Reasons why RIC dropped guitar center...

patrick4001 · Post by **patrick4001** » Sun Jul 31, 2005 6:10 am

A few months ago...i walked into the guitar center of Columbus, Ohio...They had two C58 ricks....one jetglo, the other mapleglo...a few weeks later...they were on the floor level...a few weeks later, they were gone...When i ask a guy who worked there what happend to them...he said that they sold for 1300...not a piece...TOGETHER!! nuts huh?

lowendbob · Post by **lowendbob** » Sun Jul 31, 2005 6:39 am

Holy ****!

audiophile · Post by **audiophile** » Sun Jul 31, 2005 12:37 pm

So why are there no more Ric's at Guitar Center?

octagon · Post by **octagon** » Sun Jul 31, 2005 12:46 pm

http://www.rickenbacker.com/us/gc_press_rel.htm

dswp · Post by **dswp** » Sun Jul 31, 2005 1:40 pm

I heard that happened nation wide; thus the ones on EBAY

simer4001 · Post by **simer4001** » Sun Jul 31, 2005 2:08 pm

Apparently they ordered too many of the C58's. A result of one hand not knowing what the other hand was doing. They freaked and sold them for next to nothing. Not only that but the were not so nice to RIC about it when RIC found out.

lowendbob · Post by **lowendbob** » Sun Jul 31, 2005 2:23 pm

It was a Guitar Center Special.

Buy one get one Free!

blueflamerick · Post by **blueflamerick** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 7:25 am

Maybe JH walked into a Guitar Center and realized how lousy they were.

lowendbob · Post by **lowendbob** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 7:32 am

Well, GC is good for one thing at least.
I called the Harrisburg store today looking for a bass guitar shipping box, and the guy is holding one for me. Free of charge.

Cool!

johnhall · Post by **johnhall** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 12:35 pm

The great deal that a few purchasers got due to GC's overstock of 325's was just that- a great deal. It had absolutely nothing to do with us dropping them. As it says in our press release, it's strictly about business practices which do not favor "boutique" craftsman-oriented makers (or those with significant backlogs). Specifically it had to do with how the orders and shipments were required to be processed, as well as how goods are handled through their distribution center. It's a fine model for cheap, bulk goods or those with short delivery times and quantity availability but much less efficient for more expensive, harder to obtain items. Their system was an overhead we chose to forego.

Following their termination, it seemed we were headed in the right direction and coming close to ironing out these logistical problems (as well as some of the other niggling points like cases and warranty cards) when a series of counterfeit and trademark infringing items showed up for sale by GC- which has caused us to effectively keep the plug pulled.

simer4001 · Post by **simer4001** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 1:14 pm

"Niggling"? Is that a word?

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 1:19 pm

It is. It means minor, irritating, as applied to details.

patrickkelly · Post by **patrickkelly** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 7:12 am

John, were they RIC products that were in trademark violation? I know some stores were offering microphones that were Chinese knock-offs.

johnhall · Post by **johnhall** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 9:37 am

Yes- they were Asian produced guitars bearing RIC logos. In all fairness, it's likely these were customer modified goods they acquired as trade-ins. If they knew these weren't genuine goods it says one thing, but if they didn't, that might be even worse!

The Oktava microphone scandal you mention appears to be unfolding just now and it will be interesting to learn what their involvement might have been.

patrickkelly · Post by **patrickkelly** » Wed Aug 03, 2005 7:03 am

Yikes. A few minutes on that Oktava website shows what a rat's nest enforcing international trademark violations can be. Various holding companies, distributors, joint stock companies, etc. There's a lesson in there, boys...