visiting the Cherry Hill Sam Ash today to see if they have anything better.


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[gracecovenant]

Definitely lower Fender stock in the GC stores I frequent. Frustrating....b/c i am in the market for an amercian strat or tele, and there are few choices.

BTW...the used Fender market has gone crazy. A year or so ago, a used American Standard could be found for $650-750 all day long. Now, everyone thinks a used standard is worth a thousand dollars. Why would I pay that when I can get a new Standard for under $1200?

C'Mon Man!

[The Growler]

Originally Posted by gracecovenant

Definitely lower Fender stock in the GC stores I frequent. Frustrating....b/c i am in the market for an amercian strat or tele, and there are few choices.

BTW...the used Fender market has gone crazy. A year or so ago, a used American Standard could be found for $650-750 all day long. Now, everyone thinks a used standard is worth a thousand dollars. Why would I pay that when I can get a new Standard for under $1200?

C'Mon Man!

I thought the same thing today when I saw a used Am. Std. Tele for a grand.

[Dru Edwards]

Interesting. Might be a time to pick up a Fender at a good price at GC.

[Xtremca]

A year two back when Fender pulled their planned IPO, GC was Indebted to Fender quite heavly . I wonder if there is some stock constraints in place against GC.

[flier]

Not to long ago a read an in interesting article that GC was a major reason why Fender didn't go belly up. And that these days Fender is still in trouble.

I wonder if they just cut back a bit on manuf.

[Paultergeist]

Okay, this is a largely unfounded rumor, but I will share it anyway.....

I have a friend who used to own a small independent music store in downtown San Diego for many years. I say "used to," because the competition from GC/MF eventually became too much, and the store closed. According to this friend, GC/MF (which I believe is owned by the same corporate entity) has/is contemplating a deal by which GC/MF would purchase the Gibson corporation. I do not know for certain how accurate this information may be currently (but my friend was pretty dialed-in to this stuff at the time), but it may explain a *focus* on the part of GC/MF to promote Gibson products somwhat in lieu of Fender.....maybe?

[dave42]

Guitar Center's sister companies/subsidiaries incorporate Music & Arts, Musician's Friend, GuitarCenter.com, LMI, Giardinelli, Musician.com, Private Reserve Guitars, Woodwind and Brasswind, Music 123, and Harmony Central.

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[gekisai29]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

Interesting. Might be a time to pick up a Fender at a good price at GC.

there are some good deals on the gc website. even better if another 15% will be taken off

[trpullen]

There has been a lot of speculation out there what's going. John Mayer tweeted last month that he has split with Fender because "the company as it is today isn't the same one I started with". Rumor has it that they will be trying to follow the Apple Computers model and open their own retail stores.