The Decline of Guitar Center...What Happened?

The last few decades have been wild ones for Guitar Center. This video outlines the rise of the largest retailer of musical instruments, then details the four-punch combo that ultimately lead to its bankruptcy filing in 2020.

To submit ideas and vote on future topics:

A very special thanks to this wonderful group of Patrons:
Adamant, Ahmad, Amy Westacott, Andrew Jeeves, Astra, Atsumari, Audria Richmond, aziz alfozan, Ballard Ingram, Blake Anderson, Brett Walton, Brian Dover, Brian Smith, Brooks Sparling, Chris Lion-Transler, Christian & Penny Gray, Cocacolabear12, Dandaley, Dominic Berlingeri, Dylan Kinnard, Emerald Computers – Jason Dragon, Evil Andy, John &Becki Johnston, John Briscoe, John Sterling, Jon, Ken, Kevin Sullivan, Kib Bibens-LeFebvre, Laura Floyd, Logan Brown, Meow Wolf, milkshake, Moriah Krewec, MyNameIsKir, Peter Wesselius, ReignsRevenge, Robert T Kirton, Ron G, Ronnie Cheng, Sam Bennett, Sirpoptart, Sondre Grimsmo Sinnes, Tyrone Cowan.

Company Declines:
______________________________

[deerislandmedium]

what a lot of people don’t know about guitar center is that they are basically an insurance company. their bread and butter is selling “PC’s” or pro coverage, which is their proprietary extended warranty. that’s one of the big reasons why they’re still in business despite having the worst customer service and never having anything nice in stock anymore. I worked there for a couple years and they would actually have disciplinary meetings with you if you didn’t meet a percentage quota of warranty sales. place is awful.

[karatekid]

They went the corporate route. The store has very little of a "musician first" feel. The employees talk like an automated telephone prompt.

[moonlightsea]

Every time I walked into a Guitar Center the staff acted like I was invisible. The store emitted a feeling of sad desertion. I actually felt guilty asking them if I could try an instrument. This was always, even before the pandemic.

[marklongshore]

I feel fortunate to have a Guitar Center here in Medford Oregon, but the service is marginal at best. My wife is a classical player and damaged her guitar. We went into the Medford store and asked for some help in the room with classical guitars, and I was assured someone was on their way. No one showed up and I left the room to ask again, but no one came to help us. I noticed the floor staff appeared more interested in talking among themselves than helping us. I was prepared to spend $1, 500-$2, 000 for a new birthday-present guitar for my wife, but we left. When I wrote a critique, I got the same boiler-plate response that every complaint seems to receive from management. I prefer now to shop Tom's Guitar here in Medford, a family-run business.

[dorarobertson]

I'd like to see a video about Sweetwater and why they're so successful.

[Playr]

As a musician who frequents, usually they’ll carry industry standards and a small assortment of higher end stuff. It’s the go to for someone who has a gig that day and needs a spare cable.

[gregoryh]

“Unfortunately they aren’t doing well”

It’s their own fault. They are notorious for placing gigantic orders with companies then canceling the order, then offering to buy their original order for a fraction of the cost. They have been the direct cost of running a lot of manufacturers out of business. Fuck them.

[chrishowe]

One thing that is totally overlooked is the trends in pop culture. There was a big DJ boom in the last couple of decades in which a couple of generations of kids were more interested in turntables and doing dance music than becoming musicians and joining bands. When a few million kids start buying turntables instead of instruments and the clubs are hiring DJ instead of bands, there is going to be a big drop in instrument sales.

[fuziontonygaming]

I go to Guitar Center when I need something quickly but Sweetwater has actually been able to deliver with many things I’ve need and the customer service is top notch

[chrisrva]

My biggest issue with Guitar Center is lack of inventory. I could walk in the store 20 years ago and see countless American made instruments from the highest quality companies. Now the store is just filled with entry level stuff with the highest quality gear coming from the used section…

[leokimvideo]

The advent of the 'digital distraction' started to kick in from 2007 onwards. People could go online and have access to guitars at far better prices with a lot more to choose from. From the many bad guitar reviews of 'damaged' guitars coming out of GC and this damage is not disclosed on the online sale and 'hidden' in pictures word of mouth soon spreads how to be really buyer beware

[thraknik]

I managed a small independent music store for 9 years starting in 1995. I wanted to see if our humble narrator really understood why both Guitar Center and Sam Ash expanded the way they did in the late 90s, but apparently this is not readily available on Google. A former Office Depot president announced that a new music chain, MARS, would have 60 stores by the late 90s. No one had anything close to that by then, but Guitar Center decided to beat them to the punch. And they did. When they made the mistake of opening in NYC Sam Ash countered by expanding, eventually to about 50 stores. Guitar Center went public while the Ash family retained control of their business. MARS struggled from the outset and eventually succumbed. Guitar Center, which was always reckless with profit margin, had trouble as a publicly held corporation and nearly took the MI down with it. And then kids stopped being serious about playing real instruments. Guitar Center has always been a buyer beware kind of place, and now they're not profitable so the only redeeming factor, price, is long gone. Shop local if you have a reputable shop, otherwise shop Sweetwater.

