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kitekrazy1

DeeringAmps
Gibson got in trouble for some "undocumented" brazilian rosewood.
But that was years ago.
Henry evidently bit off more than he can chew.
Gibson will reorganize and limp forward.
Gibson, Inc. Kalamazoo, MI has been gone for a long time...
 
T
 

 I think they were cleared of that.  Sad that there is a such thing as undocumented" brazilian rosewood.

Agreed, a lot of people were put out of jobs for that lunacy...

kitekrazy1

bdickens
Guitar Center is about to kick the bucket, too. So it makes perfect sense.


Sorry, couldn't resist.

 Not likely.  As for instruments they've become a Wal-Mart.  You see far more budget guitars.  The one closest to me doesn't even have a PRS.  There is no shortage of the under $200 inventory.  
 The pro audio section has less software. This is where it is reversed from the guitar section. They have all of the expensive software like DAWs. Hardly any plugins unless it's something like Omnisphere.  You wont find anything for under $50.
 
 There's a lot of things there that will keep those places open.  The only time I go there is for strings and cables.  I live an area where anything musician related sucks. 

Guitar Center has been reduced to the same credit rating as Gibson... the lowest you can possibly be without actually being in default on your debt payments. In other words, the bond ratings companies think GC, like Gibson, will not be able to make the required debt payments that are coming this year and will likely be forced to go into some form of bankruptcy.
 

Guitar Center has been on the brink of bankruptcy for years now -- not that it was necessarily a bad company but that it had been acquired years ago by an investment group who bought it with a load of debt then tried to make it look more profitable (by cutting expenses) so they could sell it.  But then it didn't sell, and now they have over a billion dollars in debt that is due.  Then another management group bought a 60% stake using $535 million of junk-rated debt for equity.  (Why did someone think this was a good idea?)

It's the same type of problem Gibson has -- they're making money, but have way too much debt due and they've ruined their credit.  Guitar Center has $1.3 billion in debt, with half of it due in the next two years.  And it's not just these two companies -- a lot of U.S. companies are on the verge of going bankrupt because of debt.  It's easy to blame Amazon / internet stores or the economy, but Guitar Center still has revenue of over $2.1 billion per year, which is a lot of money.

Also, along the way, Guitar Center started treating its employees worse, taking away benefits and reducing hours, which increased turnover and resulted in less-experienced employees.  And, as you would expect, this damaged the customer experience.

https://www.forbes.com/si...r-center/#25293b7e3b3e

Years ago I enjoyed going to Guitar Center occasionally and could get a good deal there, but it's just not the same anymore.  The last time I was there I was shopping for a studio subwoofer, and when I finally got an employee to talk to, he didn't know how to get it to work even though it was already on display in the demo area.