Musician's Friend
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| Musician's Friend | |
|---|---|
| Type | |
| Founded | 1983 |
| Headquarters | 931 Chevy Way, Medford, OREGON 97504, USA |
| Key people | Robert Eastman (CEO) Craig Johnson (President and COO) Steve Zapf (Executive Vice President of Marketing) Gene Joly (Executive Vice President of Merchandising) |
| Industry | Music retail |
| Parent | Guitar Center |
| Website | musiciansfriend.com |
Musician's Friend is America's largest direct response retailer of musical instruments and related gear.
Musician's Friend was founded in 1983 by Robert and Deanna Eastman, eventually relocating its headquarters from San Diego to a dairy barn in Southern Oregon. Rob was then joined by brother-in-law Al Dinardi, and the company grew rapidly to become a prominent direct marketer of music gear. The company offers a 45 day money-back guarantee on most merchandise.
Along with the 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.
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.
Musician's Friend is based in Medford, Oregon, with a 702,000 sq foot distribution center in Kansas City, Missouri, and contact centers in Draper, Utah, Kansas City, Missouri and South Bend, Indiana.
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. Musician's Friend has increased in sales to over $450 million in the past 8 years.
In February of 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.
Musician's Friend and its sister companies are only subject to sales tax in Washington, Utah, Missouri and Indiana with the exception of guitarcenter.com, which collects state taxes for all shipments to all states which have sales taxes. 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, UT contact center and Kansas City, MO warehouse.
