The epitome of big-box retail - Corporate-level Employee Guitar Center Employee Review

1.0
Dec 2, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I met some great people there and learned a lot about what not to do in this industry. Other than that, I can't think of any other pros.

Cons

Guitar Center is a Company that completely lost its culture and simply no longer cares about its employees. I worked at Guitar Center for 15 years and it really was a great company for the first 6-8 years I was there. From 2010 - present, most of the things you have read about this company are absolutely true. I held a corporate-level position for the last few years of my sentence and it was very intriguing to get an inside glimpse of the tomfoolery that takes place there. The Top 4 Executives of the Company are from Target, Lowe's, Best Buy and a small Grocery Store chain. You can imagine how "music-oriented" the business plan is. It's a retailer, that's it. And, it's a very low-paying retailer at that. Stores are Unionizing, labor is consistently being cut (because, it's their largest "controllable" expense), the manager's bonus program is made more and more difficult to achieve, top line sales are WAY OFF, a series of layoffs happen annually (including 2 different waves in 2015 which included many of the founders of the company and some of my closest friends), and it's completely lost its way. Store Managers start off making $37k a year, which is 1995 money, Operations managers are lucky to make $30k a year, and you can anticipate $9/hour for a while if you are looking to join the team. The mantra of the company should be, "Either you, or your replacement, will get us what we're looking for." It's command and control. They want people who will shut up, keep their head down and "run the play". Miserable work environment, which is why I left on my own terms.

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5.0
Jul 16, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Management takes good care of you

Cons

No complaints that I can think of

1.0
Apr 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Self-fulfillment if running a lessons program is apart of your end-goal

Cons

Pay rate doesn't match what they're asking for the role. You essentially need to run the entire program on your own until you hit a goal post that keeps moving.

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