This article has been imported from chorus.fm for discussion. All of the forum rules still apply. The New York Times: Guitar Center has begun to prepare for a potential bankruptcy filing that could come as soon as next month, people with knowledge of the situation said. The retailer missed an interest payment of roughly $45 million earlier this month, setting off a 30-day grace period that could end in default, the people said.The country’s largest retailer of musical instruments has reached out to creditors to discuss a plan that would involve the company filing for bankruptcy this year and emerging from it in early 2021, said the people, who requested anonymity because the talks are confidential. A spokesperson for Guitar Center did not respond to a request for comment. more Not all embedded content is displayed here. You can view the original to see embedded videos, tweets, etc.
I mean... Their customer service from the sales staff is laughable even outside of pandemic situations. Hard to have a business when people don’t walk in the doors. Harder when you forget the customers are a crucial part to the sales process.
I can't speak for every location but the one in Brooklyn near the Barclays Center has always had excellent customer service. I've taken a few of my guitars in for tune-ups and they're usually ready much faster than anticipated and the guy on their repair desk has done a few minor things for me like a strung was stuck on the tuning peg free of charge (for some reason, as I near age 37 and have been playing guitar since age 12, I can't properly string a guitar). That being said, I imagine the sales of these types of instruments have dwindled throughout the years but still sad to see them go.
My Sweetwater rep is the man. He called me the other day asking how the parts I got were. He even knows the builds I’ve got going on, understands/is a fan of my influences, and gives me good recommendations on things I didn’t even know existed! The guitar center rep I knew/sold me my first guitar i bought with my own money is serving life in prison.
That's no good for all the employees that will lose jobs. My last visit to a GC was extremely disappointing and I got scolded by what I assume was the manager
It's insane that they're doing so poorly when business is absolutely booming. Fender sold more guitars this year than it ever has before. It's damn near impossible to find decent used music gear right now. What are they fucking up behind the scenes that is crippling them this badly? That being said, after a local ma & pop guitar shop opened in my city I completely stopped going to GC.
As an aside to all the guitar players in this thread, one of the benefits I've had from being unemployed is finally digitizing my 350+ guitar tab books. If anyone wants access to them, lemme know.