Guitar Center was founded in Hollywood in 1959 by Wayne Mitchell as The Organ Center, a retailer of electronic organs for home and church use. In 1964, after a supplier required him to carry Voxguitar amplifiers, to continue receiving organs, Mitchell added the amplifiers to his inventory and renamed the store The Vox Center, leveraging the Beatles association with the Vox brand. In the late 1960s, as other brands like Marshall gained popularity, Mitchell renamed the store Guitar Center.[2][3]
By 1972, Guitar Center had expanded to eight locations, including stores in San Francisco, San Diego and suburbs of Los Angeles. In the late 1970s,[4] Ray Scherr, the General Manager of the San Francisco store, purchased the company from Wayne Mitchell.
The 1980s saw a resurgence in "guitar rock," led by bands such as Van Halen Van Halen and an influx of Japanese-produced instruments. This period brought significant growth in guitar sales, prompting Guitar Center to expand nationwide, eventually becoming the largest musical instrument retailer in the United States.[5]
Scherr sold the company in 1996. The following year, with 30 stores on the West Coast and in Michigan, Ohio, and Florida, Guitar Center made an initial public offering of stock and opened more new locations.[6][7]
In 2000, Guitar Center acquired mail order and e-commerce retailer Musician's Friend[8] for $50 million, and claimed the merged company was the world's largest seller of musical instruments.[9] Musician's Friend became a wholly owned subsidiary, with its headquarters remaining in Medford, Oregon.
In 2005, Guitar Center Inc. acquired Music & Arts, the largest band and orchestra dealer in the United States, and merged it with their American Music Group chain of band and orchestral stores. The company was renamed Music & Arts.[10] The same year, Guitar Center, Inc., started The Fender Music Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supported music education.[11]
In 2006, Guitar Center acquired four stores in Texas from the South Texas and Central/South American company, Hermes.[12] In the same year, Activision partnered with Guitar Center, and all purchases made during game play of Guitar Hero, beginning with the second installment, were made in a virtual Guitar Center store.
In February 2007, the Musician's Friend division acquired assets of the Indiana-based company Dennis Bamber, Inc., which included band and orchestra retailer Woodwind & Brasswind, plus Music 123 and Lyons Music.
In June 2007, Guitar Center agreed to a $1.9 billion buyout from Bain Capital, totaling $2.1 billion including debt. The deal was led by Goldman Sachs and amounted to a per-share price of $63, or a 26% premium on the June 26 closing price. The deal was approved by shareholders on September 18, 2007, and closed October 9, 2007.[13]
In mid-2009, Guitar Center opened its first rehearsal and lessons studio facility in Woodland Hills, California, consisting of eight studios with backline,[clarification needed] ranging in size from 350–550 square feet (33–51m2).
In 2011, Musician's Friend's headquarters operations were moved to Guitar Center's facilities in Westlake Village, California.[14] In the same year, Guitar Center began offering equipment rentals in one of their San Diego stores. Rental departments were extended to ten other locations, with plans to offer rentals across the country.
In May 2013, Standard & Poor's cut its debt rating on Bain Capital-owned Guitar Center Holdings Inc. to "junk bond" status, citing struggles with "weak operating trends." The corporate credit rating on the company dropped from B to 'CCC+'.[15]
In April 2014, Ares Management took a controlling stake in Guitar Center. Bain Capital, Guitar Center's former owner, retained partial ownership of the company, along with representation on the board. According to Mike Pratt, the retailer's previous chief executive, the deal would reduce Guitar Center's total debt and provide it with the resources to expand and invest in its business.[16]
In April, 2017, Moody's Investors Service revised the outlook on Guitar Center's B2 rating to negative. In the face of flat sales in the musical instrument industry as a whole, Guitar Center became overwhelmed by its $1 billion debt. [21]
Guitar Center filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and the Times Square location was closed. On November 13, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Guitar Center announced that it planned to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after negotiating a debt-cutting deal with key investors and lenders. Guitar Center said it had received up to $165 million in new equity, and lenders agreed to reduce its debt by around $800 million.[22][23][24] The company emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy on December 23, 2020, after a reorganization deal added additional equity and debt capital.[25]
Clapton's cherry red Gibson 335 was used to record Cream’s versions of "Badge" and "Crossroads (from their final live performance in November 1968), and other historical performances over 40 years. Steve Ray Vaughan’s "Lenny" was used to record his classic love songs, including "Lenny" and "Riviera Paradise". The Edge's cream-colored 1975 Les Paul Custom, faded from its original white, had been used for U2's stage and studio performances. All the proceeds from the sale of these guitars went to Clapton’s Crossroads Center charity.
In 2005, the Edge, producer Bob Ezrin, Gibson, and the Guitar Center Music Foundation (now known as the Fender Music Foundation) established Music Rising, a charity to benefit musicians whose lives had been disrupted by Hurricane Katrina. In 2007 The Edge donated his guitar to be auctioned for the charity and It was sold for $240,000 to Guitar Center ($288,000 including Buyer's Premium).[29]
Guitar Center's Drum-Off
From 1988 through 2016, Guitar Center conducted an annual search for the next great undiscovered drummer. Developed to spotlight the drumming community, the Drum-Off was the music retailer’s longest running artist-discovery program.[30]
The process of Guitar Center’s Drum-Off[31] began with three rounds of preliminary competitions at each of Guitar Center's 250+ locations nationwide, with each contestant allowed five minutes of set up time and three minutes to perform. One winner from each store final competition advanced to one of 30 quarterfinal competitions, and one winner from each quarterfinal competition advanced to one of five semifinal competitions, during which contestants were allowed five minutes to perform. The winners from each of these five semifinal competitions qualified to compete in front of a live audience and a panel of celebrity judges at Guitar Center's Drum-Off finals in Los Angeles, California.
