lazarusvt84 Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Ran into my son's guitar teacher and he said he'd heard that GC may be going out of business. Anyone else heard that? Perhaps the stores are losing out to online shops? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevDavidLee Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 If I had a quarter for every time I've heard this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moparguy Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 They are have financial difficulties, but I don't think they are going anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darling67 Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 NO! We are not going out of business! Believe me. I work there... no such thing is happening. Enough with the rumors already! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimi Mac Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 There is no doubt going to be a corporate restructuring and a complete reorganization, but they will remain. Will some stores close? No doubt the completely unprofitable ones will shut their doors eventually and consolidate with the next closest profitable store, but that's about it... But in the meantime you can get some unbelievable deals as they do their best to liquidate overhead! Especially on higher-end guitars and amps. There won't be walls of high-end Gibsons, PRS, & Fenders for long, they are trying to liquidate a vast overhead of those purchases. But they will have more of the more economical brands and offerings. I don't know if my local store will make the cut or not, but I suspect so due to traffic dynamics and what I assume to be a profitable history... Like any corporate entity that got too big for its britches, it is getting a spanking from its parent company and is going to have to change its tune to stay in the house... Don't worry, the government will bail them out if not... At our taxpaying expense! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awel Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Hummm, I didn't have a good experience at the Guitar Center in LA, I was there on holidays (in LA not in the guitar center :)) and I wanted to buy an american guitar in USA (as I live in Europe)so went there and ask for the SRV strat on the wall I ask the guy if the guitar was new and he told me first yes, I looked it and see scratches everywhere, pickguard, back,so I ask him a second time and he stil told me yes, then he told me that there was no case with it, so I told him that Fender AS series always came with a case, finally he told me it was not new, funny thing is that it was the price of a new one. When I gave him back the guitar he told me, he could give me a gigbag, then a case, then a case and a gigbag ... so pathetic I cross the street and went to Sam Ash and buy a vintage hot rod 62 strat ... new one this time :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 The stores that I go to around Chicagoland sure looks like there going out of business. Bare display areas, very little new stock, makes me think something is about to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 They aren't going anywhere. http://www.ericgarland.co/2014/03/29/parasite-economy/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrNylon Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 The insider Poop says GC is in severe financial trouble. A fair number of stores in certain market places are being closed, or are in the process of closing. At my local GC, the store is in the process of thinning out excess amps, etc. It also appears the staff is lower in numbers. Items that would have purchased from walk-in players in the past, are not being welcomed. Basically they aren't laying out the cash for more stock in the store. GC just opened up in to many market places to take over the music shop's business in areas. Targeting mom and pop shops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Guitar Center to open second Jacksonville store Guitar Center opens Cool Springs store this week Palm Desert Guitar Center Grand Opening Many more to open this year. They opened 15 new stores last year. According to my inside poop they aren't doing nearly as bad as the interwebs want you to think they are. But even so , they are in a rather unique position of not really having to be profitable to be valuable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan H Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 This was posted by another member recently...it happened about 2 weeks ago... http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-guitar-center-completes-debt-swap-with-ares-management-20140403,0,3327446.story#axzz2zF934BLy "Ares Management gained control of Guitar Center Holdings Inc. in a debt-for-equity swap, the Westlake Village retailer said in a statement. Guitar Center reduced its debt by about $500 million under the deal, which gives Ares Management a controlling interest in the nation's largest guitar retailer. The deal reduces Guitar Center's crushing debt by $500 million and slashes its annual interest costs by about $70 million, the company said. In addition to the debt swap, Guitar Center said it refinanced its remaining debt at a lower interest rate that will provide the company increased flexibility." -Ryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 One of the problems with businesses at that level is that IMHO at some point they no longer are in the business to sell (name the product or products or services), but instead are in the business of business. That latter also, IMHO, may be blamed largely on stockholder and bond/loan holder input where money now, not a long term business strategy, is the priority. It's the weakness of any enterprise, be it under a true communist state or under the wildest version of capitalism, once folks outside that business knowledge have a significant "say" in its operation. It's also true that a lotta folks on the Gibson forums have been rather critical in ways of this small corporation's leadership, but I'd suggest that they're not stuck in the refinancing of refinancing deals with more refinancing because of ill-suited "business" folks whose understanding of the actual workings of a given market is vestigial. HenryJ pay not be the world's greatest shredder, but he at least understands a segment of the consumer base that he personally represents. Frankly I'm in an entirely different consumer perspective, but I'd rather work for him than a faceless bureaucracy public or private, where the maintenance of the bureaucracy and the bureaucrats is more important than getting work done. The perspective of the "ownership" of large corporations - again, whether government is socialist/communist environments or raw capitalist environments - then is one of a relationship with management rather than workers and customers. Bottom line is that there's a disconnect between management and customer because "financials" are more important than selling goods and services. We see the results of that increasingly in traditionally capitalist nations, and we've seen the results of that in socialist nations who increasingly have come to the realization that the paradigm they had, didn't work. So... it's interesting to watch these bureaucracies in both political systems working to come to grips with realities - but lack the vision to see beyond a spreadsheet. Guitar Center? They have questions to answer internally whether they're in the music business or the financials business. Car dealers learned long ago that they may make their real profits from the financials - but that's irrelevant if they can't sell cars in the first place. Notice also that car dealers frequently move locations or product emphasis as demographics change. