Guitar Center's woes

[rct]

I'm surprised at the short memory in this thread. Fedner just threatened to go public in 2012. That led to some intense financial scrutiny which led to a little being made public of their debt situation, and it was not good at all. If there is one thing they need right now it is a stable brick and mortar presence, and they won't have that if GC goes and there is only the regionals and small local shoppes, they can't pony up the franchise money that is needed today.

 

rct

[Searcy]

I'm going to the grand opening of a brand new Guitar Center tomorrow. I'll be sure to inform them of y'alls concerns.

[charlie brown]

http://mmrmagazine.com/684-guitar-center-inside-the-big-box.html

 

CB

[BobF_]

I'm going to the grand opening of a brand new Guitar Center tomorrow. I'll be sure to inform them of y'alls concerns.

 

 

 

Where the heck is that button? It used to be right there!

[Aster1]

http://mmrmagazine.com/684-guitar-center-inside-the-big-box.html

 

CB

 

Good find. It may still be the "cleanup & new suit" for GC and head to the market to sell as a going concern. It's a good story, but much does ring true about Bain & the big investors. Of course Bain & others get bashed bad, but I maintain, if they didn't intervene in 2007 I don't think there would be a GC today. It sure wouldn't have held together by all their fans sending in a crisp new dollar bill in the mail to them to keep the doors open now would it?

 

Maybe Warren B will buy it from Bain. He's a good liberal and then people could "feel good" about someone that was rich & powerful owing GC. I still think they need to work on the stores & retail selling model. Maybe in the big markets it's different. Places I won't be moving or going to in the future (big cities are not for me anymore)!

 

Aster

[buliwyf]

I didnt read all the pages of posts on GC's woes but my wife was heading for a doctors appointment this morning.She noticed a small strip mall store that used to be a Lens Crafters was closed and had a large sign on the outside.It said coming soon a Guitar Center outlet store,now what the heck is that.There is a full on huge GC store not more than 3 miles down on the same street.Personally I had a realbad experiance there about 15 years ago all over 10 dollars on a rather large sale.But what is a GC outlet store, maybe returns from MF or a GC,used or scratched stuff.Anybody know anything about this outlet or was it mentioned in this thread.Personally until they went away I got along great with Mars music and bought a lot from them,now I use Sam Ash.

[zigzag]

I'm going to the grand opening of a brand new Guitar Center tomorrow. I'll be sure to inform them of y'alls concerns.

 

Please do. Thanks Searcy!

[milod]

I think an exceptionally valid point apparently missed by most in that article is the mode in which we have two levels of function in larger business institutions.

 

First, there's the obvious. GC sells guitars, Ford Motor Company sells cars and trucks.

 

Second, there's the less obvious, the business of business. That's where the financial "back room" enters play and it's exceptionally complex and has nothing to do with the sales figures and such.

 

Anyone beginning a business "for real," should also recognize this, and have a decent tax accountant involved. Regardless of cash flow as most of us think of a retail or service operation, the "business of business" is where the reality of business success or failure can be found.

 

I'll add that probably 90 percent of that has to do with government tax and regulation at various levels.

 

m

[zigzag]

The more branches you open, the more accountants you need. The expenses from opening up a new branch can be very high. If you are going to open a new branch, you need to make sure the sales are there, first, because closing a branch can be, in many ways, just as costly. And it is hard to justify keeping a branch open that is losing money.

 

I have noticed that companies run by accountants are strongest in accounting; businesses run by salesmen tend to be strongest in sales; businesses run by technical people tend to be strongest technically; businesses run by manufacturing people are strongest in manufacturing. See the pattern? See my point?

[milod]

And the most successful companies, unfortunately it seems only for at most a generation, are a synergy of the corporate sections noted above.

 

m

[Searcy]

So I went to the grand opening of the new Cool Springs Guitar Center in Franklin Tennessee. It's a lot smaller than out Nashville store. The event was fun with an 80's cover band called "Big Rock Show" playing hair metal hits. The had a guy walking around work the crowd with a megaphone doing a really good "Bane" (from batman) impression. "You have simply adopted the Rock and Roll... I was born in it... Do you feel in charge?" The subtle inside joke was not lost on me.

 

They gave away some cool guitars and basses and amps. I didn't win any of them. I did try out a cool Epiphone ThunderBird bass though. I liked it more than I thought I would.