In the finals, each contestant was required to perform on a 5-piece acoustic drum kit complete with hardware, cymbals, cowbell, throne and the option to incorporate a Roland SPD-30 Octapad (the SPD-30 was not included in 2016). Contestants were evaluated by a panel of independent and credible judges on the following criteria: skills & technique, groove, originality, stage presence, and overall performance.
Guitar Center discontinued their sponsorship of the annual contest in 2017.[citation needed]
Connections Made by Guitar Center, a collaboration between 88.5 KCSNLos Angeles and Guitar Center, was a weekly one-hour radio program hosted by radio host Nic Harcourt featuring new music from both signed and unsigned artists from across the globe and musical spectrum.[38]
Eric Patrick Clapton is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. He ranked second in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and fourth in Gibson's "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". He was named number five in Time magazine's list of "The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players" in 2009.
Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is an American department store chain that operates 656 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Men's, Women's, Boys', Girls', Baby, Bedding, Home, Fine Jewelry, Shoes, Lingerie, JCPenney Salon, JCPenney Beauty, as well as leased departments such as Seattle's Best Coffee, US Vision optical centers, and Lifetouch portrait studios.
Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids and various others. The company was founded in 1948; its first store was built in April 1948, with its headquarters located in Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area.
Big Lots Stores, Inc. is an American discount retail chain headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Founded in 1967 as Consolidated Stores, it has over 1,000 locations across the United States. Big Lots stores typically sell closeout and overstock merchandise from other stores, although some stores also sell furniture.
Party City Holdco Inc, commonly referred to as Party City is an American chain of party stores founded in 1986 by Steve Mandell in East Hanover, New Jersey. The companies headquarters are in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. The company is the largest retailer of party goods in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company operates over 850 company-owned and franchise outlets in over 70 countries around the world under the Party City, Halloween City, Toy City, Factory Card and Party Outlet brands.
Tower Records is an international retail franchise and online music store that was formerly based in Sacramento, California, United States. From 1960 until 2006, Tower operated retail stores in the United States, which closed when Tower Records filed for bankruptcy and liquidation. Tower Records was purchased by a separate entity and was not affected by the retail store closings.
Barneys New York is an American department store chain founded in 1923 by Barney Pressman. The company operated full-line department stores in the United States from 1923 until 2020. Authentic Brands Group acquired Barneys' intellectual property in 2019, and has licensed the brand to Saks Fifth Avenue for specialty departments within its flagship stores since 2021.
Blackie is the nickname given by Eric Clapton to his favorite Fender Stratocaster.
Sports Authority, Inc. was an American sports retailer based in Englewood, Colorado. At its peak, Sports Authority operated 463 stores in 45 States and Puerto Rico. The company's website was on the GSI Commerce platform and supported the retail stores as well as other multi-channel programs. A joint venture with ÆON Co., Ltd., operates "Sports Authority" stores in Japan under a licensing agreement.
K·B Toys was an American chain of mall-based retail toy stores. The company was founded in 1922 as Kaufman Brothers, a wholesale candy store. The company opened a wholesale toy store in 1946, and ended its candy wholesales two years later to emphasize its toy products. Retail sales began during the 1970s, using the name Kay-Bee Toy & Hobby.
Jo-Ann Stores, LLC, more commonly known as Jo-Ann, is an American fabric and crafts retail company based in Hudson, Ohio. It operates the retail chains JOANN Fabrics and Crafts and Jo-Ann Etc.
Woodwind & Brasswind is the largest online retailer of band and orchestra instruments in the United States. Formerly based in South Bend, Indiana, the company today serves customers exclusively through their website and call center.
"Call Me the Breeze" is a rock song by J. J. Cale. It first appeared on his 1972 debut album, Naturally, as the opening track. The song consists of a 12-bar blues guitar shuffle and features the early use of a drum machine.
Bealls was a Texan chain of department stores, owned by Stage Stores Inc. and headquartered in Houston, Texas. The store specialized in retailing desirable brand name apparel, accessories, cosmetics, footwear, and housewares.
Sam Ash Music was founded in 1924, and was the largest family-owned chain of musical instrument stores in the United States, with 45 locations in 16 states. With corporate headquarters in Hicksville, New York, Sam Ash sold musical instruments, recording equipment, DJ and lighting equipment, and professional sound.
The NAMM Oral History Program is an oral history project and archive of recordings of interviews with people from all aspects of the music products industry, including music instrument retailers, musical instrument and product creators, suppliers and sales representatives, music educators and advocates, publishers, live sound and recording pioneers, innovators, founders, and musicians.
Retail apocalypse refers to the closing of numerous brick-and-mortar retail stores, especially those of large chains, beginning around 2010 and accelerating due to the mandatory closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Peaches Records & Tapes, Inc., was a Los Angeles-based national retail chain of record superstores, some as large as 15,000 square feet. The chain became a subsidiary of the Nehi Record Distributing Corporation. Tom Heiman founded Peaches in 1963 and went on to become president of Nehi. At its peak, Peaches had 50 stores in 22 cities with over 2,000 employees. In June 1981, Peaches filed a petition for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 citing $20 million in debt for its 35 stores coast to coast, owed to Citibank and six different record distributors.
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$2.14 billion
