Musician’s Friend Cutting 75 Jobs

Musician’s Friend announced Nov. 11 it will cut 75 jobs from its distribution center in Kansas City. The musical instruments and accessories merchant is closing its clearance store and a call center there.

The Medford, OR-based company will eliminate 15 jobs from the clearance store in early January, and 60 positions from the call center by the end of February, says Galen Erickson, vice president of fulfillment.

All those employees will be able to apply for open positions in the Kansas City distribution center or in the two local Guitar Center Stores, he says. “Of course, layoffs are tough but we tried to mitigate that by significant lead time, a fair severance package, and a genuine attempt to keep on all those folks that wish to stay.”

The closings were not the result of any downturn in Musician’s Friend’s business or the state of the economy, Erickson says. “The clearance store is no longer necessary to complement our business. Previously, it was the vehicle we used to get some value from our returned goods.”

So how is Musician’s Friend getting rid of returned items now? The company, which is owned by Westlake Village, CA-based Guitar Center, began a repair and used initiative this past summer, in which it repairs and refurbishes returned items for resale on its Website.

“This improves the value Musician’s Friend receives for these goods and exposes the sales to millions more customers,” Erickson says. “The used initiative is a proven positive complement to our online business.”

The call center was closed due to Musician’s Friend’s 2007 acquisition of Woodwind & Brasswind, which came with its own distribution center and a call center. “We closed that distribution center in South Bend (IN) and absorbed it into our much bigger Kansas City DC,” Erickson says.

Musician’s Friend, which operated left call centers in Salt Lake, UT, Kansas City, and South Bend, “made the decision to close the Kansas City call center as the two others had plenty of capacity for our growing business,” Erickson says.