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 . On
June 27 ,
2007 , 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.
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Founded in
Hollywood by Wayne Mitchell in 1961 as , a retailer of
Electronic Organ s for home and church usage, it became a major seller of
Vox Electric Guitar s and
Guitar Amplifier s, 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.
Guitar Center 1960s History
The popularity of
Rock And Roll in the
1970s allowed Mitchell to open stores in
San Francisco and
San Diego , as well as several
Suburb s 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. Soon after, it purchased
Mail Order and
Internet retail house
Musician's Friend , further consolidating its dominance over the sector.
Guitar Center purchased Musician's friend (Which since has been run as a wholly owned, independent subsidiary.) for $50 million in 1999 and is 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.
Guitar Center Music Foundation 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 Woodwind & Brasswind (WWBW), including its sister company Music123. Guitar Center's sister companies/subsidiaries incorporate Musician's Friend, GuitarCenter.com, LMI, Giardinelli, Musician.com, Private Reserve Guitars, and Harmony Central.
In the third quarter of 2007, Guitar Center announced that it will be acquired by private investment group
Bain Capital . The deal is currently being approved by shareholders and is expected to occur in early quarter four
Guitar Center Accepts Bain Bid
The
Sunset Boulevard location in Los Angeles hosts Hollywood's Rock Walk, a hall of fame honoring notable musical artists ranging from
Chuck Berry and
Bill Haley And His Comets to
Queen and
Stevie Ray Vaughan .
Guitar Center 1980s history Artists are invited to place their handprints into cement blocks that are put on display at the Guitar Center.
Holleywood's Rockwalk .
