New Store - I'm In Trouble

Competition is a good thing!

Jason

Good for us.. bad for your local store. Seems like at first small stores go out of biz and then when every realizes that they really did appreciate the service they USED to get, they will go back to the small guy. The ones that are left.

and YES, you are in trouble. Tell that sweet woman of yours to LOCK YOU UP!!! and send me all your guitars. :lol:

Geoo

I've heard some horror stories regarding GC. Are they all like that?

On one hand I'm excited to have one here, but again I worry about the local stores. I'll probably still trust my favorite shop more than GC though, so they'll probably still get most of my local business. We'll see though.

She is wonderful and honestly probably wouldn't even say anything. I've got in good with her so far in that I recently got paid for a website I built on the side. I just signed the check over to her so it never even saw my account. I'd hate to ruin that already. :)

Jason

When they open check and see if they have one of those registries where you can note wedding gift wish list :roll:

I've heard some horror stories regarding GC. Are they all like that?

Nah, my local GC is pretty cool. The people that work there are nice and very knowledgable. Of course, I do go there once a week on my lunch break, so I've gotten to know them a bit.

All the local shops seem to be doing just fine, really. I usually buy strings and such from GC, but I when I decide its time for a new guitar I will most likely peruse all the local shops first, settling on buying from GC only if the locals don't have what I want.

I've heard some horror stories regarding GC. Are they all like that?

I am sure it varies from store to store. I dont care for the one we have. The two or three purchases I have made there were alot of hassle and felt like no one really wanted to take my money. However, my friends daughter bought a guitar there and they were pretty cool with her.

Still, I always hit my local store unless it is something that they dont have. The Schecter I want, for example, will probably come from GC. My local says they might can order it in but they wont give me any definates.

I'll just let them Plek it and charge me 120. That'll keep em all happy.

Geoo

I hope they don't put them all out of business. My favorite shop is the one that sells Gibson. I think they'll be OK since they also sell pianos, drums and other instruments. The other two I'm curious to see how it affects them. Hope they don't pull a Walmart and put all of them out of business! Competition is a good thing!

Jason

Jason:

Guitar Center is a really stupid name for that store, because they sell more than just guitars! They also sell: drums, keyboards, and other instruments. My son is plays drums and he hates going there because he thinks the name makes no sense.

BUT, this chain store has been in out city a copule of years now, and has already put one local store out of biz. I spoke to the owner before he closed the doors and he said he couldn't compete with the lower prises at Guitar Center. Think Walmart :roll:

I don't like the one near me. The guys that work there are all under thirty and have that testosterone shredder mentality, that you suck if you don't play everything at 300 bpm and that if you are female even if you can play at 300 bpm you still don't belong there. My wife and I went in looking for an electric for her, she wanted to pick it herself so I went over to mess around with some other guitars. No one would bother to see if she needed help. She finally got down a guitar herself and started playing it Unplugged mind you because no one could be bothered helping a woman. I saw what was going on and was getting pissed so I walked over. Withing 10 seconds 3 of these little jerkwads were around us offering me at least a half dozen different amp choices to plug into. Now there was no way in hell I was buying anything here but just for a bit of revenge, after flashing a large roll of bills to let them know I was serious I made them put several LP's, Tele's and Strats into Several different open tunings and plug them into multiple amps. After about an hour and a half of making these monkeys jump through hoops, I told them that both my wife and niece played guitar and I wouldn't buy a pick let alone a guitar from anyplace that treated women that way.
Ended up getting her a really nice Samick at the local shop.

I can't stand Walmart! Comparing GC to them doesn't make me want to go there, that's for sure! 'Course I'll have to at least once to see what they've got.

Tele, I know you all are tired of hearing about my wedding. Sorry 'bout that. The little lady is the one who told me what store was opening. I took it as her way of saying "Watch out". :)

That sucks they wouldn't offer any help for your wife. I wouldn't have bought there either. If this store ends up like that, they won't be getting any of my business either.

Jason

Same deal with the Home Depot and Lowe's that are going up at every corner around here lately. They are slow putting the Mom and Pop stores in the ground. People are losing site of who brought them the goods they needed before these big chains came in.

On the other hand, there's a Daddy's Junkie Music literally 30 seconds down the road from my local GC and they are still up and running. GC doesn't carry all the stuff I like because they don't have contracts with everyone. If they did, then ALL the Mom and Pops wouldn't exist.

Part of a Monopoly......errrrrr..... I mean .....the food chain, if you ask me, but I take part in it because I work hard for my money and of course I want the best deal. Who wouldn't?

Same kind of guys work in my local GC, Tele. I think they have a requirement to have a least three studs in their eyebrows or lip to work there! I never have a good feeling when they are helping me. I usually go there to check out gear, since they have a big selection, but I try to buy elsewhere.

Here is something - a store that big doesn't even have a qualified guitar tech! They refer it all out to a local guy.

Here is something - a store that big doesn't even have a qualified guitar tech! They refer it all out to a local guy.

That's because they would need 20 of them keep up with everything. Never mind they would have to be licensed by Fender, Gibson, Jackson, Marshall, Peavey, and the list goes on.......................

GC here is a little bit better. Most of the guys are real nice, one or two jackazz's though. They have to be, Ed romans is a 15 min drive from there and that guy has some 2300 guitars in stock.

Tele, I know you all are tired of hearing about my wedding. Sorry 'bout that. The little lady is the one who told me what store was opening. I took it as her way of saying "Watch out". :)
Jason
Hey Jason,
I'm not tired of hearing about your wedding at all man. The world can be a pretty harsh place sometimes and we forget about some of the wonderful things in it. When you hear someone you know a bit and respect talking about finding a soulmate and wanting to spend the rest of their life with that person, it reminds you of all the good stuff.
So any time you want to talk about your wedding to me go right ahead dude.

Ron

I don't like the GC by me. The sales people are pushy and act like vultures when you come throught the door. Several times they have been very rude and they laugh at anyone who asks questions about the so called "lesser" guitars (aka. Squier, etc.). They always try to talk me up to the more expensive stuff...and I know they work on comission but enough is enough!

I usually go to the Daddy's Junky Music up the street from GC. They let you look around for a while and they don't bother you at all. They know a heck of a lot more than the "kiddies" that work at GC. They also pricematch GC and other stores...

There are a few "mom & pop" shops around here but they are MUCH higher in price...a lot more than I am willing to spend. If they would pricematch I would shop there but they don't. However, they are also a luthier so GC isn't much of a threat to them.