It’s not 1983 anymore - District Manager Guitar Center Employee Review

1.0
Apr 10, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You are selling guitars! Some good people. Good discounts

Cons

Senior leadership is clueless. If you like to be left out of the decision making process, have every minute of your day dictated to you, have no opportunity to exercise your years of training, etc….this place is for you. Of course you are probably a grocery store manager from 1983. Senior leadership lacks humility, has no ability to accept responsibility for the consequences of their decisions, preferring to place blame on the store leadership when the plans that have been dictated to the stores do not pan out the way the were envisioned. Store morale is terrible and senior leadership response is to push harder. No inspiration or motivation. No talent development. As a DM you have no autonomy- just do as you’re told and always be on the road. No planning time, no time to review. Be in stores every day. Oh, and 4-5 hours of zoom calls Every. Single. Day.

Explore other reviews about Guitar Center

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 21, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Plenty of capable individual contributors doing real work. - The brand and the business itself are legitimate — the problems are organizational.

Cons

- Senior leadership is politically driven rather than outcome-driven. Strategic initiatives stall out, and leaders spend more energy assigning or shifting blame than actually diagnosing and fixing problems. - Some parts of the org operate on deference to the top. Honest assessments get softened into whatever narrative leadership wants to hear, which makes real cross-functional work difficult. - Senior leaders do not consistently advocate for their own teams. When things get political, self-preservation takes precedence over backing the people underneath, and capable managers end up exposed.

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