d4rkst4r
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
Surprised it took this long, having a bunch of used car salespeople trying to sell music just doesn't fly I guess.
GC Files Bankruptcy
- Thread starter d4rkst4r
- Start date
Wakester
Re Member
So, when does he GOOB Sale begin?
Ovibos
Naughty Wood Librarian
As much as I mock GC, it’s really all the debt that the Bain Capital vultures saddled it with when they took over.
aphantomvaper
Bend it to the Owl!
The guys at my GC are musicians and I enjoy dealing with them. Being able to jam on the floor with the sales guy while you are trying out a guitar is fun and helps.
Their trade in thing is a joke though. Also not saying GC is great, just that the people at mine are cool. Took a guitar return on the day before the no questions return expired (and got a sweet Tele) so they were cool.
Their trade in thing is a joke though. Also not saying GC is great, just that the people at mine are cool. Took a guitar return on the day before the no questions return expired (and got a sweet Tele) so they were cool.
bodia
Authorities said.....best leave it.....unsolved
I mean, we mood them a lot, but back in the day, it used to be a cool place to go. Sad.
RickP
Established 1960, Still Not Dead
It’s sad to lose any music related businesses. Of course, bankruptcy doesn’t necessarily equal “gone.” Let’s hope they survive and improve.
When I was a teen, and brand new to guitar, there were several mom & pop music stores in my area... all gone now. I actually thought about opening a store at one point but, when I looked at the margins when competing with larger or online stores, it is indeed a good path to the bankruptcy court.
When I was a teen, and brand new to guitar, there were several mom & pop music stores in my area... all gone now. I actually thought about opening a store at one point but, when I looked at the margins when competing with larger or online stores, it is indeed a good path to the bankruptcy court.
sergiodeblanc
New Member
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Rip
Slowhands
New Member
It's chapter 11. They are going to court to help them reorganize / renegotiate / discharge their debts. They aren't going away, though part of that might translate into lots of local stores closing.
PRSfanboy46
Don't lick doorknobs and stay in school
They've done this so many times in the past. I think that something like Sweetwater has really made them lose business. I love Sweetwater for a number of reasons. But most importantly, their customer service is impecable! I ordered an interface and a cable from them and they included some candy, a sticker and a thank you note. But what REALLY shocked me was that they CALLED ME THREE WEEKS LATER asking how everything was working! That's the mark of a high quality customer service right there!
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Before there was Guitar Center, there was Mars Music. They went bankrupt too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Music
The last time I was in a Mars Music store, Dave Grohl and I walked passed each other. He was on his way out of the drum department and I was on my way in.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Music
The last time I was in a Mars Music store, Dave Grohl and I walked passed each other. He was on his way out of the drum department and I was on my way in.
It really does come down to customer service and I'm sure that varies widely from store to store.
I miss all the mom and pop stores and the personal service you would get.
I did enjoy GC in their early days. Sadly the service just went downhill.
A few years ago, I needed a new acoustic saddle pickup for my ovation and I talked to GC and it was "Sorry, doubtful we can find something like as we'd have to get it from korea". They didn't even try. I asked around and contacted Ovation directly and their rep said try sweetwater. I called and their guy said "Yep, we can get that, give me your addy and I drop it in the mail for you"
A week later I had a brand new pickup, no charge.
If they were trying to get a customer, it worked as I've been a sweetwater customer ever since.
I miss all the mom and pop stores and the personal service you would get.
I did enjoy GC in their early days. Sadly the service just went downhill.
A few years ago, I needed a new acoustic saddle pickup for my ovation and I talked to GC and it was "Sorry, doubtful we can find something like as we'd have to get it from korea". They didn't even try. I asked around and contacted Ovation directly and their rep said try sweetwater. I called and their guy said "Yep, we can get that, give me your addy and I drop it in the mail for you"
A week later I had a brand new pickup, no charge.
If they were trying to get a customer, it worked as I've been a sweetwater customer ever since.
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Kiwi
New Member
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- Jul 19, 2013
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- 462
Several topics from this thread:
- GC has not filed before. Although it's remarkable they haven't filed before right now.
- GC is not going out of business. They will reorganize and continue. They already have their creditors on board with the re-org plan. That's a pre-packaged bankruptcy and normally if all parties are on board with it, the BR judge signs off and GC continues.
- Weep not for their private equity owners who claim to be taking losses in this Ch 11. They all took huge sums of cash out of GC while it was functional. The PE owners pulled out cash instead of reinvesting it into online operations and a serious internet sales model. (Like Sweetwater has done. Look who's still solvent.)
--K
- GC has not filed before. Although it's remarkable they haven't filed before right now.
- GC is not going out of business. They will reorganize and continue. They already have their creditors on board with the re-org plan. That's a pre-packaged bankruptcy and normally if all parties are on board with it, the BR judge signs off and GC continues.
- Weep not for their private equity owners who claim to be taking losses in this Ch 11. They all took huge sums of cash out of GC while it was functional. The PE owners pulled out cash instead of reinvesting it into online operations and a serious internet sales model. (Like Sweetwater has done. Look who's still solvent.)
