— 228th Guitar Center location features on-site lessons and repair services, along with GC’s vast inventory selection —
Westlake Village, CA (June 4, 2012) – On the evening of Thursday, May 24, 2012, Guitar Center held the grand opening of its new location in North Portland, Oregon, located at 1147 Hayden Meadows Dr., Portland, OR 97217-7547. Guitar Center North Portland is Guitar Center’s 228th retail location.
Guitar Center North Portland’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 featuring exclusive savings, gear giveaways and free events catered to local musicians. Special workshops will continue throughout the first 3 months.
Guitar Center’s newest North Portland location features showrooms for customers equipped with the latest products – from guitars, amplifiers, percussion instruments and keyboards to live sound, DJ, lighting and recording equipment. The store also features Guitar Center Studios, an in-house, state-of-the-art lesson facility, which is already creating unrivalled opportunities for North Portland musicians of all ages and skill levels. Guitar Center Studios will provide 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 Studios is now the most modern and affordable lessons facility in the area. Guitar Center North Portland also features 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, and with a guitar purchase, customers also received a free, 22-point personalized set-up.
As part of Guitar Center’s ongoing initiatives designed to educate and inspire artists nationwide, Guitar Center North Portland 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. North Portland 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 North Portland 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.
In addition to special programs at the new North Portland store, Guitar Center offers nationwide programs designed to spearhead creativity and highlight the nation’s most promising undiscovered talent. North Portland 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 North Portland is open seven days a week. Store hours are 10:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. Monday-Friday; 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Saturday; and 11:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Sunday.
