Guitar Center (US) and filing for Chapter 11

Aw, it’d be a bummer if GC was in bad enough woes that they had to liquidate, hope they can do a re-org, maybe close off a few stores, but keep the better performers, renegotiate debt, and their business model a bit, all that fun stuff. I’d miss going into a big retail store, seeing walls lined with basses and amps, playing around on my own, testing different combinations out, and all of the things you just can’t do online, or even in a smaller shop.

Yeah, they are what they are, a retail giant, and all the good and bad that comes along with that. But I’ve had great experiences there, and they’d be missed one day if they closed down, when covid’s just a memory, and we can all just touch things and breathe on each other again.

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I mostly just feel bad for the folks working at the stores that will inevitably close.

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The ones worth keeping will transfer to other stores.

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Sure, if they can (not guaranteed), but that’s still super disruptive to folks, especially at times like this.

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The worry of looming unemployment must be depressing enough.
I worked on a casual basis until recently and waiting for the booking message was very stressful.
Even after I worked my way up to basically a leading hand and was working between 84 and 72 hours weekly I still worried every day.

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where many people bash on GC I’m honestly kinda a loyal fan, my local one is full of local musicians that just love their craft, and their Pro Audio guy is my go too for anything Audio, their repair guy is a wiz, and honestly the customer service at the Kalamazoo one is awesome, they have bent over backwards time and time again, and I do love our local shops, but honestly, the prices and the selection at our local GC is great, and I have only had to wait in line once here, and I love the plethora of Used gear they have, and the ability to ship anything from one GC to another usually free of cost if I wanted it, and they will usually haggle with the other store to get me the best price. I Got my Taylor 214 CE plus brand new for 800 bucks from there, it’s a 1300 dollar guitar, but they did me a solid and gave it to me literally 5 Bucks above cost. so yea, I don’t wanna see GC go under, I have a lot of friends who work there.

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also I’ve shopped at sweet waters, Woodwind & Brasswind, musicians friend, etc., and GC is still my favorite

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You do realize that Musicians Friend is part of GC, right? Same inventory, same prices, same “Open Box” deals, etc. Just different telephone reps.

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I’ll stay off the political side of the debate regarding big business…

I bought the Rumble 100 from a mom & pop for list price ($300), cash, no tax. Kinda cool. A week later I found a used Rumble 200 for $200. I could have grabbed it and returned the 100… But didn’t. You can interpret that as you will.

Only GC I ever go to is the one in Glendale. Even in The Era of COVID-19 they’ve been pretty cool. Yes, we have to mask up, but they’re not being picks. I tried out a Supro Blues King 10 (5W 10" all tube guitar amp) for my bass.

I brought my Gibson SG, my buddy grabbed a Strat, a Tele, and an SG guitar off their wall, and we just jammed together, in the middle of the store, in the middle of the day, at volume, for almost 2 hrs. And they were totally cool with it.

My buddy bought a Supro Blues King 8 (1W 8" all tube… The little brother to the BK10 I was on). I was going to buy the BK10, but figured I’d hold off a day or two. They did not have a BK12 (15W 12" all tube), or I would have just bought that.

But the other mom & pops in my area? Didn’t have the Supros. Selection matters.

And in the end… I got the BK12 (the big one) on Sweetwater for 50% off on Black Friday… $300 lol

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yes, as is WWBW, but still, a fan of them

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