Guitar Center going out of business?

[InVinoVeritasXXX]

Honestly, it's whatever for me. I don't have the means to get to and from the closest Guitar Center to fingerdiddle geetsticks, so I wouldn't really miss it. I'd never sell anything there again, and I haven't bought a guitar from there since around 2010, and for good reason. I remember one visit when I was playing a Gibson V and decided that something like that would be the perfect first 'good' guitar for me. A few visits later, after I had purchased Bubbles off of eBay, the low E string had worn away the nut to where it would no longer hold the string in place and the thing looked like a janky bow. I wonder if I would have gotten kicked out for buying a drumstrick and trying to Legolas a PRS on the wall. Nah, I would have gotten kicked out for trying to buy one drumstrick. May survival of the fittest prevail.

 

[8STRINGS]

Don't hold your breath. How many independent bookstores opened near you after Borders went bankrupt?

You don't feel the need to "try out" your books before you order them online though.

 

[fps]

I don't like to see people lose jobs because the corp frigging greed machine is always hungry. Have I had my moments with GC hell yes! and they have seriously pissed me off at times with how they conduct business and the processes they lack, indeed.

The corporate machine is the reason there's a shop in the first place.

 

[celticelk]

You don't feel the need to "try out" your books before you order them online though.

You're implying that most people *do* feel the need to try out guitars before they buy them. The success of online-only retailers like MF and zZounds suggests that to be a false assumption. I haven't personally purchased a guitar from a bricks-and-mortar shop in over a decade.

 

[Konfyouzd]

I buy most of my guitars w/o trying them first from online retailers. If I don't like it most of the ones I've bought from allow returns and worst case scenario there's always someone looking to buy one on a slight discount. I consider the loss a renting fee if I can sell it close enough to what I bought it for.

 

[8STRINGS]

You're implying that most people *do* feel the need to try out guitars before they buy them. The success of online-only retailers like MF and zZounds suggests that to be a false assumption. I haven't personally purchased a guitar from a bricks-and-mortar shop in over a decade.

Really? That's interesting. Would you be less inclined to order a newly released model from a big brand online if you hadn't tried it before? I always assumed people would go try a model out before they ordered one.

 

[8STRINGS]

I buy most of my guitars w/o trying them first from online retailers. If I don't like it most of the ones I've bought from allow returns and worst case scenario there's always someone looking to buy one on a slight discount. I consider the loss a renting fee if I can sell it close enough to what I bought it for.

Oh ok, hadn't thought of the return aspect.

 

[3074326]

You're implying that most people *do* feel the need to try out guitars before they buy them. The success of online-only retailers like MF and zZounds suggests that to be a false assumption. I haven't personally purchased a guitar from a bricks-and-mortar shop in over a decade.

There are far more people who buy guitars and amps in-person.

The total sales from all the stores of my chain combined destroys the sales of the online part. It might not sound like a fair comparison, but it is. Everyone who walks into any of those stores has the choice to buy online. I have never purchased anything guitar related from a large chain website and 90% of my friends are the same.

Most of the population lives relatively close to a store of some sort. And if it's not that inconvenient to actually see it in person, that's the route people go.

 

[flint757]

I'm surprised people use GC online when MF has the same prices and no taxes (which could explain the disparity). If I buy something at GC I do it in person, but that's only because I have no reason, beyond used gear, to buy from them online. Their prices are identical to MF for the most part, even the coupons, but shipping and taxes lean it in nearly every other companies favor after taxes are added.

 

[The Hiryuu]

If I was a supply-chain executive at Wal-Mart, I'd be on the phone with GHS and Ernie Ball and D'Addario right now. Carrying the day-to-day "essentials" (picks, strings, cables) without also stocking guitars and amps requires a lot less expertise and warehousing space. I think it's much more likely that existing big-box retailers of a more general nature will take up the slack, and people will continue to order guitars and amps and effects on the Internet.

Wal-Mart already tried that a few years back, they stocked GHS strings when they carried those First Act guitars.

 

[Nails In Your Coffin]

Guitar Center exists for one purpose. They exist so I can go play their guitars, then buy elsewhere. That place sucks. The employees are absolutely useless. Getting advice from a Guitar Center employee is akin to asking the guy at Best Buy to design your home theater.

Countless times have I gone to Guitar Center to buy gear, and get some info on products, only to leave just as stupid as I was when I walked in...probably more-so.

The only positive thing I can say about Guitar Center is that I enjoy milling around in there and playing their guitars; consider Guitar Center a "playground" of sorts.

As for Musician's Friend, I couldn't care less about them, either. I've had to return nearly everything I've ever gotten from Musician's Friend, due to the products being defective. Sure, the return process is easy enough, but it is an inconvenience. I've taken my business to sweetwater.com, whom always gets my order right, and always in good shape. I've never had to return anything back to them.

