I've crossed over to the dark side...

[JEngelking]

Well, I'm Ben, in accessories, and I should be out there within the next two weeks, so just mention you're from SSO.

Sweet! Will do.

 

[squid-boy]

Just rock dat shit, brah.

 

[Stealthdjentstic]

Congrats dude!

 

[Devyn Eclipse Nav]

Bump update: Had my first day today, met some co-workers, learned the basics, I'm fucking wiped.

 

[Eric Christian]

And went and got a sales job in accessories at Guitar Center. Crucify me if you must , but I'm excited - first job ever, and it's somewhere I've wanted to work since I was 13.

I'm freaking stoked. So if any of you come into the Arlington Heights Guitar Center, you're gonna see me behind the accessories counter soon.

GC is literally billions in debt and the bill is due sometime in April so don't be surprised if you're out of a job.

 

[Devyn Eclipse Nav]

GC is literally billions in debt and the bill is due sometime in April so don't be surprised if you're out of a job.

 

[zakattak192]

GC is literally billions in debt and the bill is due sometime in April so don't be surprised if you're out of a job.

 

[Spaceman_Spiff]

Congrats man! I got a job a few months ago and it's pretty hard to not blow all my money on gear. Damn school loans...

P.S. Oh look...Eric killing the fun...

 

[Devyn Eclipse Nav]

Let us all just hope it stays afloat, and I don't get laid off since I'm a newbie.

 

[Eric Christian]

Let us all just hope it stays afloat, and I don't get laid off since I'm a newbie.

You yourself referred to Guitar Center as the "Dark Side" so certainly you are attaching some negative connotation to them already. Irregardless, sorry if I came off sounding petulant I just thought a physical awareness of what you're actually getting into might be helpful in the sense that you should probably look for another job because this isn't your dream job as you say. I didn't make up the fact that GC is 1.6 Billion in debt. At this point I know a lot more about the real situation within GC and it doesn't look good from what I'm being told. That's all I can say. My best friend of 20+ years and many other good people I've known for along time could potentially lose their jobs soon so it does indirectly effect me. That said, I have an open offer to take my friend into our family household if things don't work out for him.

Life Support: How Long Until They Pull the Plug on Guitar Center? | The Tone King | TheToneKing.com

 

[JoeChugs]

Congrats on the new job. I often know more about the guitars than the employees do (mostly bc of this site haha), so I've been thinking of going in part time.

 

[Devyn Eclipse Nav]

It's worth a shot. You'll get started in accessories, but you can still help there.

And the "Dark Side" thing was a joke, as well as acknowledgement of the fact that a lot of people don't like them. I myself have never had trouble with them, but a lot of people have.

 

[AnarchyDivine88]

^ Its crazy my friend works there and its pretty much 30-50% off on alot of things depending on how much money they actually make off of it. Monster products and PRS's are the biggest profit margins. I think they're closer to 60% profit. When I heard how much they actually buy the $4,000 range PRS's for I nearly got sick to my stomach how much they're marked up. (This is just what he told me btw, can anyone can verify this?)

I think you got that mixed up with another brand. PRS have some of the lowest profit. In fact just today we sold a PRS 513 Goldtop which sells for $3,000 and the profit on that guitar would only have been $250, but we had it for a while and it wasn't selling so we just knocked $250 off for the guy and sold it to him at cost. So he payed the same price Guitar Center payed for it. So if you ever see a clearance PRS you know it's a good deal because it's probably marked down to cost or maybe even below cost.

Anyway Zeno, Congrats! You couldn't ask for a better first job! I'm not sure that Guitar Center is actually going out of business like Eric Christian suggested, since they've been opening new locations all over the place recently and are in the process of opening more. I don't think corporate would try to open a bunch of new stores that are scheduled to open in the next few months if they knew they would be out of business next month. Besides, there have been plenty of articles in the past foretelling company's futures that have ended up being wrong. Although I remember when Daddy's Junky Music closed about a year and a half ago, I was scheduled to start a new job there that Monday but before that day came around they suddenly closed their doors without warning. Where were the predictions then?

 

[Eric Christian]

I'm not sure that Guitar Center is actually going out of business like Eric Christian suggested, since they've been opening new locations all over the place recently and are in the process of opening more. I don't think corporate would try to open a bunch of new stores that are scheduled to open in the next few months if they knew they would be out of business next month. Besides, there have been plenty of articles in the past foretelling company's futures that have ended up being wrong. Although I remember when Daddy's Junky Music closed about a year and a half ago, I was scheduled to start a new job there that Monday but before that day came around they suddenly closed their doors without warning. Where were the predictions then?

I just posted factual information about the financial state of the company. People often buy new mansions and luxury automobiles on credit right before they go bankrupt as well. Opening a few new locations this year certainly isn't an indication of prosperity or success it just means they've dug themselves that much deeper.

 

[Devyn Eclipse Nav]

Buzz Killington. Quit your shit. Lemme enjoy this while I can.

 

[AnarchyDivine88]

I just posted factual information about the financial state of the company. People often buy new mansions and luxury automobiles on credit right before they go bankrupt as well. Opening a few new locations this year certainly isn't an indication of prosperity or success it just means they've dug themselves that much deeper.

I just meant that I don't think they would start building new stores that are scheduled to open past the date that they supposedly have to pay a bill they can't pay. But you're right, that's not really evidence. Even if that's the case though, the last few paragraphs of that article suggest that's it's kind of unlikely that they're going to go out of business that quickly and that all the speculation is pretty unsure. And I think it's worth mentioning that a lot of times when articles like that are published it gets people scared and actually CAUSES the prediction to come true, because people become weary of the company and don't want to buy products or warranties from a company they think won't be there for support after their purchase. If it does happen though then all we can do is go look for new jobs like everyone else who loses a job in this economy. No use dwelling on it.

In any case, I know that you just wanted to be helpful and warn him, but I don't think that was really the time to do it. If a friend came up to me and was all excited about finally getting the job he wanted I certainly wouldn't respond with "Yeah well you're probably gonna lose your job soon anyway". It's just kind of mean to do that right off the bat. Just my