Sweetwater selling to equity firm !!!?

[MichaelR]

This link was to a live podcast, the interesting part starts about 1:40.

[bc rich]

Didn't the guy that started Guitar Center do the same thing ? built it up from scratch and then sold it off to cash in on the heavy lifting that had been done , but the new owner is saddled with loan payments

[honyock]

Hope it turns out for the better.

They don't have all the retail space of Guitar Center, so maybe they will just try to become like the Thomann of the US?

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

[Chocol8]

Didn’t watch the video, but I thought that it already happened.

Yep…
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/ ... y-Partners

[mickey]

Interesting in that GC did it out of weakness while Sweetwater did it from a position of strength.
Wonder what the difference will be in the long run?

[LightWingStudios]

This link was to a live podcast, the interesting part starts about 1:40.

Who knew "The Direct-To-Customer-Over-The-Internets" business model that CUTS your overhead and expenses by 40% which goes straight to your Bottom Line would be doable?

We did....almost 15 years ago.

[uwmcscott]

Interesting in that GC did it out of weakness while Sweetwater did it from a position of strength.
Wonder what the difference will be in the long run?

Maybe all GC locations will become Sweetwater locations - we can only hope

But at the end of the day, probably not much will change at all. Despite all of GC's weakness, detractors and general internet hate, people still line up at the stores and online to buy whatever they put on the shelves. Their demise has been projected and rehashed here and on multiple guitar forums for literally decades, yet all they need to do is flash a deal in front of our faces and we open our wallets

[mickey]

Interesting in that GC did it out of weakness while Sweetwater did it from a position of strength.
Wonder what the difference will be in the long run?

Maybe all GC locations will become Sweetwater locations - we can only hope

Don't hold your breath, different buyers.

[uwmcscott]

Don't hold your breath, different buyers.

Once ownership of these types of companies passes to private equity firms, they are pretty much always for sale at an moment so you never know what might happen. Yes it's farfetched, but GC does already own/lease a lot of the infrastructure that SW ( or whatever they are called now )might want or need.

Bottom line, this is a business transaction now and while they will certainly honor the SW traditions for a short while to make it seem like the owners didn't sell out, they sold out. We didn't fall off the pickle wagon yesterday as they say.

[mickey]

Never heard of a "pickle wagon" but then I fell off the turnip truck.

[Chocol8]

I don’t think the old or new SW people have any interest in brick and mortar retail like GC. It’s an expensive and high risk model that is outside their area of expertise. They will likely expand their online sales and maybe expand into different segments.

[uwmcscott]

I don’t think the old or new SW people have any interest in brick and mortar retail like GC.

The Sweetwater "campus" is actually ( or was ) a pretty big part of their business. They do a lot of seminars, build your own amp stuff, studio work, etc. Certainly if they wanted to replicate that GC properties would not be the way to go. And in truth, a lot of GC locations are just leased strip mall properties anyway. And on top of that, while residential real estate keeps inflating the bubble at record pace, the commercial sector is in the toilet. If anyone were looking for a deal in that market now is the best time.

I agree though that they will likely focus more on online, and perhaps ways to get their campus style stuff out there too. More virtual paid seminars/lessons/etc - who knows.

[Flatline]

I need to go check it them out. I'm only about 90 minutes south. They just opened a new showroom recently.