Guitar Center and Musician's Friend, good riddance.

 

[ZXIIIT]

This sucks, I know a few people that work at Guitar Center, all gear issues aside, don't want to see them lose their jobs.

 

[Nails In Your Coffin]

This sucks, I know a few people that work at Guitar Center, all gear issues aside, don't want to see them lose their jobs.

I feel bad for their employees, because it's not their fault they probably haven't received an ounce of training on the products they sell. Unfortunately, they're the people who pay. I think a lack of product knowledge by the employees is what's leading Guitar Center down the wrong path.

 

[celticelk]

There are far more people who buy guitars and amps in-person.

The total sales from all the stores of my chain combined destroys the sales of the online part. It might not sound like a fair comparison, but it is. Everyone who walks into any of those stores has the choice to buy online. I have never purchased anything guitar related from a large chain website and 90% of my friends are the same.

Most of the population lives relatively close to a store of some sort. And if it's not that inconvenient to actually see it in person, that's the route people go.

Respectfully, I doubt you have access to a large enough sample to make your observations significant. Add to this the fact that if your sample *was* reflective of the general population, you would expect that the online-only retailers would have gone out of business much more quickly than the bricks-and-mortar stores, which doesn't seem to be the case.

 

[Hollowway]

I remember one visit when I was playing a Gibson V and decided that something like that would be the perfect first 'good' guitar for me. A few visits later, after I had purchased Bubbles off of eBay, the low E string had worn away the nut to where it would no longer hold the string in place and the thing looked like a janky bow. I wonder if I would have gotten kicked out for buying a drumstrick and trying to Legolas a PRS on the wall.

WTF? What are you trying to say here? I don't understand it.

 

[Rev2010]

I honestly can't wrap my head around people saying "good fuck 'em!". The more stores available to us the better. The idea that somehow GC going away is going to create more mom & pop shops just isn't realistic, it won't. And besides... mom & pop shops have such a dramatically narrow selection I can never get anything I want in them.

Then there's the jobs aspect and how many musicians would lose their jobs. If you don't like GC don't shop there. If they somehow supremely wronged you then ok I get your attitude toward them. But for the rest of you that just dislike the place for the many other reasons I still can't see wanting them gone.


Rev.

 

[Mik3D23]

How to get beyond the parasite economy

An interesting read on the current state of GC

 

[Nails In Your Coffin]

I honestly can't wrap my head around people saying "good fuck 'em!". The more stores available to us the better. The idea that somehow GC going away is going to create more mom & pop shops just isn't realistic, it won't. And besides... mom & pop shops have such a dramatically narrow selection I can never get anything I want in them.

Then there's the jobs aspect and how many musicians would lose their jobs. If you don't like GC don't shop there. If they somehow supremely wronged you then ok I get your attitude toward them. But for the rest of you that just dislike the place for the many other reasons I still can't see wanting them gone.


Rev.

Considering GC never has anything I want anyway, how's that different from a "mom and pop" store?

I've never had any problems with selections from fairly local music stores in my area. No, they don't all carry all the $3,000 Les Pauls, but they can get them. There are numerous stores in my area who carry ESP, Charvel, Jackson, Fender, Ibanez, Taylor, Martin...all under one roof. I won't miss GC a bit.

Yeah, I agree with you that the more music stores around, the better...just sayin' I won't miss GC.

 

[VBCheeseGrater]

I like the fact that you can go into a guitar center, roam around and try our alot of different stuff. That's why the mom & pop stores are not real exciting, 12 guitars and 7 amps to choose from. I get that some folks don't like the fact that a guitar may have been previously played, but if there is any damage, you can normally get a price drop or set up. I've developed a pretty good relationship with my local GC, lots of good folks working at the location, with a few old timers who really have some vast knowledge - one dude used to work at A&E back in the day, i remember he was trying to sell me and my brother a $3000 blue anniversary marshall combo when we were checking out like $200 amps

But in general, i like GC, they've earned my respect - return policy, used section, service, laid back store atmosphere.

 

[Rev2010]

Considering GC never has anything I want anyway, how's that different from a "mom and pop" store?

Because for a large majority of people they did have stuff they wanted. I walked into a Guitar Center and bought my Mesa Triple Rec many years back. Granted they no longer can sell them but they did then. What stores here in NYC had them *in stock* at the time? None. Sam Ash didn't carry them, Rudy's sold them but via ordering them direct not actually having them in store, and I couldn't find any other stores that had them. I also bought my Jackson Slatxmg3-7 at the NYC GC, who else had that guitar in stock? No store did. J&R had some hardtail versions only with some flaws like cracked binding.

This is Sevenstring.org. Either way you paint it you'd probably be more likely to find a 7 or 8 string in GC than a local mom & pop store around these parts. And once again, even if they didn't ever have anything you needed in stock I'd still rather have them around, the more stores the better.


Rev.