The ongoing death of Guitar Center

[Winston Psmith]

I had a small errand this morning, which was going to bring me within range of the nearest GC, so I thought I'd go grab some of the parts I wanted for the Affinity Strat. So I thought . . .

 

First off, there was almost no one there. This is a BIG warehouse-sized store, so it's very noticeable when it's empty: picture your nearest Wal-Mart or Costco, with no customers. Second, I saw LOTS of empty shelf space, and a multitude of empty Guitar racks? It looked more like a store in the process of closing down, than anything else.

 

Bear in mind that the next nearest GC on this side of the river is way up the road in Laurel, Maryland, which isn't at all close, and otherwise, the next nearest GC stores are all over in Virginia, so this is the main GC location right on top of D.C. proper; there are NO Guitar Centers within the city. D.C. is full of Musicians, so you would think GC would make a serious investment in keeping this particular store well-staffed, and well-stocked . . . unless the idea is to LOSE money?

 

One guy was hauling starter Guitar kits from somewhere, and when I asked him why the store looked depleted, he told me that they don't have enough staff to stock inventory, never mind sales staff.

 

I stood looking at the Parts Counter for a few minutes, with no one offering to help, or asking what I might want, so I went ahead and started pulling the few things I needed - and then I waited.

 

The guy with the starter Guitar kits had disappeared, probably to go dig out more of the same. There was one young guy hanging sets of strings on the wall, but apparently, he's not allowed to do sales, or much of anything else? I waited around for longer than I wanted to, and once I'd decided to put everything back where I'd found it, and leave, someone finally appeared. He was very apologetic, which meant less than nothing to me by that point, and when he asked, "Would you like me to ring that up right away?", I said, "I would have, 20 minutes ago," and then I left. I did make it a point to call and speak with a manager, once I got home, to tell him that the next nearest Music store was very grateful for my business.

 

When I worked in Music Retail, it was heavily impressed on us that our first priority was the customer standing at the counter. It didn't matter how much gear you had in stock, or how good your prices were, if you weren't actively serving the people who came in to do business. I know GC has never been at the forefront of customer service, but it really seems that they've given up altogether.

 

[Caevan O’Shite]

35 minutes ago, Winston Psmith said:

I had a small errand this morning, which was going to bring me within range of the nearest GC, so I thought I'd go grab some of the parts I wanted for the Affinity Strat. So I thought . . .

 

First off, there was almost no one there. This is a BIG warehouse-sized store, so it's very noticeable when it's empty: picture your nearest Wal-Mart or Costco, with no customers. Second, I saw LOTS of empty shelf space, and a multitude of empty Guitar racks? It looked more like a store in the process of closing down, than anything else.

 

Bear in mind that the next nearest GC on this side of the river is way up the road in Laurel, Maryland, which isn't at all close, and otherwise, the next nearest GC stores are all over in Virginia, so this is the main GC location right on top of D.C. proper; there are NO Guitar Centers within the city. D.C. is full of Musicians, so you would think GC would make a serious investment in keeping this particular store well-staffed, and well-stocked . . . unless the idea is to LOSE money?

 

One guy was hauling starter Guitar kits from somewhere, and when I asked him why the store looked depleted, he told me that they don't have enough staff to stock inventory, never mind sales staff.

 

I stood looking at the Parts Counter for a few minutes, with no one offering to help, or asking what I might want, so I went ahead and started pulling the few things I needed - and then I waited.

 

The guy with the starter Guitar kits had disappeared, probably to go dig out more of the same. There was one young guy hanging sets of strings on the wall, but apparently, he's not allowed to do sales, or much of anything else? I waited around for longer than I wanted to, and once I'd decided to put everything back where I'd found it, and leave, someone finally appeared. He was very apologetic, which meant less than nothing to me by that point, and when he asked, "Would you like me to ring that up right away?", I said, "I would have, 20 minutes ago," and then I left. I did make it a point to call and speak with a manager, once I got home, to tell him that the next nearest Music store was very grateful for my business.

 

When I worked in Music Retail, it was heavily impressed on us that our first priority was the customer standing at the counter. It didn't matter how much gear you had in stock, or how good your prices were, if you weren't actively serving the people who came in to do business. I know GC has never been at the forefront of customer service, but it really seems that they've given up altogether.

 

Wow! That's ridiculous!
 
 

[Winston Psmith]

@Caevan O’Shite- Just beyond.

[Larryz]

Stewmac.com, Amazon.com, Just strings.com...😎

[KuruPrionz]

1 hour ago, Larryz said:

Stewmac.com, Amazon.com, Just strings.com...😎

Craigslist, eBay, Reverb...

 

... and thrift stores!!! Yesterday I bought some nice studio speaker stands, height adjustable - $13.03 out the door for the pair. Value Village. When it's good, it's great. 

 

We have a small Guitar Center here, I never go there. They do have pretty good customer service but I don't want new cheesy stuffs. Walk out the door with it and money falls right off of it. 

[p90jr]

Guitar Center/Musician's Friend has made so much profit the last 2 years that they aren't in danger of bankruptcy (do you guys remember me posting GC Death Watch articles here for the past decade or so?).

But notice... "the past 2 years." You can figure out where they were making that profit... online, not in stores, which were shut down or had limited access during COVID.

I've popped into the one here a few times in the last year or so... hard to find anything to buy because the string selection is spotty... but the store's inventory has been greatly reduced and the floor plan changed to fit, which just makes it seem empty. The amp selection is the most notable, We'd always been told this store was mainly stocked with returns from mail-order (not sure that's true/legal...), and the folks who said that say "no returns, no stock for this store..."

[Winston Psmith]

Believe me, it's my least favorite place to buy anything, but they used to stock a good selection of Guitar parts, and I was headed that way . . .

 

FWIW, there was a very small GC in the nearby mall, where I always got good service, and even some very good deals. Sadly, our state shuttered all the large indoor shopping malls early in the pandemic, which shuttered that location, while the big store in Rockville remained open, at least for curbside pickup. GC finally abandoned the mall space altogether, when they were closing stores, which also meant closing the location that was closest to D.C. proper. You might think that would have driven business out to the large Rockville store, as the nearest remaining GC, but apparently not.

[surfergirl]

When they first came to Pearl City it was kind of a novelty, but that wore out fast. I haven't been there now since before the lock down.  

[Dannyalcatraz]

My local GC was recently remodeled and is still pretty well stocked.  However, it’s clearly operating with fewer employees than before.

[Doerfler]

On 8/3/2022 at 7:56 AM, Winston Psmith said:

FWIW, there was a very small GC in the nearby mall, where I always got good service, and even some very good deals. Sadly, our state shuttered all the large indoor shopping malls early in the pandemic, which shuttered that location, while the big store in Rockville remained open, at least for curbside pickup. GC finally abandoned the mall space altogether, when they were closing stores, which also meant closing the location that was closest to D.C. proper. You might think that would have driven business out to the large Rockville store, as the nearest remaining GC, but apparently not.

I stopped by the Rockville MD GC early August, a little over a week ago. It was the worst I had ever seen it. Empty shelves, empty...everything, it seemed.

I had gotten pretty good service and some really good deals involving trade ins there the last 10 years. I have another local store where I would prefer to buy, but they don't take trades. 

Had to leave after less than 10 minutes, very dissapointing. 

[Dave Bryce]

Interesting feedback.  Get this - we (folks who work for manufacturers) just got email last week that they're opening two new stores - New Braunfels, TX and Fargo ND.

 

dB