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Guitar center wiped out!

I was in gc, braintree ma. yesterday to buy a tascam recorder. The place looks like it was looted. I was lucky they had the recorder in stock. There were 5 basses new stock, nothing in the used gear department at all! Be advised, if you buy a tascam recorder they dont come with a sim card.
I bought a Tascam dp-006 and it came with an SD card, but no power supply. The ad details said Power supply sold separately, so no surprise, but it did not mention the SD card. Go figure. I Didn’t buy it from GC.

My local GC has never had more than ten basses. I think it’s a really small store. I haven’t been in for over a year so I don’t know what the situation is there.
 
I’ve heard similar stories from all over. On a unrelated but similar note, I was at cabelas yesterday looking for a turkey call and that store also looked like it had been ransacked. With the exception of clothing, there were lots of empty shelves and display cases. Weird times for sure.
 
I’ve heard similar stories from all over. On a unrelated but similar note, I was at cabelas yesterday looking for a turkey call and that store also looked like it had been ransacked. With the exception of clothing, there were lots of empty shelves and display cases. Weird times for sure.

Don't even bother trying to get ammo
 
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I have recently talked to both the manager of the local GC and one of the owners of the local mom-n-pop music store. It's actually been a pretty good year for both. They both said their biggest challenge is what COVID has done to the manufacturers. They are having difficulty replenishing stock when they make a sale.
 
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I've been shopping cheap used basses online at the GC website for a couple of years now. Fall of 2019 there were a ton of random squiers. Today, like 4. I'm shopping for specific things and once covid started up I felt like the amount of used squier basses dropped alot. Chalked it up to the nurglish lung rot and chapter 11. I shouldn't say this but I found the last one I needed last Saturday, a troy sanders sig for like 270. The deals are for reals. Found a troy aiken sig a couple of months ago and a 50s style in lpb two weeks ago. All between 250 and 280. Reverb seems the same as it's always been tho. So idk what to think.
 
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They filed Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in November. There is a good chance that their ability to buy used/reorder stock is being limited. Likely a blend of...

2. Inability to place order from suppliers on credit. Again not an expert, but even if they are allowed to still order on credit (and I am not sure if they are or not), I doubt any supplier is going to let them do it.

Ding Ding Ding...we have a winner. They may be allowed to buy on credit, but I doubt any suppliers are going for anything but COD. One supposes that even a nine-lived specimen like GC will eventually collapse. "A situation that can't be sustained, won't be."
 
I popped in the New Orleans location last week to get some earplugs for my son. The bass section was half empty. I asked and the guy said they were slammed for Christmas. That being said, I'm guessing restocking is also being affected by the financial issues.
 
I was in gc, braintree ma. yesterday to buy a tascam recorder. The place looks like it was looted. I was lucky they had the recorder in stock. There were 5 basses new stock, nothing in the used gear department at all! Be advised, if you buy a tascam recorder they dont come with a sim card.

I was in a The Richmond Va area, and it looked picked over like the produce section of a grocery store after senior citizen’s day. 1 Fender Elite 5 string, the rest were all imports priced $600-$800. Amps, a few small MarkBass combos, practice amps, and a lower end Ampeg head and a 112 cab. Isn’t much for sale that I would use on a gig, unless I had a jam session in my bedroom.

In all fairness, the music scene here is deader than a door nail and probably most musicians are just playing in their bedrooms. Things like strings, picks, straps, stands are well stocked. There appears to be a fair amount of guitars, both electric and acoustic, and some of the acoustics were pushing $3,000.
 
It's doubtful that companies are sending them inventory on credit anymore so that might have something to do with it.

See attached. Page 7 shows how much money they owe to creditors and who they are. Number 2 is Yamaha, number 3 is Fender and number 6 is Gibson. Ernie Ball is 16.
 

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The equity firms are not stupid. They invest the money, sell unnecessary stores to not have 10 in a 20 mile radius but just at the best locations, make GC profitable again and then sell it at a higher valuation.
GC went bankrupt due to too many stores and internet competition, of course they gonna restructure and sell stores.
Yep, Dallas/Ft Worth has 6 stores. I suspect some of those will close. The state I live in has 2 and the one near me has a bass room, that pre covid had basses hanging 4 high floor to ceiling. I suspect that store will stay put.