Guitar Center Buyout

[semagic]

Its funny, people complain about us not having that stuff, but (aside from the ESPs, as we are not an ESP dealer) if people would actually order more of the stuff instead of complaining and buying it somewhere else, then they would actually become stocked items....a lot of times also, someone will order a guitar like that and return it (no returns on special orders policy goes by the wayside when customers start to get unhappy), or in some instances we'll get a special piece like the EVH Art Series Charvels and that stuff just hangs around, contributing to an average of "bad inventory," and the higher that is, the harder it is to get new cool stuff sent to your store when it comes out. It sucks sometimes, and i wish i could make it work differently but i dont really have much control over anything. After all I am just a worthless brain drain!



Edited to simplify a convoluted explaination

you rock!

[Boxcar Willie 84]

haha thanks, glad someone thinks so--according to most here i am a useless unknowledgeable piece of shit brain drain that doesnt know his ass from a hole in the side of a tree...now now i odnt mean that, ive been out drinking a bit though so maybe so eh!!!

[atomic charvel guy]

not a chance, ethan is one of the kindest people i've ever come across in my life.

[pro-fusion]

The GC business model isn't well-suited to selling high-end guitars, I suppose. I mean, Wal-Mart wouldn't stay in business long if they primarily offered stuff like designer clothing and handmade furniture, would they?

[Axewielder]

So....$600 buys you the baddest Jackson the GC has on the wall. Where can you go from there? Nowhere.

[pro-fusion]

So....$600 buys you the baddest Jackson the GC has on the wall. Where can you go from there? Nowhere.

The problem is that GC works on volume. A store will make a lot more money selling hundreds of Fender starter packs than they will a handful of USA Jacksons. I don't know what the new owners are planning, but would it be that surprising to see GC drastically cut back its USA Fender and Gibson offerings, too? The local GCs here still have walls of Gibsons, USA Fenders and PRSs. I'll betcha those walls get a lot smaller soon, to be replaced with Epiphones, Mexistrats, and SE's.

[Jason1212]

I think guitar stores in general are lowering their on hand stock of higher end guitars. Face it the market is aiming at the entry level guitarist as they out number the seasoned player that would be looking for a high end guitar. All of that aside the thing with buy out as others have referenced is that the buyer can generally not leave well enough alone. They have to come in and re-invent the wheel and generally screw stuff up. It's anybody's guess as to what will happen, but I think it will be interesting to watch.

[Boxcar Willie 84]

thanks tommy! i just think the generalization of gc employees around here is pretty unfair in a lot of instances, i guess the same can be said about anything though.

[necrotechno]

The "dumbing down" of on-hand stock has been going on forever, before there ever was a GC, even. Every store I've ever been in started out with the intention of "only selling the good stuff." Then reality sets in and they have to stock the Epiphone starter packs. What little Billy can afford with his grasscutting money is what drives the brick-and-mortar establishments, unfortunately. But fortunately, Al Gore invented the Internet so we can shop all over the world.

GC does get some nice exclusive models, however. I got my Schecter CSH-12 there two years before it became a standard production model. They've got a really cool Les Paul Double-cut right now that I may not be able to resist at $1600.

[PowerTube]

So GC will turn into a total generic super market where they have nothing but the absolute top sellers. If you think you hear "but we can special order that" a lot at GC now, just wait until this buyout has it's effect.

So in other words, GC will be just business as usual.

[PowerTube]

I just had a horrible thought. If the Knoxville GC goes out of business, I'll have to drive 2.5 hours to find a USA Jackson.

Oh, wait. Never mind....

[JACKSONFREAK]

Lets all jump the gun and over speculate. Shall we? Yes this is a big deal. But only in the sense of us (GC) no longer beiong publicly traded. We are now a private company again. The higher ups (IE the CEO Marty, the exec VP, etc.) On down. Are all still in place. The new owners. Bain investment group. Promised in wrighting to not dismiss people. And it will be business as usual. Maybe now without the board of directors we can actualy get some of those USA Jacksons and MIA BC Richs etc.. taht you guys are complaining about us not having in stock. Well with over 225 stores most instrument manufacturers would be hard pressed to stock all of the GC stores and all the indipendant dealers as well. Think about it. If every GC has 2 Soloists for example. Thats 450 guitars that Jackson would have to make plus all the others that the hundreds of independant dealers would have. The build time would increase the quality would go down, and the prices would jump even higher. Look whats happened to Gibson. GC is currntly the largest Gibson dealer in the world. We stock an ass load of Gibson company wide. Plus with MF which we also own. Theres another ass load of Gibsons. Granted not all are alwasy in stock. But then thats when you guys bitch that there are no guitars in stock on a given day. You want something frikkin order it. Or support a private dealer. It would be plain chaos and impossable to get any Jacksons etc. if we all stocked every model at all times. Think about. Yeah there is the option of opening more factories to build them with all the money GC would be giving them to build every guitar they make to stock our stores. But then this is a real world. And some of us need to stop living in a fantasy world. I would love to see USA Jackson at my store. Im probablyone of the few guys there that would actually be able to sell them due to my passion for them. How ever we do have a Copper head SD that hasnt gone anywhere in 6 months. (im not on the sales floor or it would be). The market changes with the direction of the wind lately. Some times we are a bit behind the trend and get burned with alot of over stock of stupid guitars like the 7 string trend that happened. we couldnt keep them in stock. And when we finaly got caught up the novelty was over. and we had dead inventory we had to blow out.
Sorry for the rant and the tangent but lets be a bit realistic and see the big picture. GC will operate as usual. Whether you like us or not. We are here to stay. And btw every store we have is profitable. Thats we are the largest in the world. Some are just more obviously more so than others.
jumps off soap box
Gil

[Axewielder]

Well I can't really say these "it's not profitable to stock decent guitar" arguments are incorrect. However, they do maybe sound like "old thinking" to me. The great companies of this decade who will be around in 2010 and beyond (Google, Apple, etc) employ "new thinking". These companies try to capture our imagination, not just our dollars. Come on GC....how about bringing some "new thinking" into this industry!!

[straycat]

Good point Axewielder.What say ye JACKSON FREAK?

[Rich#6]

JacksonFreak, may I ask which GC you are at?