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Musician's Friend

 
Hoover's Profile: Musician's Friend, Inc.
Contact Information
Musician's Friend, Inc.
931 Chevy Way
Medford, OR 97504
OR Tel. 541-772-5173
Toll Free 800-391-8762
Fax 541-772-1482

Type: Subsidiary
On the web: http://www.musiciansfriend.com

Musician's Friend hopes to be exactly that, especially for the rare musician with lots of extra spending money. The company (one of the world's largest direct marketers of music gear) peddles more than 36,000 products in the US from its online Web site and mail order catalog. Its products portfolio includes guitars, keyboards, sheet music, books, DJ gear, videos, strings, and drums, as well as recording, lighting, and audio-visual equipment. It sells more than 22,000 items to Canadians. Musician's Friend was founded in 1983 by Robert and Deanna Eastman. The company is owned by Guitar Center, which purchased Musician's Friend for $50 million in 1999 as part of a plan to expand its Internet presence.

Officers:
CEO: Robert Eastman
President and COO: Craig Johnson
VP Finance: Michael Schwindle

Competitors:
eBay
KMC Music
Sam Ash Music

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Wikipedia: Musician's Friend
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Musician's Friend
Founded 1983
Headquarters 931 Chevy Way
Medford, Oregon 97504
Key people Robert Eastman (Founder - Retired)
Craig Johnson (CEO)
Steve Zapf (Executive Vice President of Marketing) parent = Guitar Center
Industry Music retail
Website musiciansfriend.com

Musician's Friend is an American retailer of musical instruments and music gear. The company is based in Medford, Oregon, with a 702,000 sq ft (65,200 m2) distribution center in Kansas City, Missouri, and contact centers in Draper, Utah, Kansas City, Missouri and South Bend, Indiana.

Along with a rock-oriented catalog, the company publishes speciality catalogs and websites for niche markets. Woodwind & Brasswind and Giardinelli specialize in band and orchestral instruments, LMI and Lyons provide classroom music products, and Inspirational Pro A/V supplies audio and video products to the house-of-worship market.

Musician's Friend employees currently answer all inquiries as well as ship products for musiciansfriend.com, guitarcenter.com, music123.com, musician.com, privatereserveguitars.com, LMI, and giardinelli.com from its Draper, Utah contact center and Kansas City, Missouri warehouse. The company also owns harmonycentral.com.

History

Musician's Friend was founded in 1983 by Robert and Deanna Eastman, who eventually relocated the company's headquarters from San Diego, California to a dairy barn in Southern Oregon. Robert was joined by brother-in-law Al Dinardi, and the company grew rapidly.

Musician's Friend was purchased for $50 million by Guitar Center in 1999 and is a wholly owned, independent subsidiary. Robert Eastman remains as CEO and serves on the Guitar Center Board of Directors.

In 2005, Musician's Friend purchased the popular musician community website Harmony Central. Harmony Central provides free articles, reviews written by musicians, and discussion forums. Music industry author Craig Anderton is the Editor-in-Chief.

In February 2007, Musician's Friend purchased the Indiana-based company Woodwind & Brasswind (WWBW) after the latter declared bankruptcy. Musician's Friend's sister companies include GuitarCenter.com, Music 123, LMI, Lyons, Giardinelli, Musician.com, Private Reserve Guitars, Guitar Sale and Harmony Central.

In December 2008, Musician's Friend was named Best Online Guitar Store by Acoustic Guitar magazine in its 2008 Player's Choice Awards.[1]

On November 5 2009, Musician's Friend announced they are closing the Kansas City call center. The Salt Lake City call center will remain open.

References

External links


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Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Musician's Friend" Read more