— Company caps year of strong growth as it opens its tenth store in 2011 —
— Guitar Center’s new Ridge Hill location features on-site guitar repair services —
Westlake Village, CA (December 20, 2011) – On December 15, 2011, Guitar Center opened its newest retail location, Guitar Center Ridge Hill, at 214 Market Street, Yonkers, New York. The store’s opening caps off a strong year of growth for the nation’s largest instrument retailer, as the Yonkers location is its 10th new store opened this year and its 224th store overall. The Ridge Hill store brings vast product selection, along with the unparalleled knowledge and experience of its dedicated staff, to the Yonkers area. To celebrate the opening, Guitar Center hosted a Grand Opening Weekend featuring exclusive savings, gear giveaways and free events tailored to local musicians.
Gene Joly, Guitar Center Executive VP of Stores, stated, “The New York City Metro area is one of the most important music markets we serve. With the addition of our Yonkers location, musicians from Westchester County and beyond will now have easier access to Guitar Center’s vast assortment of new and used gear at great prices. Like all previous locations we’ve opened in 2011, GC Ridge Hill reflects a number of new design and merchandising principles including a more open layout that makes categories such as live sound, recording and keyboards more accessible to our customers.”
GC’s Ridge Hill location features well-equipped showrooms with the latest products for the musician, from guitars, amplifiers, percussion instruments and keyboards to live sound, DJ, lighting and recording equipment. In addition to special Grand Opening Weekend programming, early shoppers also enjoyed exclusive savings throughout opening weekend with deals that included guitar and drum essentials at significant discounts.
The store also features GC Garage, offering on-site guitar repair services. Throughout the opening month, musicians can test drive the GC Garage, with a free restring or 50% off their first setup on any stringed instrument (strings and parts not included).
Building on their ongoing initiatives designed to educate and inspire artists nationwide, Guitar Center Ridge Hill offers unique opportunities for musicians to craft their skills, maintain their instruments and experience many aspects of the music industry first-hand. Musicians interested in learning about all aspects of the industry were able to interact with and pick the brains of several industry leaders. Aspiring musicians attended a clinic hosted by Guitar Hero’s Marcus Henderson on Friday, December 16, a “Music Production 101” session with Pro Tools creators Avid on Saturday, December 17, and session and performance by A Perfect Circle/Devo/Puscifer drummer Jeff Friedl on Sunday, December 18.
Ridge Hill shoppers are able to enjoy Guitar Center’s new multi-channel “endless aisle,” with multiple combinations of shopping options to conveniently choose from not only the Ridge Hill inventory, but also the over $400 million in gear Guitar Center has to offer nationwide. Consumers can combine a myriad number of in-store, online and phone options to purchase music equipment from anywhere, allowing for a completely personalized and endlessly convenient shopping experience for every customer.
In addition to special programs at the store, each year Guitar Center offers nationwide programs designed to spearhead creativity and highlight the nation’s most promising undiscovered talent. Yonkers area residents will now be able to participate in these ongoing national events from their hometown:
• Your Next Record gives artists a chance to record with some of the top recording artists in the country, including legendary guitarist Slash, country superstar Keith Urban, and rock icon Travis Barker.
• Guitar Center On-Stage gives undiscovered bands the opportunity to compete against their peers for a chance to share a stage with their idols. The most recent On-Stage competition featured Jane’s Addiction, for more info go to http://gc.guitarcenter.com/onstage/.
• Guitar Center’s Drum-Off and King of the Blues are national competitions that highlight local talent from across the country, giving them widespread exposure and the chance to win incredible prize packages.
Guitar Center Ridge Hill is open seven days a week. Store hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.