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Guitar Centre has become a numbers business and not a guitar business. The way in which they have restructured their crippling debt has shifted focus from customers to stake holders. In specialist retail sectors this nearly always means the beginning of the end because specialist customers generally don't react well to the required changes. They can shift away slightly from the "specialist" area by concentrating on cheap, entry level instruments for which the customer base and it's requirements are different. IMHO any specialist retail business that goes down this route has a very limited future. I would give them 5 years. In summary, yes, they are going out of business (again, IMHO), all be it a slow death. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaiser Bill Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 awel... I had a similar experience on line with GC. The salesperson I talked to had a real attitude problem. After I ordered the guitar, I asked about the case. He said (and I quote) "It doesn't come with a case...you got a problem wit dat??" I told him to cancel the order and I wanted to speak with his supervisor. I informed the supervisor about his attitude, and also that I wouldn't be buying anything from GC anymore. That was about eleven years ago. My wife has purchased me a few small things from then since, but it was without my knowing. Getting back on track, I think they are too big to go out of business. Someone will always be willing to buy their merchandise. Their prices seem to set the standard for everyone else AFAIK. Thanks for listening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimi Mac Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Hummm, I didn't have a good experience at the Guitar Center in LA, I was there on holidays (in LA not in the guitar center :)) and I wanted to buy an american guitar in USA (as I live in Europe)so went there and ask for the SRV strat on the wall I ask the guy if the guitar was new and he told me first yes, I looked it and see scratches everywhere, pickguard, back,so I ask him a second time and he stil told me yes, then he told me that there was no case with it, so I told him that Fender AS series always came with a case, finally he told me it was not new, funny thing is that it was the price of a new one. When I gave him back the guitar he told me, he could give me a gigbag, then a case, then a case and a gigbag ... so pathetic I cross the street and went to Sam Ash and buy a vintage hot rod 62 strat ... new one this time :P Did U complain formally to the managment or even GC customer service? If not how is the company or even the store to know it has a bad employee that is driving customers away? Not pointing a finger at you BTW, but I'm suggesting in a general sense that we all have a responsibility as a consumer/customer to report such clearly piss-poor experiences to not only the chain's customer-service dept. but also to the local store's managment. Trust me these folks are employing human beings. Some good, some not so much. It's our own fault if we don't speak-up and demand better. It also does a disservice to the next customer in line if we do nothing and simply walk... I'm guilty of it myself... If I get poor service at a restaurant I leave a minuscule tip to let the server know how crappy they were and I simply don't go back... But if it were a local establishment I should inform the manager or owner of the situation so they can take steps to correct it and make the place better... Funny I don't let such things bother me when it comes to GC or those type places. Not that I've ever had a bad GC experience and frankly I guess I've always been lucky compared to the horror-stories I hear about 'em, and have had nothing but great service, luck, and experiences with my local GC. I report the issues to the proper superiors and usually in such instances I've gotten immediate satisfaction and such places have gone out of their way to make it right with me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeman Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Did U complain formally to the managment or even GC customer service? If not how is the company or even the store to know it has a bad employee that is driving customers away? Not pointing a finger at you BTW, but I'm suggesting in a general sense that we all have a responsibility as a consumer/customer to report such clearly piss-poor experiences to not only the chain's customer-service dept. but also to the local store's managment. Trust me these folks are employing human beings. Some good, some not so much. It's our own fault if we don't speak-up and demand better. It also does a disservice to the next customer in line if we do nothing and simply walk... I'm guilty of it myself... If I get poor service at a restaurant I leave a minuscule tip to let the server know how crappy they were and I simply don't go back... But if it were a local establishment I should inform the manager or owner of the situation so they can take steps to correct it and make the place better... Funny I don't let such things bother me when it comes to GC or those type places. Not that I've ever had a bad GC experience and frankly I guess I've always been lucky compared to the horror-stories I hear about 'em, and have had nothing but great service, luck, and experiences with my local GC. I report the issues to the proper superiors and usually in such instances I've gotten immediate satisfaction and such places have gone out of their way to make it right with me... I usually ***** about it on yelp and don't bother talking to management in situations like this. Perhaps I should in the future...whether it be a restaurant or an instrument shop. I've not had a terrible experience at GC, but have had some annoying situations, nothing that would make me never go back or tell other people to not shop there or anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 Guitar Centre has become a numbers business and not a guitar business. The way in which they have restructured their crippling debt has shifted focus from customers to stake holders. In specialist retail sectors this nearly always means the beginning of the end because specialist customers generally don't react well to the required changes. They can shift away slightly from the "specialist" area by concentrating on cheap, entry level instruments for which the customer base and it's requirements are different. Precisely what happened to Mars Music, The Musicians Planet. 109 Epiphone Les Pauls on the floor, one Gibson Joe Perry trans black on the wall, the one with his sig by the bridge. One real strat, one real tele on the wall, 72 Squiers on the floor. Same for bass stuff. In the warehouse? The LPClassicPremium that I bought, and about a dozen other les pauls that they didn't get out until the last weekend, dozens of Yankee Fenders. A warehouse full of expensive Yankee guitars, a floor full of imports, nothing more than $350. Weird. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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