One man's take on Guitar Center

JakeK · Post by **JakeK** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 2:34 pm

I've only been in GC once, five years ago, and it left such a sour taste in my mouth that I've never been and never will be back in there. Throw me in the "Would Not Miss It" lot.

DriftSpace · Post by **DriftSpace** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 4:16 pm

Good riddance, Guitar Center, and good riddance "big box," brick-and-mortar retailers. If anyone is going to own a brick-and-mortar shop: it should be because they love what they do, and want to incorporate their passion and knowledge into their business; brick-and-mortar retail should be a labor of love. The internet makes the "catalog with walls" obsolete, and I think that's a good thing; let's infuse more physical space with personality, and less with uninspired corporate nonsense.

As someone who used to work at a family-owned record store (and was a record store employee for most of my college years) I know first-hand the difference in quality reflected in places like the shop at which I worked (Bart's CD Cellar) as opposed to their "big-box" mirrors (Virgin, Tower, etc.) I lost my job when the store was bought by "Value Music Concepts," which subsequently (and very quickly) went out of business. One of my favorite independent record shops (Twist & Shout) is still going strong, and a few people I know (including Bart, from the aforementioned CD Cellar) are running much smaller (and so far successful) independent shops.

The flip-side of this for me is Amazon, which (since someone was bashing earlier) has never been anything short of awesome in my experience; the shipping is fast, the prices are competitive, and not only will they take returns on the majority of things I have purchased, and for a variety of reasons, but they also pay for return shipping. If I need a replacement for something: they send me a replacement for that item before I've even returned the old/defective item. Yeah, sometimes I call customer support and get India, and they're overly dramatic and difficult to understand, but I always manage to get what I wanted in the end. 90% of the time I am able to solve my own problems though their website.

Would I buy an instrument from Amazon? I have bought several, actually, and the fact that buying instruments sight-unseen is questionable has less to do with Amazon than it does with ... buying an instrument sight-unseen; I've had just as much luck from other on-line retailers, eBay, and craigslist than from Amazon where instrument-buying is concerned.

When given the option I'd much rather support my local labor-of-love shop (like our recently-departed Premier Bass Guitars in Superior) and have someone who loves their job and knows their stuff talk to me like a human being. However, the "big box" retailers like Guitar Center (as evidenced by the article Mr. Hall linked) have been crushing small businesses for the last 20+ years, so they have been increasingly more difficult to find in your average locale.

If we have to have a "big box" I'd rather not have to look at it, not have them abuse their employees (i.e. Wal*Mart, Guitar Center), and not travel there to deal with idiotic policies and depressing mega-corporate storefronts. I'd have no problems with Amazon taking care of the stuff I can't get locally or seasonally, and having the local strip-mall full of independent businesses instead of the same 6-8 corporate places everybody in America sees everywhere. Amazon is (like Costco, and a select few other major retailers) really putting customer-service first, and I think that will be a deciding factor in the viability of future business; Guitar Center -- from my many years of personal experience -- is definitely not in that category.

A few questions for Mr. Hall:
1) With what in that article do you not agree?
2) Though I admire and support (what I perceive to be) your desire to only sell instruments in shops which have a store-front, I am curious about your philosophy regarding the sale of your instruments through a place like Amazon. Several of your distributors certainly sell RIC "boutique" items through Amazon.

s4001 · Post by **s4001** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 4:31 pm

IF - and that's a big if - the big box storefronts go under that would leave a potential vacuum in the market that the mom & pop's could fill. It would be nice to see more of those come back to fill the void.

johnhall · Post by **johnhall** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 5:39 pm

DriftSpace wrote:1) With what in that article do you not agree?

I just reread the story and now, the followup article. Actually, I pretty much agree with most of what he says although I'm not sure that in general the sales associates are any less informed that those I've encountered in many other non-chain stores.

DriftSpace wrote:2) Though I admire and support (what I perceive to be) your desire to only sell instruments in shops which have a store-front, I am curious about your philosophy regarding the sale of your instruments through a place like Amazon. Several of your distributors certainly sell RIC "boutique" items through Amazon.

