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Old 06-26-2022, 11:11 AM
Jwills57 Jwills57 is offline
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Hey, Guitar Friends--Just got back from our local Guitar Center, where I stopped to buy strings. Had an interesting talk with an employee, who's been there 3-4 years. There were hardly any employees in the store, a fact which I commented on. He said management had come in a few weeks ago and basically fired everyone who worked there, even new employees the store had just hired. Now there are a couple of managers and a few long-term salesman left who are full-time employees. Everyone else works 12-15 hours a week. The turnover is incredible, morale is horrible, the customer service abysmal. He was a really nice, considerate, and competent young man, and I could tell he was having doubts about the company's direction and was feeling definitely undervalued. It's a sad business when you realize that the corporate bosses don't really give a darn about you, the employee at the ground level. I know Guitar Center is still opening new stores, which must be some kind of tax write off, given the company's massive debt and high overhead. I don't get it, except I do, I guess. Anything to make the bottom line appear somewhat appealing to the next set of lenders who will be asked to refinance the debt. The little guy on the floor, who actually does the work of selling product, get hammered.

Last edited by Lkristians; 06-26-2022 at 11:27 AM. Reason: Masked profanity not allowed
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Old 06-26-2022, 11:23 AM
Jeff Scott Jeff Scott is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jwills57 View Post
Hey, Guitar Friends--Just got back from our local Guitar Center...
Have they gone out of business, yet?
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Old 06-26-2022, 11:25 AM
Tahitijack Tahitijack is offline
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The problem corporations get into is signing leases on properties that may not open for many months and sometimes a year or more later. Once the pipeline is full it is difficult to snap it shut. Sales projections and profits are based on future anticipated revenue. A reduction in growth is looked at with an unfavorable eye by investors and Wall Street. In my view the big box companies that are struggling will have to face the reality that some under-performing stores must close to save the few that are performing at or above their projected profit levels. While in good times a region with 15 locations might be acceptable, during stormy seas the reality will mean only the best will remain open resulting in 9 profitable stores and six stores shuttered and put on the excess property list.
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Old 06-26-2022, 02:51 PM
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Guitar center has been pretty well known as a terrible place to work for decades now.
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Old 06-26-2022, 02:59 PM
Horsehockey Horsehockey is offline
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In addition to the very credible reports above, this should tell you 99% of what you need to know about what happened to Guitar Center:

On June 27, 2007, Guitar Center agreed to a $1.9 billion buyout from Bain Capital, totaling $2.1 billion including debt. The deal was led by Goldman Sachs and amounted to a per-share price of $63, or a 26% premium on the June 26 closing price.
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Old 06-26-2022, 04:00 PM
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Well, my local GC is well-staffed, friendly, and I like to get stuff there. Most the employees there are friends of mine, and I’ve played in bands with some of them. I guess (reading the posts above) they’ll be going out of business in the next day or so, but I don’t want to concern myself with the big, corporate financial picture - I just wanna set of strings and say “hi”. But GC is GC, and we love to gossip about it -
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Old 06-26-2022, 04:13 PM
theghostwriter theghostwriter is offline
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I visit my local GC every now and then. It's good if I want to sell a guitar and don't want to deal with the hassle of selling. Also good for quick accessories sometimes, but they charge a higher price in store than what they list on their website. I've bought a few guitars from them in the past, but I don't do it often these days.
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Old 06-26-2022, 04:28 PM
ewalling ewalling is offline
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I've been going to the same GC, off and on, since 2007. Staff turnover is now rapid, and the store has a paltry set of acoustics from which to choose. It does make me feel a little sad. When I first started going there, they got really good, if a little predictable, stuff regularly. I remember buying a gorgeous brand new Gibson Songwriter Deluxe the week it came in, and when I was searching for a good classical-nylon string guitar, the head sales guy disappeared round the back and came out with a beautiful brand new Ramirez 2NCWE for me to try. The store was a delight, and I regularly used to stop by to see what delights they had on offer.

