— Pasadena Guitar Center store is the latest location to open as part of GC’s ongoing 2012 expansion —
Westlake Village, CA (May 30, 2012) – On the evening of Thursday, May 10, 2012, Guitar Center held the grand opening of its new location in Pasadena, Texas, located at 5140 Fairmont Pkwy Pasadena, TX 77505. Guitar Center Pasadena is Guitar Center’s 227th retail location.
The Pasadena store opening is part of Guitar Center’s ongoing strategic expansion plan, and the grand opening event introduced customers to a vast selection of products and a dedicated staff with unparalleled musical knowledge and experience. To celebrate this event, Guitar Center hosted a Grand Opening Weekend celebration featuring exclusive savings, gear giveaways and free events catered to local musicians. The grand opening events also included a free live performance on May 10, and free workshops continuing on May 23 and June 1.
Guitar Center’s newest Pasadena 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. The new store also features Guitar Center Studios, an in-house, state-of-the-art lesson facility, which is creating unrivalled opportunities for Pasadena musicians of all ages and skill levels. Guitar Center Studios provides music lessons from beginner to advanced featuring certified instructors teaching world-class curriculum as well as one-on-one courses on Pro Tools, Logic Pro and GarageBand. Guitar Center Pasadena also features GC Garage, Guitar Center’s on site guitar repair service. Musicians could try out the GC Garage for free on Grand Opening night. With purchase of a guitar, 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 Pasadena 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 will be able to come to the store to interact with and pick the brains of several industry leaders. Pasadena 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 isle” include Pasadena 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 myriad of in-store, online and phone options to purchase music equipment from anywhere they may be, allowing for a personalized and convenient shopping experience. Free Recording Made Easy classes are conducted every Saturday from 10:00 to 11:00 am for anyone who wants to make the exciting journey into recording their music.
Ongoing Guitar Center Initiatives
In addition to special programs at the new Pasadena store, Guitar Center offers nationwide programs designed to spearhead creativity and highlight the nation’s most promising undiscovered talent. Pasadena 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 which aims to find the nation’s best unsigned singer-songwriter. The winner receives a career-altering prize package including recording 3 songs with accomplished GRAMMY® Award-winning Producer John Shanks, recording time at Converse Rubber Tracks studio and $10,000 cash. The grand finale took place in Los Angeles on Feb. 18.
• Guitar Center's Battle 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 Pasadena is open seven days a week. Store hours are 11:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 10:00 a.m. – 9:00 Friday; 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Saturday; and 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Sunday.