This is a very difficult issue. Personally I HATE the idea of sales through a site like Amazon (and our dealer contract does not permit sales on any auction site, which of course, Amazon is not.) But I also realize that this type of marketing is the retail reality of the future. In fact, I buy many thing online for myself and we even buy a few things for the company- like light bulbs and general maintenance or repair supplies- from online suppliers. Often it's attractive more from the standpoint of availability and ease of ordering but sometimes there's some good price savings as well. (Anyone who mentions not paying sales tax as a factor is a tax cheat and will get theirs in due time.) But I'd like to think that the online model favors commodity goods while bespoke or artisanal goods should be sold in stores but I also don't think there will ever be enough local stores of quality to reach a rather large number of consumers.

So what do you do? I really don't know exactly and am watching the developing online retail market carefully for clues as to the right model for us.

Of course, I could just retire, in which case it's not my problem anymore!

johnhall · Post by **johnhall** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 5:42 pm

By the way, the comment in his follow up "The best any has said . . ." was mine, in an email I sent him after reading the first article.

deaconblues · Post by **deaconblues** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 9:59 pm

Wow...a $360m loss in one quarter?

8mileshigher · Post by **8mileshigher** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 10:11 pm

deaconblues wrote:Wow...a $360m loss in one quarter?

Sadly, just imagine as one expense item, the facility lease costs for 255 Guitar Center stores in 44 states and 118 Music and Arts stores in 22 states, all likely at prime Shopping Center prices.

It's going to take a lot of discounted China-made guitars, just to cover the rents each month..... let alone that staggering debt burden.

Refer to published financial details at
http://yahoo.brand.edgar-online.com/Dis ... eId%253d13

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 10:20 pm

johnhall wrote:Of course, I could just retire, in which case it's not my problem anymore!

[sniff]

rickenbrother · Post by **rickenbrother** » Thu Dec 05, 2013 10:51 pm

s4001 wrote:IF - and that's a big if - the big box storefronts go under that would leave a potential vacuum in the market that the mom & pop's could fill. It would be nice to see more of those come back to fill the void.

That's fine with me and they can take the chain restaurants away with them, starting with the OG as far as I'm concerned.

JakeK wrote:I've only been in GC once, five years ago, and it left such a sour taste in my mouth that I've never been and never will be back in there. Throw me in the "Would Not Miss It" lot.

There was a time when GC and Sam Ash were cool stores.

collin · Post by **collin** » Fri Dec 06, 2013 2:30 am

Well, I would really miss Guitar Center...

Due to their uninformed and lazy staff, it's my favorite place to score underpriced vintage gear.

MDL · Post by **MDL** » Fri Dec 06, 2013 10:10 am

About GC & SA I don't like being treated as a potential shoplifter every time I go in either one of their stores. Put your strings out where I can see them. As for their wares, same old stuff.

rkbsound · Post by **rkbsound** » Fri Dec 06, 2013 11:02 am

MDL wrote:About GC & SA I don't like being treated as a potential shoplifter every time I go in either one of their stores. Put your strings out where I can see them. As for their wares, same old stuff.

+1

rickboy88 · Post by **rickboy88** » Fri Dec 06, 2013 1:25 pm

The great thing about Amazon is that is makes finding exactly what you are looking for a lot easier. My wife wanted a brushed nickel clock for one of the bathrooms to match the fixtures we'd installed recently. None of the local retail stores had anything close (I looked), and then the light bulb went on in my little brain and I said "let's check Amazon." Sure enough, they had a few high quality brushed nickel clocks to choose from.
I just wish that I had enough money to buy a decent amount of Amazon stock when I was younger.

I will never buy some things online such as shoes, etc., but you can't beat the convenience of an Amazon for being able to find exactly what you are looking for.

8mileshigher · Post by **8mileshigher** » Fri Dec 06, 2013 2:23 pm

collin wrote:Well, I would really miss Guitar Center...

Due to their uninformed and lazy staff, it's my favorite place to score underpriced vintage gear.

cheyenne · Post by **cheyenne** » Fri Dec 06, 2013 5:35 pm

I've walked into some good (used) deals at Guitar Center, but I've never really taken the place seriously. I usually walk out frustrated. Interesting article though.

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