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Location: Florida | Anyone heard this? Supposedly it was announced in a pre-NAMM meeting. |
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Location: Midland, MI | I'm not at NAMM, nor do I know anyone that's there. But, I would be surprised if Guitar Center purchased Gibson.
Then again, anyone remember about six years ago when Gibson dumped Guitar Center in favor of 'partnerships' with Sam Ash and MARS? Paybacks? :) |
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Location: SoCal | just checked AP for last 10 days, nothing there. |
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Location: Tennessee | There was a "what if" post on one of the financial message boards a few days back ... probably the source of the rumor. It would surprise me if Guitar Center went that direction ... they don't have the cash to pull it off and why would Gibson sell out for a all-stock deal when the stock is already at historical highs? There were also rumors a few years ago that they had bought Fender, but that never happened.
Of course, stranger things have happened ... :rolleyes: |
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Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | Doesn't really matter. To paraphrase eisenhaur, BEWARE THE MUSICAL INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX! Now play your guitars! |
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Location: SoCal | I heard FedEx wanted to buy UPS,
The new company would be called FedUP |
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Location: San Bernardino, California | FedEx did buy Roadway. |
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Location: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida | Federal Express is also "In Bed" with KINKOS... strange bed fellows... |
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Location: Rocky River, Ohio | A buddy of mine had his SG Supreme in for service a couple of months ago and told me the same thing.
Said he heard it from a Gibson employee he was in contact with numerous times during the repair of his guitar.
Ernie |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | It sounds funny because it puts the new company on both sides of the retail fence. Fender buying Gibson, strange but possible, same side of the fence, FedEx and UPS, same thing.
Many guitar suppliers would hesitate at shipping GC product if they had "thier own" as well. That's how the theory goes. |
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Location: NJ | cwk
I can see gibson moving to their own retail outlets. I think they have made some moves towards that already.
having a string of "gibson" only stores would probably be henry's dream. |
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Location: SoCal | this doesn't mean one bought the other, but interesting...
Gibson & GC |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | Gibson only stores is part of his dream for sure but I just don't think in the real world that one product line, or one company could pull it off. The customer wants too much these days and that isn't going to decrease.
Kaman Music has way more stuff than Gibson and for them to do a chain of stores is not economically feasable so I doubt that Henry will ever get there. Even trying it on a boutique store level won't get it. You can't get small enough to make the store work with just Gibson's lines and then get enough stores to make the chain concept work.
My $.02. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Interesting that in the day and age of CompUSA, BestBuy and Fry's Electronics, etc. the APPLE STORE seems to thrive. |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Interesting thought about the "Kaman Music Store."
There are some music stores that are basically Kaman Music Stores already.
Hmmmmmmmmm |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | They'd never do it, all the 6000 of the current customers would be the new competition.
I think Apple can do it because everybody needs a computer or three, and while the same is true for guitars the world hasn't recognized this yet. |
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Location: Canton (Detroit), MI | Actually, I think Gibson already has ONE boutique store, at the Bluegrass Showcase in the mall in Nashville, where the mandolins and dobros are made. If that's an example of what they would do, they needn't bother to try more, they won't fly. Everything is list price, no discounting at all. :eek:
Roger |
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Posts: 648
Location: Florida | Actually... they've got Opry Mills in Nashville, and Beale Street in Memphis.
Both places sell at full tilt retail, but you get a bonus set of goodies like a guitar care kit and extra strings, and a Gibson baseball cap.
**********
The thing with a factory store - is that you really can't compete against your customers. You either have dealer/retailers, or you are the sole source dealer/retailer, but you can't do both successfully as a manufacturer. Its one or the other with very few exceptions. I can think of one line of audio equipment that is produced for a national chain, that also sells in other big boxes, but the markup must be there and its more of a niche than even Gibson guitars.
In all of this - the obvious name of MF hasn't been mentioned, nor the increasingly more restrictive Gibson sales policies for dealers. I can't help but think the latter is part of whatever is being talked about below decks. |
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Location: Las Cruces, NM | I think CWK-2 is VERY close to the right analysis. Building instruments and selling them are two different apples, one that makes pie and one that crunches numbers. The trend in stores and catalogues is to embrace a great range of categories so the number of mass selling Chinese and Korean made will generate volume and the US made Ovation, Fender and Gibsons will impart class and high margins. For GC to own Gibson a class manufacturing outfit would be like Wal-Mart suddenly only selling Vuitton and Givenchy and single malt Scotch.
Bailey |
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OT, but did I hear correctly that GC just bought Gibson?
