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+'. Guitar Center has since opened rental departments in ten other existing locations and plans to offer rental services in various other stores across the country. The same year, Guitar Center began offering equipment rentals in one of their San Diego, California stores.
In 2011, Musician's Friend's headquarters operations were gradually consolidated into Guitar Center's facilities in Westlake Village, California.
Guitar stores full#
The eight studios with full backline range in size from 350–550 square feet (33–51 m 2). In mid-2009 Guitar Center opened its first rehearsal and lessons studio facility in Woodland Hills, California. The deal was approved by shareholders on September 18, 2007, and closed October 9, 2007.
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. On June 27, 2007, Guitar Center agreed to a $1.9 billion buyout from Bain Capital, totaling $2.1 billion including debt.
Guitar stores plus#
In February 2007, the direct response division of Guitar Center, Musician's Friend, purchased assets of the Indiana-based company Dennis Bamber, Inc., which included leading band and orchestra retailer Woodwind & Brasswind, plus Music 123 and Lyons Music. The same year, Activision partnered with Guitar Center all purchases made during game play of Guitar Hero, beginning with the second installment, are made in a virtual Guitar Center store. In Summer 2006, Guitar Center acquired four stores in Texas from the popular South Texas and Central/South American company, Hermes. The same year, Guitar Center, Inc., started The Fender Music Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports music education. acquired Music & Arts, the largest band & orchestra dealer in the United States, and merged their American Music Group chain of band and orchestral stores into Music & Arts (as the company was renamed). Musician's Friend became a wholly owned subsidiary, and remained headquartered in Medford, Oregon. In 2000, Guitar Center acquired mail order and e-commerce retailer Musician's Friend for $50 million, asserting that the merged company was the world's largest seller of musical instruments. 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 began opening new locations at an increased rate.