Seriously disappointed with new Guitar Center in town...

[Bassguy]

Life Support: How Long Until They Pull the Plug on Guitar Center? | The Tone King | TheToneKing.com

A little bit of older news about GC that I am not sure everyone has read....I would think long and hard about doing business with them until after April....although I would still buy that LE Blue/gold HH4 if the tools would ship it up here....

I feel for companies like EB that must have a lot of exposure with the clowns at GC....

 

[danstewart15]

I live in Chico! haha.
I kinda feel bad for the local music shops though cuz I know the owners.

 

[Big Poppa]

that tone king article is so bad its not funny...does he know who Ray Scherr is? Marty Albertson?

 

[Bassguy]

that tone king article is so bad its not funny...does he know who Ray Scherr is? Marty Albertson?

I can't speak to the accuracy of some of his internal "facts" like how they treat employees etc but the financial story is not good...

Guitar Center Company Financial Information
Moody's revises Guitar Center's Speculative Grade Liquidity Rating to SGL-3

There is a ton of info out there on GC and the looming April timeline, looking at their D/E ratio and in particular the negative free cash position and 2.2% EBIT; their GP is decent, they are about 3% high on total SG&A% which isn't great, but also isn't horrible; it is the erosion of EBIT to debt servicing, and it doesn't help when they are only starting at 7.8% pre-tax and debt servicing EBIT....it is going to be very difficult or maybe impossible, to climb out of the hole they are in...moving Hanaka in as interim CEO is a positive move but not sure how you move a mountain that big without some sort of protected restructure under Chapter 11

Sorry to the OP if my comments derailed your thread, this is the last I will post on it

 

[adouglas]

As BP has said before, it's easy to forget how bad things were before we had Guitar Center. Think about what your access to ANYTHING musical would be without it… you'd have online and a few scattered local music stores that would barely stock any guitars at all, never mind anything interesting.

 

[T-bone]

Why do we always want to bash the big guys? No don't get me wrong, I have my issues with GC much like anyone else, yet I keep going back. They carry the best selection of EB strings, the largest inventory of MM basses, and are the only ones who have Markbass gear. Even with the access we all have to the web these days, I still like to put my hands on something before I buy. And if I ever have an issue (although I never have with MM gear), I know this retailer will support me long after the sale.

disclaimer - I do not work for, nor ever have worked for GC or any other retailer. I'm just a consumer looking for good value when I purchase.

tbone

 

[five7]

Don't forget about their used selection on line, very impressive!

 

[LawDaddy]

Why do we always want to bash the big guys? No don't get me wrong, I have my issues with GC much like anyone else, yet I keep going back. They carry the best selection of EB strings, the largest inventory of MM basses, and are the only ones who have Markbass gear. Even with the access we all have to the web these days, I still like to put my hands on something before I buy. And if I ever have an issue (although I never have with MM gear), I know this retailer will support me long after the sale.

disclaimer - I do not work for, nor ever have worked for GC or any other retailer. I'm just a consumer looking for good value when I purchase.

tbone

True, all my EBMM guitars and basses, except my first EVH back in the '90s, was purchased through a GC.

 

[douglasspears]

I've never understood all the hate for GC. I can't recall a single bad experience at one. I just go in, look at stuff, the people are usually friendly, and sometimes I buy stuff, other times I don't.

 

[douglasspears]

....but yeah, the financial picture doesn't sound too good. Wasn't aware of that. Wow.

 

[suatie]

I think the problem is the same for most brick and mortar stores, they become showrooms for Web merchants, surely an unsustainable business model.
No margins, no profits, no money to pay rent and salaries for retail locations.

Sent from Note 2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[MattOfSweden]

I picked up an amazing Luke III just the other week visiting GC in San Diego. They had not one but two or three Bongos as well, overall a very nice selection of EBMM basses and guitars. They even had a Pacecar Blue SR5 HH in that had me on the verge of reconsidering my mission to add a 2nd EBMM guitar...

 

[nurnay]

I picked up an amazing Luke III just the other week visiting GC in San Diego. They had not one but two or three Bongos as well, overall a very nice selection of EBMM basses and guitars. They even had a Pacecar Blue SR5 HH in that had me on the verge of reconsidering my mission to add a 2nd EBMM guitar...

Yeah, the big city GC's tend to have some nice ones. The Scottsdale, AZ GC had some nice EBMM's and a great selection of bass amps. Just wish the one here was like that!

 

[tunaman4u2]

Hate to get on the train here but...

The GC outside of Boston ALWAYS had tons of EBMMs to try... like a dozen or so... today... ZERO. Wall left bare instead.

What gives?