[robertiola]

What bugs me about Guitar Center over the years is that they morphed into selling mid-level guitars that have been played by everybody, with relatively little service, for full price. It's almost like a used guitar store. 20 years ago I bought a new Larrivee acoustic from a top notch salesman and had 5 guitars to choose from. It was a glorious experience. Not any more.

[misterjohnlove]

Was an employee for 5 years 2010-2015 from lower rung salesperson to a sales manager/assistant store manager second in command and left after the ARES majority shareholding acquisition. They completely turned their back on sales talent and staffing priorities and leaned into a “Guitarget” mentality where they treated the brand with a one size fits all retail strategy. They completely turned their back on allowing salespeople and stores to create unique local music scene focused stores and cared more about warranty sales and credit card applications and phone/sales prompts and scripts.

[shanes]

I worked for GC for 3 years with a great team, a large majority of us actually opened the store so we were able to build the culture we wanted. We had great customer service scores and performed pretty well, I honestly really enjoyed the job until the pandemic hit and they fired my store manager for not wearing a mask in the office. They hired some corporate stooge who only cared about pushing PCs and the entire staff left. I miss the team, but GC is a pretty terrible company to work for.

[kamplaysbass]

as 1 of 4 former guitar center san bernardino employees that got let go of in june of 2022 due to the company not having enough money to afford to pay us i can tell you that they have alot of internal problems, every store had to let go of between 3 and 6 employees based on how well that store was doing. including the massive hollywood store. i don't think they have much time left. BUT it's the best job i've ever had, commission was pretty cool around the holidays and it's the only job i've ever had where i actually liked my coworkers. almost everyone at that store was basically my family in the span of a month. great people in the store. not great people in corporate.

[peterpanpooh]

In 2006, I knew the end was coming when I stopped at a store to test out hihat cymbals. When I walked in, they asked if they could help with anything and I told them my intentions. Their response was to walk me over to a computer setup in the middle of the guitar strings and tell me “everything you need to find and order your cymbals can be done right here at our customer self serve kiosk”.

I now live in a location where 5 stores are near by and I can visit them all on the same day and return home having never seen a single employee.

Busted a snare head a few days before a gig. Not a single one of the 5 stores had snare heads in stock. Was actually able to find an employee who wanted to special order the head for me with the guarantee I would have it the next day. A few days later I had to use the bottom head from my floor tom as my snare head for the gig. After multiple visits to the store and phone calls, three weeks later my head came in. When I told them it was a 1 day guaranteed special order, and three weeks later I am no longer in need or interested… they told me I could not back out of “special order” and was required to complete the transaction. Spent a few more weeks arguing with corporate before they finally conceded… all over a plain old snare head.

This year, very much against every bone in my body, i ordered a special part because they were the only music company willing to get it for me. I was told maximum 6-8 weeks.

They charged my card right away. Then did so again 2 weeks later. I had to call credit card to dispute. Two weeks later they charge again. Same thing. A few weeks later I try to use my credit card to order lunch and was declined. Spent a couple of months trying to get that fixed and a replacement card because Guitar Center reported fraudulent use of my credit card because I declined their second and third repeat charges on an item I had already paid for.

Two and a half months after placing my order (13 weeks or so?) my special order part finally arrives. A few weeks after that, I finally get my credit card fixed. Around 16 weeks from order date until I had the item and all issues related to the credit card were resolved. A far cry from order, pay, and receive item in 6-8 weeks! Thanks Guitar Center. Absolutely will NEVER be a customer again!

Edit for all those people that say the math does not add up. You are correct!

I ordered the part and was charged April 11, 2022. Received the part on June 23 (11.5 weeks), credit card was charged second and third time on June 1 and 15, 2022. Tried to use card for dinner on June 21 and was declined. When I called credit card about the decline, they told me that the card had been deactivated because Guitar Center inquired about my declining their double and triple charging me. This was considered fraudulent charges and it took another 7 calls to the credit card and a trip to the bank before I was issued a new “active” card. Card came in the mail July 7, 2022. So I ordered on April 11 and was done with all the hassles on July 7. About 12.5 weeks later… not 16 or so as I first thought.

However it should have only been 1 call to order and pay and then wait 6-8 weeks… so? Not 12 weeks, multiple calls to credit card, freezing and unfreezing of card, and a trip to the bank, a reissue a new credit card just to get a replacement part.

[inyokutse]

There are a million reasons that can be named individually, but together it all adds up to the main reason...their stores just feel weird and uncomfortable for musicians of all levels. It's hard to put into words, but anybody who's gone to a local music shop and a guitar center knows EXACTLY what I'm talking about. Add in all the online retailers who have better service, plus the fact that guitar music just isn't as popular anymore, and you end up with a failing company

[nilesrodriguez]

As a Las Vegas, I feel fortunate that there are 2 Guitar Centers here and wish there was more. They are really convenient when youre on the road and need some gear in a pinch. I hope they're able to bounceback somehow. Lots of good memories going to them with my fam growing up.

[mitchwoods]

I’ve been going to the guitar center in Wichita Kansas for probably 15 years, and while I haven’t bought many guitars there, I have bought lots of accessories, and gained a little bit of a working relationship with a couple of the people there. Those guys are top notch.