One man's take on Guitar Center

[cestlamort]

I do not like GC ("although I have the same initials") as they exemplify pretty much everything thing that is wrong with the big box model: impersonal, lowest common denominator, excessive standardization, turning tools for art (or at least expression) into the bottom line, etc etc. Economies of scale run amok. And flyers for "guitarmaggedon" sales events.

At best, the stores are convenient for showrooming gear (if they have it in stock) and, more often, having cool, underpriced used gear slip through the cracks.

Thanks for sharing the article.

[nukebass]

It seems to me that one of the implications the author was trying to make about Guitar Center is that they put other stores out of business. There are only two entities with that sort of power and the one I will mention here is the consumer. The consumer chooses where to buy his goods and when larger stores provide lower prices, the consumer will generally go for the lower prices. I like Guitar Center. I bought my last two instruments from them because they had the stock and gave me a good price. I went to a local chain store (I guess it could be a Mom and Pop store since it only has two locations and those are both local) and asked if this particular Fender bass was something they could get and what it would cost since it was a limited edition. He just looked at me and said they could get it and made no effort to get me a price or anything, or actually verify he could really order it. The guys at GC were more than happy to get a price and order the bass for me. I've also been to local Mom and Pop stores that were incredibly overpriced simply because the owner wanted to buy everything through a distributor. I've also been to good stores. It all depends on who is running the store and how they treat the customer.

I have often wondered how they can keep as much stock as they do on hand, so it wouldn't surprise me if GC scales back considerably given the economy.

[johnhall]

I have often wondered how they can keep as much stock as they do on hand, so it wouldn't surprise me if GC scales back considerably given the economy.

Oddly enough, based on our experience and other suppliers in the industry, they've actually been ratcheting up purchases rather than cutting back on purchasing.

There's a little different point of view in Musical Merchandise Review, although this is all pretty much the party line from the company. (The writer of the original article pointed this out as an example of the same "kool aid" GC management was offering to anyone who will listen".)

I don't have any particular complaints with current management, at least with the way they do business with us, as compared to previous regimes which were decidedly more difficult to deal with.