http://www.ericgarland.co/2015/02/03/end-guitar-center/
 
 
Strange, but I found this in a Dutch guitar forum.

Big Box stores (of nearly all kinds, not just GC) are on the decline. They are the showroom, not a sales operation.
 
Next stop: InstrumentCo (i.e. Costco) where the employee can only tell you that Strats are on aisle 14 and Les Puals are on 17 (this week).

I expect the next business model for brick-and-mortar will be a showroom-only order online type model.  Where you could have what you ordered sent to your home or to the showroom for pickup.

I'm not sure that I see a necessary connection between "big box" and companies being used to orchestrate financial ploys in which bankruptcy is often a likely outcome but the money guys can still win anyway.

If there is one thing that I would buy in a store and not online, then it is......a guitar.

It's okay. You can still buy guitars at Best Buy.
 
Why are you crying now?

UbiquitousBubba
Why are you crying now?

It is because i'm cutting onions....
 

bapu
Big Box stores (of nearly all kinds, not just GC) are on the decline. They are the showroom, not a sales operation.
 
Next stop: InstrumentCo (i.e. Costco) where the employee can only tell you that Strats are on aisle 14 and Les Puals are on 17 (this week).

I dare say you are probably correct.
 
And as for... 'This Week?' Not sure if you meant i.e.  I hate when big department stores move any particular items far way in another totally illogical sections of the store, they seem to do this every month.  My wife and I had issues trying to find items in the pharmacy, groceries and other sections of the store... we considered leaving the trolley of items in the store and simply walk out! Sure, we asked staff but they also didn't know where the heck it is this and that (arghhhh)! .
 
Welcome to the Store for Zombies....  who roam around and around endlessly.
 

Nearly 5 years ago, my Walmart was remodeled. One of the major upgrades was enlarging the electronics department.
Within months of that, I read online that Walmart is doing away with large electronics departments and moving more toward online sales for electronics.
And yes, we move stuff all the time and it (makes me mad) because I sometimes need to find something for a customer, and it was right there yesterday! but is now nowhere to be found, and of course, the 3rd shift folks who moved it and know where it is now have gone home.

I'd hate to see GC go. It's the closest thing to home. On the other hand, a lot of times, when I tried a guitar there, it was pretty terrible - missing knobs and/or switches, poor set-up, loose jack, etc.