Guitar Center plots its turnaround, with a focus on serving ‘serious musicians’

Nearly six years after it declared bankruptcy, Guitar Center says its turnaround efforts are striking a chord.

A privately held company, Guitar Center just marked its ninth quarter of positive growth, CEO Gabe Dalporto told Modern Retail. Guitar Center’s most recent quarterly sales are up 5.2% to total $635 million, per Bloomberg. Meanwhile, time spent in the brand’s 300 stores is up 16% year over year, while store traffic is up for the first time in more than a decade, Dalporto said. The company also expects to see about $16 million in tariff refunds.

It’s been a long road toward recovery for Guitar Center. The company, which is based in California, started in 1959 and catered to famous clientele including Eddie Van Halen. In 2007, it was acquired by private equity company Bain Capital for $1.9 billion — a move that saddled the instrument seller with approximately $1.6 billion in debt. In 2014, Ares Management Corp. took controlling ownership of Guitar Center, therefore reducing its debt, but also failing to fully kickstart growth. Then, Guitar Center filed for bankruptcy in 2020 amid the pandemic. It exited bankruptcy under Ares, Brigade Capital Management and Carlyle Group.

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