Guitar Center is dropping its ban on playing ‘Stairway to Heaven.’ It’s part of the CEO’s big turnaround plan

Musicians often see an instrument as a physical extension of themselves and that sort of connection doesn’t always lend itself to the online shopping experience.

“Selecting a musical instrument is a deeply, deeply personal experience,” says Gabe Dalporto, CEO of Guitar Center.

It’s something you have to touch and hear and smell for yourself.

A guitar that seems appealing on a website might not speak to a player trying it out in real life, Dalporto says.

Dalporto, 56, is a true believer in the need for brick-and-mortar stores, and he’s made them a pillar of his turnaround of Guitar Center, the once-bankrupt music instrument retailer that’s betting big on customers’ desire for an in-person shopping experience, where newbie and veteran musicians alike can tinker with instruments and tap into employees’ know-how.

Guitar Center’s comeback is still a work in progress, but Dalporto, a nuclear engineer by training and bona fide music nerd, wants the retailer to offer the vast inventory of a big-box store while fostering a sense of community usually reserved for independent music retailers.

“The No.

1 thing I get from independents is that they personally know their customers,” he says, “and that’s what I want us to get to.” A bad bet on beginners Guitar Center is just now recovering from its epic, six-year COVID hangover.

During the pandemic, millions of Americans took up new hobbies to pass the time; some baked sourdough loaves, others took up the ukulele or guitar.

A surge in online sales was a lifeline for Guitar Center as lockdowns shuttered its stores.

Digital sales doubled in 2020 but remained a small percentage of the business.

To keep up with the surge in new hobbyists, Guitar Center made the ill-advised move of doubling down on inexpensive instruments that appealed to beginners at the expense of its core customer, the more serious musician.

When sales came back down to earth, Guitar Center had the wrong merchandise on hand, a problem that was hard to remedy as Chinese factory shutdowns caused supply chain chaos.

“Because of all the beginners moving into the market, it just really got us out of position on our inventory, and it took us a long time to get back,” Dalporto says.