--K
Wohlfdaddy
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Not to mention that they pay their executives huge bonuses in spite of their complete and total failure. Wayne has yet to prove that he knows anything about running retail stores.
GADonis
Beautifully Broken
It's been my experience that GC is pretty hit and miss. One store I went to had many completely clueless people working there. I went in looking for a guitar with P90s. I told the "guitar" section guy I wanted to try out some P90 guitars. He didn't know what a P90 was. I tried to describe it and said I had seen a Gibson SG with P90s the other day. He came back with a guitar with humbuckers. So I told him those weren't P90s and I'll just browse around. Found a couple different guitars. Ended up getting a PRS SE Soapbar II Maple that they had on clearance. Great deal. I'm still surprised that a guitar player hired to sell guitars was so lacking in what I consider basic guitar knowledge. Another time I was looking into a Pod XT Live. They sent over their "Line 6 Expert" who proceeded to hook up the demo model incorrectly. Running in front of the amp in a mono setting they used the Right output. I told them I thought that you needed to use the left when hooking up mono and they told me "No, it doesn't matter." It did matter. There was just so much clueslessness in that store I stopped asking the employees for help. I don't expect the people trying to sell me stuff to be experts at every feature of the products, but a basic level of competence isn't asking too much, is it? I leave out the city this happened in out of some respect for the one person there that knew their stuff.
On the other hand, the GC Guitar Dept. in Kenner, LA was excellent. They had multiple people there who knew their stuff. I was "retiring" my Line 6 Vetta and looking to go back to analog. So I needed to build a pedal board and was starting with OD/Distortion (of course). I went in and asked to look at a Fulltone OCD, Full-Drive, and Plimsoul. The guy said, "Cool, we have those." He came back with those and two other pedals and said, "You also need to check out this Rockett Blue Note and this Earthquaker Talons." So I spent several hours checking all of them out and even though I had gone into the store expecting to walk out with a Plimsoul, I ended up with the Blue Note. Great pedal and thus was born my love for Rockett pedals. The people there were also very helpful and honest about various bits of gear I ended up buying (or not buying) based partially on their recommendations. I miss that GC. The other one, not so much.
The GC's in the various other cities I've lived/visited seem to fall into the "not so good" category. They are like the Best Buy, Walmart of music stores. If you know what you need/want and have done ample research on products, you can get what you want. However, if you go in and rely on the sales staff to help you find the thing that fits you, you are in for a long day. Plus go in on a Saturday afternoon and your ears will be serenaded (assaulted) with immense amounts of noodling from local rock stars showing off. Some of it may actually be in tune.
On the other hand, the GC Guitar Dept. in Kenner, LA was excellent. They had multiple people there who knew their stuff. I was "retiring" my Line 6 Vetta and looking to go back to analog. So I needed to build a pedal board and was starting with OD/Distortion (of course). I went in and asked to look at a Fulltone OCD, Full-Drive, and Plimsoul. The guy said, "Cool, we have those." He came back with those and two other pedals and said, "You also need to check out this Rockett Blue Note and this Earthquaker Talons." So I spent several hours checking all of them out and even though I had gone into the store expecting to walk out with a Plimsoul, I ended up with the Blue Note. Great pedal and thus was born my love for Rockett pedals. The people there were also very helpful and honest about various bits of gear I ended up buying (or not buying) based partially on their recommendations. I miss that GC. The other one, not so much.
The GC's in the various other cities I've lived/visited seem to fall into the "not so good" category. They are like the Best Buy, Walmart of music stores. If you know what you need/want and have done ample research on products, you can get what you want. However, if you go in and rely on the sales staff to help you find the thing that fits you, you are in for a long day. Plus go in on a Saturday afternoon and your ears will be serenaded (assaulted) with immense amounts of noodling from local rock stars showing off. Some of it may actually be in tune.
It's worth noting that Guitar Center has been a staple in the music industry for many years, and they've likely faced their share of ups and downs. This move might be a step towards restructuring and adapting to the changing market. For anyone out there dealing with financial difficulties, especially in the context of bankruptcy, it's crucial to seek professional advice. I'd recommend consulting with bankruptcy and restructuring lawyers who specialize in navigating these complex situations. They can provide valuable insights and guidance to help individuals and businesses get back on track.
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sergiodeblanc
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Huggy Love
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Funny how a bot can start up a profile a year ago and only make 2 postings.
It's like a bot terrorist sleeper cell.
FragileThunder
Pathologically Anti-Dogmatic
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I'm confused. This is a timely and relevant bump of this thread, why are you guys so suspicious? Not everything on teh interwebz is evil.
Prina
Avoiding imperial entanglements
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Agree that it's probably a bot, especially given how sophisticated AI is now after ChatGPT4.
Following up on the 'bot-prompting' and checking its current status, GC's controlling ownership, since 2014, is Ares Management a $35B market cap company whose stock reached an all-time high today. And Ares has LOTS of debt: a 3:1 debt to equity ratio though they're still profitable.
I got 4 of SE245s through GC this year and returned one, no questions asked because of a wonky fretboard. Two were very good and one, the SE245 Soapbar was a steal. The manager even shipped one of the others to my brother in another state for free.
