This was originally published in 5 Mag issue 186 featuring the history of As You Like It, Seven Davis Jr and more. ![]() The company re-opened their factories in April and even added extra shifts to keep up with demand. “We are anticipating 2021 being another record year,” Fender CEO Andy Mooney told CNBC after the company reported sales topping $700 million. Fender’s sales had actually grown 17% during the pandemic, despite having to shutter their factories and seeing 90% of its worldwide dealers’ physical stores closed. In fact, a week after Guitar Center filed for bankruptcy, Fender - the maker of guitars that are among the many instruments sold by Guitar Center - reported booming sales. Still the nation’s largest music gear retailer, Guitar Center is a shot zombie, staggering through the city and leaving a trail of blood behind it. But it has nothing to do with Guitar Center - a company buried alive in debt not from operations but from private equity buyouts and financial industry shenanigans. That’s a nice story, and it is certainly true for a number of retailers and individuals steamrolled by the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. The pandemic has cost tens of millions of Americans their jobs, and many who are still employed have seen their pay cut substantially.” “The coronavirus has hit nonessential retailers hard,” Bloomberg reported, quoting Moody’s Investors Service, “and Guitar Center is vulnerable because purchases of musical instruments are highly discretionary. Having to close their stores was a devastating blow, they claim, and the COVID-19 recession had left consumers unable to afford new musical equipment. Even before the papers were filed, analysts fed by friendly financial industry executives were selling the public on the myth that the pandemic was somehow to blame for the company’s misfortunes. ![]() The largest music gear retailer in the United States and a crucial part of the music scene here is broke and filed for bankruptcy in the Eastern District of Virginia in November 2020. ![]() There’s no way to blame the pandemic for the bankruptcy of Guitar Center.
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