New Guitar Center policy goes into effect this week

[phlemmy]

No more deals on gear! GC did an internal audit on what they were losing by letting employees cut deals to customers and it was in the millions of dollars per year. So starting this week, the only things that you may be able to get a break on are some guitars. Otherwise, the tagged price is it. I've spoken to a few friends who work at GC about this and they all said the same thing.

[blueflamerick]

One more reason not to shop there!

[windchimp]

...we'll see how long this lasts...

I think this is a draconian measure to the opposite extreme - from stupid deals to no deals. If the management was not so easy going (as they apparently were) with the salesdudes cutting these stupid deals to their buddies they might not have "lost" that revenue. Now, with the no-discount policy they will effectively lose even more revenue to smaller shops who deal and the internet where taxes are not added to the purchase price.

That being said, little Johnny will still drag dad in to buy that MIM Strat, which is where I think GC makes most of their $$$. Or rubes like me that occasionally buy a set of strings, which is a high profit item for them.

[squirefan01]

That was the policy they told me yesterday when I went there to get a Markbass amp. The guy told me that they bought MF just so they wouldn't have to bargain anymore.

[phlemmy]

The good thing is that it will help the indie stores compete a little better.

[paologregorio]

Ouch! Those GC deals are pretty much how most of my Non-rick guitars, and amps, have ended up in the stable.

[windchimp]

Without deals it would make it easier for M&P stores (which in my area already match the online prices). Problem now is that many areas the GC's have pushed the M&P's under, so there is no competition left, just as Lowe's and Home Dopey have done to the hardware stores.

I think the dealbreaker now is they will no longer move the quantity of inventory they once did, and a mega big-box store needs to move inventory. As I said earlier, management would have been better off if they pulled in the reigns on the stupid deals doled out in the past. If I can get what I need online delivered to my door for the same ticketed price with no tax and free shipping, the online vendor now has effectively given me a "deal". GC would need to knock 9% off their ticketed price to compete with that - so they lose. Now if I make this hypothetical purchase from MF or Music123 it would be no loss for the corporation, however the GC balance sheet now goes south. No love lost on me - I'd rather deal with Elderly or any number of other online vendors anyway.

[wj350]

I can't imagine buying from them without the opportunity to deal just a bit. You'd be better off just ordering from the internet sites--at least you save sales tax doing it that way. The instruments you get from the internet warehouses at least won't have been abused in the store (in most cases), nor left on walls with no temperature/humidity controls.

Bill

[Happyface]

Last year private equity "investors" bought Guutar Center. Private equity investors typically use tons of borrowed money when they buy any firm. This saddles the target with huge interest payments which they claim "focusses" management on "efficiency". So, they have to cut costs in order to cover the interest costs and the fat dividends the new owners expect.

You can expect the new "focussed" management team to announce even more cost-cutting policies.

I wonder how long the merchandise return policy will remain, but that's just my own idle specualtion.

[chuck_king]

That policy assumes that everybody who bought gear at the "deal" price would still have bought it at the marked price if no deal had been offered, which is certainly not true. Even if the bean counters are running the asylum over there now, they should realize that.

And, they are going to take a huge hit to goodwill (without doubt accounted as an asset on their balance sheet) for what customers percieve as them becoming less customer-friendly. Ironically, if they'd never dealt on prices, it probably wouldn't matter, but having set up a pattern of offering discounts, if they now take that away, they will be seen as getting worse, even though their marked prices are usually lower than most other places anyway. (Yes, I know that a savvy shopper can find an equal or better deal, but their strategy aims at the opposite of savvy shoppers.)

[jingle_jangle]

As I said earlier, management would have been better off if they pulled in the reigns on the stupid deals doled out in the past.

PULL IN my reigns? NEVER!!!

LOL, of course...

[wmthor]

...we'll see how long this lasts...

I think this is a draconian measure to the opposite extreme - from stupid deals to no deals. If the management was not so easy going (as they apparently were) with the salesdudes cutting these stupid deals to their buddies they might not have "lost" that revenue. Now, with the no-discount policy they will effectively lose even more revenue to smaller shops who deal and the internet where taxes are not added to the purchase price. ...

I believe that they will still wind up having some type of deals; probably available only with the approval of the store's General Manager.

[2112]

I was hoping the new policy was to curb all of the kids wailing away all at once.
I can't stand walking in that store. Especially on a Saturday when EVERYONE is in there trying to out jam everyone else.
I couldn't work one minute let alone one day in that store.
These days all I usually need is strings. I get what I need and I'm outta' there!

Well, hopefully now there won't be all of those stupid over hyped radio commercials. "MUUUSSICIAANNNSS"! That tough guy radio voice-over dude describing all of the unbelievable deals you get like buy one set of strings, get ten free.
I remember a long time ago, around 1978, my friend going to GC to get a new Les Paul. They sold him a factory second and gave him a hard time when he brought it back. It was at that point that I knew that if I ever bought anything from them, I would have to be very careful not to let them scam me. I'm really not a big fan of places like GC. I have way better experiences with smaller indie stores including repair work that GC does not offer. And not to sound too harsh, but I really don't like having to deal with some "salesperson" that has just finished smoking his lunch and calling me "buddy". Too many arrogant dopehead types working there for me.
Sorry. Rant off.

[jingle_jangle]

GC repair work...at the big GC on Van Ness here is SF, they have a repair guy (poor fella) who works long days, six days a week, on a table in the guitar department, tucked against a wall behind the guitar straps...his "workbench" is a porta-table smaller than my computer desk (that's small) and his tools are in a briefcase at his feet.

That has to be the bottom rung of the repair biz.

[atomic_punk]

It's too bad they can't square off a little area in there, get rid of a few Squier Teles or Graphics and give the guy a workstation or something to be able to close the door...