— Guitar Center’s new Emeryville location features on-site lessons and guitar repair services —
Westlake Village, CA (February 15, 2012) – On February 2, 2012, Guitar Center opened its newest retail location, Guitar Center Emeryville, at 5925 Shellmound St., Emeryville, California, 94608. The Emeryville location replaces Guitar Center’s store in El Cerrito, and now offers customers in the Bay Area an even wider selection of products and services. Guitar Center Emeryville’s grand opening introduced customers to a vast selection of products and a dedicated staff with unparalleled musical knowledge and experience. To celebrate the store opening, Guitar Center hosted a Grand Opening Weekend celebration (Feb. 2-5) featuring exclusive savings, gear giveaways and free events catered to local musicians. The grand opening events also included free performances throughout the weekend.
Guitar Center’s newest Northern California location features showrooms equipped with the latest products for musicians – from guitars, amplifiers, percussion instruments and keyboards to live sound, DJ, lighting and recording equipment. In addition to the special Grand Opening Weekend programming, shoppers who came out early also enjoyed exclusive savings throughout opening weekend, including deals on guitar and drum essentials.
The new store also features Guitar Center Studios, Guitar Center’s state-of-the-art destination that offers music education, professional rehearsal studios and certified Pro Tools and Logic training. Guitar Center Emeryville additionally includes GC Garage, Guitar Center’s on-site guitar repair service. Musicians were able to try out the GC Garage for free on Grand Opening night, with any guitar purchased, and those customers also received a free, 22-point personalized set-up.
As part of Guitar Center’s initiatives designed to educate and inspire artists nationwide, Guitar Center Emeryville offers unique opportunities for musicians to craft their skills, maintain their instruments and experience many other aspects of the music industry first-hand. Musicians interested in learning about the industry are able to come to the store to interact with and pick the brains of several industry leaders. Free “Recording Made Easy” classes are conducted every Saturday from 10:00 to 11:00 am. Emeryville shoppers are also able to enjoy Guitar Center’s new multi-channel “endless aisle,” which includes multiple combinations of product options to conveniently choose from. Not only does the “endless aisle” include Emeryville inventory, but it also provides easy access to $400 million in new and used inventory located in hundreds of stores and warehouses across the nation. Customers have the ability to combine a variety of in-store, online and phone options to purchase music equipment from anywhere they may be, allowing for a personalized and convenient shopping experience.
In addition to special programs at the new Emeryville store, Guitar Center offers nationwide programs designed to spearhead creativity and highlight the nation’s most promising undiscovered talent. Emeryville residents will now be able to participate in these ongoing national events from their hometown:
Guitar Center On-Stage is an annual competition that provides unsigned artists the chance to open for established artists such as Motley Crue, KISS and Jane’s Addiction.
Guitar Center Singer-Songwriter is an artist discovery program that aims to find the nation’s best unsigned singer-songwriter. The winner receives a career-altering prize package including recording three songs with accomplished GRAMMY® Award-winning Producer John Shanks, recording time at the state-of-the-art Brooklyn-based Converse Rubber Tracks studio and $10,000 cash. The grand finale takes place in Los Angeles on Feb. 18.
Guitar Center's King of the Blues is a nationwide amateur guitar skills competition with the goal of finding the next great undiscovered blues guitar player. This year’s winner, Jonathon “Boogie” Long, performed alongside GRAMMY-winning guitarist Warren Haynes at the Grand Finals in LA, and won an incredible prize package valued at over $50,000.
Guitar Center’s Drum-Off, entering its 24th year, is the nationwide search for the next great undiscovered drummer. Drummers from across the nation compete in the world’s largest drum competition, vying for thousands of dollars in prizes and the coveted title of Guitar Center’s Drum-Off Champion. The grand prize package is valued at nearly $50,000.
Guitar Center Emeryville is open seven days a week. Store hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Guitar Center Studio hours are 10 a.m. to midnight Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.