GC home brands

[DR5Guy]

What's going on with the Guitar Center's "home" brands recently? This thing seems to be out of control. Last time I visit they occupied a very sizable portion of the floor, not to mentioned it is very prominent in their catalog :think:. Are they going to become a Laguna/Raven/DeltaLab-exclusive chain soon ? How this works with the other brands?

Thanks

[Inazone]

I read an article about that very thing happening at a lot of retailers, ever since the economy tanked. The article was using BestBuy as an example, but I'm sure things wouldn't be much different at GC . . . in theory. The problem I see with it is that, unlike a lot of consumers who just want a TV or DVD player or computer that meets compatibility standards and has certain specs, musicians tend to be far more demanding about "feel" and "vibe" and "mojo" that are impossible to quantify. Will a guitarist in the market for an Ibanez S-series take a chance with a Laguna? Will they be able to find any good clips of a Raven amp online? I can appreciate the addition of more store brands to GC's selection, but I noticed myself that they seem to be dedicating a LOT of floor space to them.

I think it's funny that they resurrected the old MARS store brand (Laguna, formerly Brawley) and think they'll actually sell any guitars.

[markD]

what i think is funny is that the last time i went to GC they had a guitar i wanted to buy, a used SL2H. i asked to plug it in, and the dude walked me over to a raven amp.

i said, "i am not playing through this cheap piece of shit. do i look 12 to you?"

he was taken back and tried the sales pitch on the raven half stack. i said i am not buying an amp, i am buying a guitar. he then asked what i normally play through. when i told rivera's, he looked around and said they didn't have anything like that.

i said, "yeah you do, in the expensive room you have a bogner ecstacy. i am sure it will get me closer than the raven."

by that time i was rather annoyed though because it took 15 minutes to get through the raven sales pitch. the guitar was overpriced too so i just walked.

[VoiceX3]

Again.... GUITAR CENTER JUST SUCKS. That says it all perfectly.