Going Down The Drain - Store Manager Guitar Center Employee Review

1.0
Jan 5, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The staff at every location I worked at were great people. Genuine, kind, caring, and they all wanted to help customers get the gear they need. The discounts are great if you're in the market for gear.

Cons

District managers and above have not only drunk the kool-aid, they've taken a bath in it. My DM was not only a terrible person but he was also incredibly bad at his job. I received more customer complaints about him than anyone I've ever worked with. Upper management does not care about the staff or issues at the store level. All they care about is selling pro coverage, getting gear card apps, and hitting goals. Now, obviously, they're a business and making money is the name of the game but I've found that they don't care what you have to sacrifice to get there. I was working between 60 and 80 hours a week and was told it wasn't enough. My boss cared so little for the well being of me and my team that it became a running joke. During a zoom meeting with all of the store managers he actually said "I don't care if the building is on fire. Sell pro coverage in the parts that haven't burned down." They push out anyone who isn't an automaton. It's maybe the worst company I've ever worked for.

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5.0
Jun 25, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Very flexible with hours working.

Cons

Difficult to stray away from Hal Leonard curriculum sometimes, but may be different now.

3.0
Jul 1, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Sweet deals and discounts Coworkers are very pleasant to work with Good as extra income Good for aspiring musicians to network with experts of the industry

Cons

Obsolete softwares Scheduling system software that is thenmost imperative tool as of it will be the backbone of a lesson lead for your team of instructors success it's also somewhat obsolete amd constantly crashing both IT and Upper management are aware. IT is very diligent and pleasant to work with but Upper management expects their lessons lead to work and deliver at 100% capacity while they continue to have an operating system that only works at 75% capacity, just beware of that and if you're willing to work under those conditions. With that put there go at your own discretion. Nobody gets Christmas/winter holiday vacation time off, also go at your own discretion on that one especially if you have kids and family looking for work-life-balance.

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