The COVID-19 pandemic saved Guitar Center from bankruptcy

Less than a year ago, the retail chain hit rock bottom, but months of quarantine changed all that

By Andrew Paul  |  October 28, 2021 | 9:29pm
Aux Features Guitar Center
The COVID-19 pandemic saved Guitar Center from bankruptcy
m/ Photo: Vince Bucci

Guitar Center was in pretty dire straits (get it?) last year. After months of hard, quarantined times the musical instrument retail chain/Mecca for 13-year-olds playing “Smoke on the Water” and “Crazy Train” was $1.3 billion in debt, forcing execs to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2020. While officials swore it wasn’t the end for the company, things looked pretty grim. And then, incidentally, things got really grim on a global scale… but not for Guitar Center, apparently.

Although COVID-19 “wiped out” ten consecutive financial quarters’ worth of growth, NPR explains “something completely unexpected happened.” Suddenly, people began purchasing guitars “like crazy,” and the company now forecasts next year to be its best in history. What’s more, sales from this year are projected to reach a record $2.5 billion.

Yep. $2.5 billion. At Guitar Center, of all places.

As NPR reports, the past year’s worth of excess, unstructured indoor time eventually became an absolute boon for the company, with everyone out there figuring now would apparently be the best time to grab an axe and start learning to shred. In fact, business is so good for Guitar Center that it recently filed confidential paperwork pointing towards an initial public offering, or IPO.

Wait until the r/WallStreetBets people get a hold of this one.

All that said, the unexpected windfall obviously won’t last forever—economists anticipate retail markets to swing back towards more normal levels in the months and years ahead, meaning Guitar Center still has a long road ahead of it “unless the retailers continue to strike new chords with their shoppers.”

Alright, alright, NPR. Simmer down. Let the professionals do all the pop culture puns and references within otherwise dry business and financial news write-ups, okay?

[via BoingBoing]

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