Guitar center is going under!

[40Hz]

They had a business model that worked until someone with an MBA figured out a 20-year plan to put them all out of business

I don’t think the old mom&pops really had a business plan at all. It was just the way business was done when it came to music stores. And it continued until a simpler, friendlier, more convenient and pleasurable way to buy music gear came along.

Same thing happened to the old school bookstores who viewed themselves as custodians of literature and acted accordingly.

When the new age bookstores like Paperback Booksmith ( slogan: “Dedicated to the fine art of browsing.”) came along in the early 70s - with their friendly knowledgeable staff, broad selection - including the “junk” the hoity-toity bookshops wouldn’t carry, and a “feel free to open the books” shopping experience - it was only a matter of time before the rest of the industry followed suit.

Booksmith didn’t come in with the intent to put small shops out of business. Their prices were the same as every other bookshop in that era - full cover price unless something was on sale. But the customer experience was vastly superior. Because they realized readers are grazers. They browse and want to sample before they buy.

Musicians are similar in their shopping habits.

It wasn’t that the music chains like GC had this big master plan to torpedo Old Man Bach’s Professional Music Shop. GC and similar did well because there was so little in the way of competition from the old school music stores. The problem came when other similar music chains entered the fray, at which point they all started to compete mainly on price. And price competition seldom ends well for businesses even if it is a major boon for their customers. Or at least it is while it lasts.

 

[JRA]

what can you get at GC that you cannot get somewhere else (e.g., online) if you already know what you want?
and whatever that is: what would your experience be like if you didn't have it?
and if that was the case: could you adjust?
and if you couldn't: would you be worse off?
how?

i'm asking because my only experiences with GC over the years has been for convenience buys:
- gee, i need another sm57 for tonights PA gig --- i forgot that i broke one.
- maybe i should stop in and get a couple of spare sets of strings (if they have them).
- i came in for a 57 or a string set and then i notice this great 18U road rack for a ridiculously low price...a steal!

 

[40Hz]

what can you get at GC that you cannot get somewhere else (e.g., online) if you already know what you want?
and whatever that is: what would your experience be like if you didn't have it?
and if that was the case: could you adjust?
and if you couldn't: would you be worse off?
how?

i'm asking because my only experiences with GC over the years has been for convenience buys:
- gee, i need another sm57 for tonights PA gig --- i forgot that i broke one.
- maybe i should stop in and get a couple of spare sets of strings (if they have them).
- i came in for a 57 or a string set and then i notice this great 18U road rack for a ridiculously low price...a steal!

A lot depended on the store.

For a good long while my local GC was quite good, gradually became just good, and is now a shadow of its former self.

But I did buy a decent amount of fairly expensive gear from them when they were still sticking more upper shelf products. It was convenient, I could try before I bought, and I was treated respectfully by the staff (at least back in the days when the staff didn’t change every two weeks) because me and my SO were both considered serious buyers. Our local store knew from experience we weren't just in there to kill time or kick tires. We pretty much purchased something every time we went in until the store’s inventory started dwindling in scope and quality.

If GC folds it will be due to a changing economy, a changing market, and the result of managerial decisions that were and are being made in the face of that. There’s no “karma” or mystic mumbo-jumbo involved. Just supply, demand, and customers with available cash to spend.

I wouldn’t be happy to see GC go any more than I was happy to see RadioShack shutter its doors. Time was when I needed a switch, or capacitor, a resistor, or fuse, I could just take a five minute ride to RS and get it. Now I need to order from places like: Mouser, Small Bear, and Digi-Key. And wait about three days. Not handy if I need to replace a jack on something I was planning to use tonight. Or to complete an electronics project I’m in the middle of.

Now I need to keep a much larger stock of parts than I used to. And that ties up money I’d rather not leave sitting in my spare and project parts drawers.

And that’s say nothing of now having yet another corrugated carton or plastic coated mailer to dispose of and further clog up the environment once it’s delivered. Which is another often overlooked cost of the online economy.

I’m thinking that if even big retail chains are finding it a tough go, I wouldn’t be hoping to see a sudden large scale return of small music dealers since they lack the capital and sales volume to interest the major manufacturers. And since they lack buying power, their costs will rise - and so will the prices to any of their customers.

So no. Warts and all, I wouldn’t be happy to see GC go. About the only thing I think you’ll see GC folding results in is an across the board price hike throughout the industry.

 

[MordBass]

what can you get at GC that you cannot get somewhere else (e.g., online) if you already know what you want?
and whatever that is: what would your experience be like if you didn't have it?
and if that was the case: could you adjust?
and if you couldn't: would you be worse off?
how?

i'm asking because my only experiences with GC over the years has been for convenience buys:
- gee, i need another sm57 for tonights PA gig --- i forgot that i broke one.
- maybe i should stop in and get a couple of spare sets of strings (if they have them).
- i came in for a 57 or a string set and then i notice this great 18U road rack for a ridiculously low price...a steal!

Honestly, to me GC is about one major thing... national used inventory available to search online and ship to your home or any local store. Used gear with a purchasable warranty and a return policy. Tons of it.
And the stores usually are competing with each other to move their gear so theres always one or two that price a little bit below the mark of the other stores. I've gotten tons of deals there and buy with confidence because I have the stuff shipped to the store and if it isnt as described, I dont' accept it.

 

[Berniez40]

Honestly, to me GC is about one major thing... national used inventory available to search online and ship to your home or any local store. Used gear with a purchasable warranty and a return policy. Tons of it.
And the stores usually are competing with each other to move their gear so theres always one or two that price a little bit below the mark of the other stores. I've gotten tons of deals there and buy with confidence because I have the stuff shipped to the store and if it isnt as described, I dont' accept it.

 

[Berniez40]

That's my take on it. Tused gear has good deals if you know your gear.

 

[jdthebassman]

the GCs near me are pretty lame, firewood basses setup bad. When they first opened they had nice inventory lowerlined alembic,warwick, musicman etc then bain capital bought them and ruined the store by not letting you barter on price, they had the office max mentality we have the lowest price that's it no dickering. I go there once in a while just find something unique like the wilcox lightwave 5string I got before the plague hit. other than that I go on line TB etc. If they fold after this I wont miss them.

 

[Jeff Scott]

...we have the lowest price that's it no dickering.

That'd be fine, if they had anything worth buying there.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

I don’t know. I have two reasonably local GC’s by me that I’ve dropped quite a bit of money into over the past year. Both have great selections... for guitar players, and the setups are no worse than any other store I’ve been in.

The major difference between the two GC’s is their level of customer service. One shop is really great and has knowledgeable staff and they lean in your favor if you ever want to do a trade in. The other one is pretty meh in that regard, and one guy was trying to give an amp I was looking to trade in a “good” rating when it never left the house or saw any abuse.

That said, both have been massive improvements over the local Mom and Pop shops I’ve been in - overpriced gear and overzealous business owners thinking they’re doing you a favor by even allowing you to step foot in their store. It’s an outdated model that I don’t care to see continue. Personally, I’d be upset to see GC close entirely.

 

[GregC]

Every time I see "GC is going bankrupt" posted here, it reminds me of Beauty & the Beast. "Tale as old as time..."

 

[jamro217]

What's better than a "GC going under thread" from December of '17? I do miss Daddy's Junky Music.

 

[RoadRanger]

GC is too big to fail :-/