Great team at store level, but toxic management culture - Store Manager Guitar Center Employee Review

2.0
30 Mar 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Selling cool gear, working with great people at store level.

Cons

Went from servant leadership to leading through intimidation, highly toxic. inadequate labor budget to run stores effectively without burnout. Upper management has no clue what really goes on in stores.

Explore other reviews about Guitar Center

5.0
9 Jan 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Got to work with so many people

Cons

Long hours during holidays were rough

1.0
29 Jun 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Employee discounts are the biggest reason why people work here, as the discount is really good.

Cons

Your experience working at Guitar Center will largely depend on which store you work at. Some stores have a good management team and employees and are fun to work at. But a lot of stores do not have a qualified management team and they have a staff that is not fun to work with. My location needed a new store manager and instead of promoting the ops manager who knew the store better than anyone else and was with the company for 15+ years working at multiple locations, corporate instead promoted a customer service lead who had been with the company less than 2 years and didn't have management experience. These are the people that corporate decides so often to run their stores.

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