PRS vanishing from GuitarCenter?

[P90s]

There are 3 major GuitarCenters near Boston. Of the 3 stores, one of them doesn't carry any PRS anymore, it's just Gibson/Fender and lower-priced guitars. The shop in Boston seems to be winding down its inventory; when a PRS is sold, it's slot in the high-end section is taken by a Gibson. Is GC backing away from PRS in general, or just in the Boston market?

 

[tomsamuels]

GC is going down the toilet. They are only going to carry what's in demand, because that's what sells.

 

[Buildermike]

I haven't been in a Guitar Center in years. I just deal with the Trinity: Gretz, Martin and Meader.

 

[Jester]

My local GC has a couple SE's. However, there is another one fairly close by that has several up through private stock. Still nowhere near the number of LP's on the walls.

 

[Sage]

I'll play devil's advocate here and point out that the huge list of unsold PRS guitars that recently went on sale by GC, many of them several years old, suggests that they weren't selling.

Are we sure that sales of PRS haven't taken a bigger hit than other brands?

 

[László]

I'll play devil's advocate here and point out that the huge list of unsold PRS guitars that recently went on sale by GC, many of them several years old, suggests that they weren't selling.

Are we sure that sales of PRS haven't taken a bigger hit than other brands?

I'd consider the possibility that the PRS shopper isn't going to GC to buy guitars, and is more likely to buy them online, or at a smaller dealer.

However the local GC near me is a platinum store and has quite a few new PRSes in stock. Despite this, I've only bought one PRS from them, back in 2000, and all of my subsequent buying was done with Jack Gretz.

I can't imagine buying a PRS from GC for several reasons, mostly related to customer service and lack of a real relationship between store managers and PRS; the result is serious lack of product knowledge about the guitars.

Non-platinum GCs aren't going to carry PRS I'm told.

 

[John Beef]

I heard the same thing, that GC is only going to carry PRS guitars at "Platinum" dealers.

GC is also going through an ownership change and trying to reduce its debt. I would suspect there will be changes in most product lines.

 

[NomadMike]

I'd consider the possibility that the PRS shopper isn't going to GC to buy guitars, and is more likely to buy them online, or at a smaller dealer.

Which leaves a lot of us and PRS in a lurch when trying to expand it's buyer base. How many guys who are not PRS owners but want to try out a real Santana or an S2 Single Cut won't get a chance and just go with something from the Big G?

 

[Whitecat]

I can't find it at the moment but I thought Shaun mentioned elsewhere that S2s & SEs will be carried across the chain still but that Core (and up) will be carried in Platinum stores only?

 

[RedGuitars]

I think PRS chimed in on this in another thread, GC Platinum stores will carry USA production PRS, others will only carry SE lines.

 

[solacematt]

GC is indeed backing away. They have cut off their tie as a Mesa dealer too. They are apparently going out of their way to cater more towards the beginner and mid-level players. Apparently only A level stores that have a platinum room will carry some PRS but mainly core models. Prices are dropping on PRS across the board, not just older models, however used instruments will not take a price reduction. This was told to me by someone at a local GC while I was checking out a few fiddles last week.

 

[Shawn@PRS]

The 40 GC Platinum locations will sell core PRS guitars, an additional 10 stores will sell S2 and all stores will carry SE.

 

[NomadMike]

I have to ask, why not sell S2s at the locations that they're selling cores?

 

[Sage]

What about online? I actually bought my #1 Cu24 from GC online.

 

[jeff5]

It totally depends on the store. At the store by my house there are very few, and nothing beyond an SE. At the big store a bit further away, they have quite a few in stock.

 

[GC Ron]

I have to ask, why not sell S2s at the locations that they're selling cores?

To clarify, The 40 Platinum Room stores that will be carrying Core guitars are full line including Private Stock, S2 and SE.

 

[John Beef]

To clarify, The 40 Platinum Room stores that will be carrying Core guitars are full line including Private Stock, S2 and SE.

As much as I complain about the lack of quality dealers in Phoenix Metro, there is a Platinum dealer here. I hope once they're done reshuffling, they get some S2s in stock.

There was a story on NPR this morning about how guitar sales are down 10-15% since their 2008 peak.

 

[NomadMike]

Thanks for the info Ron, much appreciated!

2008 was when everything fell off the stand.
Has anyone noticed a growing preference for plainer guitars among some players? Even the Big G seems to be selling a lot of guitars without binding which has always been a big part of their lines.

 

[Toledo Bob]

Well, this explains why there was not one PRS guitar in the new Musician's Friend catalogue I received this week. Hmmmmm.

 

[JStarr]

There's a couple S2s in the new GC flyer... Mira and Custom 24.