Everything about Guitar Center totally explained
Guitar Center is the largest
chain of
musical instrument retailers in the world and is located throughout the
United States. Its headquarters is in
Westlake Village, California.
Founded in
Hollywood by Wayne Mitchell in 1959 as
The Organ Center, a retailer of
electronic organs for home and church usage, it became a major seller of
Vox electric guitars and
guitar amplifiers, changing its name to
The Vox Center in 1964. Toward the end of the
1960s, Vox's line—whose sales derived largely from its association with
The Beatles, who made extensive use of its amplifiers—fell in popularity as
Marshall amplifier users
Eric Clapton and
Jimi Hendrix captured musicians' imaginations. Accordingly, Mitchell once again changed its name, to Guitar Center.
The popularity of
rock and roll in the
1970s allowed Mitchell to open stores in
San Francisco and
San Diego, as well as several
suburbs of
Los Angeles. Ray Scherr purchased the company from Mitchell in the early '70s and Scherr owned and operated it until 1996 from its Westlake Village headquarters. Although
synthesizer-driven
disco and
New Wave pop sapped rock's audience in the late 1970s, the
1980s "guitar rock" revival led by
Van Halen and a concurrent influx of
Japanese-produced instruments brought guitar sales to unprecedented levels. Guitar Center took full advantage of this sales bonanza, and by the end of the decade began an ambitious program of expansion across the entire United States. Using its size as leverage over the musical instrument business, it developed into the largest musical instrument retailer in the country, and made an
initial public offering of stock in 1997. In 1999, it purchased
mail order and
Internet retail house
Musician's Friend for $50 million, further consolidating its dominance over the sector, although Musician's Friend remains a wholly-owned, independent subsidiary; Robert Eastman remains as CEO and serves on the Guitar Center Board of Directors. Musician's Friend has increased in sales to over $350 million in the past 7 years.
Its position was strengthened further by the 2003 demise of one of its two principal rivals,
Mars Music, leaving only
Sam Ash as competition. In 2005, Guitar Center Inc. acquired
Music & Arts Center, and merged their subsidiary Band and Orchestral chain
American Music Group into Music & Arts Center. In mid summer 2006 Guitar Center purchased 4 stores in Texas from the popular South Texas and Central/South American company, Hermes.
Also in 2005, Guitar Center, Inc., started The
Guitar Center Music Foundation, a non profit organization that supports music education. In 2007, Guitar Center acquired Victor's House of Music.
In February of 2007, Musicians Friend (a Guitar Center subsidiary) purchased the Indiana based company Music123 from then bankrupt Woodwind & Brasswind (WWBW). Guitar Center's sister companies/subsidiaries incorporate Musician's Friend, GuitarCenter.com, LMI, Giardinelli, Musician.com, Private Reserve Guitars, and Harmony Central.
On
June 27,
2007,
Guitar Center agreed to $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
June 26's closing price.
(External Link
)
The deal was approved by shareholders on September 18th, 2007 and closed October 9th, 2007.
Hollywood's RockWalk
The
Sunset Boulevard location in Los Angeles hosts Hollywood's RockWalk, a hall of fame honoring notable musical artists ranging from
Chuck Berry,
Bo Diddley and
Bill Haley and His Comets to
Aerosmith and
Iron Maiden. Artists are invited to place their handprints into cement blocks that are put on display at the Guitar Center.. On
November 19,
2007,
B'z was the first artist from
Asia and
Japan to be inducted.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Guitar Center'.
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