I partly blame GC's demise on the tax-free status that online stores used to enjoy. When a person is toying with spending upward of $2,000 on a guitar, the removal of tax constitutes a heavy discount. Add to that the discounts that these outlets were already able to offer and walk-in stores didn't stand a chance. It's a big pity because it means many of us simply have to hope for the best nowadays when we buy a guitar and be prepared to swallow the return shipping if we don't like what appears on our doorstep.
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Old 06-26-2022, 04:31 PM
SpruceTop SpruceTop is offline
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I hope Guitar Center lives on!
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Old 06-26-2022, 04:33 PM
Bob from Brooklyn Bob from Brooklyn is offline
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Quote:
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I hope Guitar Center lives on!
Right. Who would replace them?
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Old 06-26-2022, 04:39 PM
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David Eastwood David Eastwood is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Horsehockey View Post
In addition to the very credible reports above, this should tell you 99% of what you need to know about what happened to Guitar Center:

On June 27, 2007, Guitar Center agreed to a $1.9 billion buyout from Bain Capital, totaling $2.1 billion including debt. The deal was led by Goldman Sachs and amounted to a per-share price of $63, or a 26% premium on the June 26 closing price.
That was 15 years ago. Practically every time one of these GC threads starts up, someone brings up the Bain thing. The political taint to that is as long gone as this buyout.

Is this really still relevant?
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Old 06-26-2022, 11:23 PM
Leo MacIntosh Leo MacIntosh is offline
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Copied and pasted from Reddit by BigGretch313:

Guitar Center employee here. Once we had a guy steal twice by simply walking out. The first time, he attempted to stand on a rotating stool and grab a Les Paul off the top rack. He fell in the process, made a huge “boom” and in turn broke the guitar, then ran out. Second time, he came in and stole a used vintage telecaster off of the wall and straight walked out. Thankfully one of my coworkers was on lunch and followed him home to get his address. Third time, he straight up walked to the back of the warehouse, took a JBL sub brand new in the box and walked out. We got his license plate number that time.

He is currently in court facing charges, but we never got the items back. We no longer have security in store or working cameras, and we’re not allowed to stop customers and ask for a receipt. Also, some months ago, a group of thieves hit multiple Guitar Centers in the Midwest by climbing on top of the roof in the middle of the night, and cutting a hole in the ceiling to grab all of the guitars off the top shelf. This allowed them to bypass the motion sensors. To my knowledge they are still at large. Pretty clever if you ask me.

And a post by Wavier:

A similar thing happened at the Guitar Center I work at.

The man was so relentless in his mission to steal the top-shelf guitars, he developed a strategy to scale our building and push his way through the HVAC system on the roof to get inside. From there he would move aside roof panels then use a rope to grab the headstock of a guitar, pull it up, and make his getaway.

U/Yeet_the_egg wrote:

I work at a guitar store and have seen some crazy attempts at theft. One thing we see often is the "pimp walk," where someone shoves a whole guitar down one of their pant legs and stroll out the front door with it. This never works and is truly a sight to behold.

Look at this photo L I N K
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Old 06-27-2022, 04:15 AM
Don W Don W is offline
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All I know is there seem to be a lot fewer guitar players these days. When GC first started almost everyone I knew played guitar...not now. It does not surprise me that they are in trouble. I always went there to buy strings and try guitars and amps and just look around. Customer service was always "hit or miss". Still, I think the guitar love affair that overtook young people after the Beatles made their appearance is over.
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Old 06-27-2022, 04:28 AM
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It's kind of a shame really

When GC first opened up it really was the proverbially "kid in a candy store" for any musician.

I bought all of my Yamaha digital pianos from Guitar Center, they had so much to choose from, everything was in stock too. You just picked something out, and 10 minutes later, you were heading home with whatever the heart desired, new in the box.

Eventually tho, I think they're debt problems got in the way of everything else and the slippery slope started.

I still have a few things I got from GCs back in the good days, when it was really a good place to go to.

Now, nope.. Not even a shadow of what it was.

Nothing lasts forever..
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Old 06-27-2022, 04:31 AM
fpuhan fpuhan is offline
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I feel sorry for anyone who only has Guitar Center as their sole resource.
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