Gibson Guitars downsizing
Posted on March 20, 2009 at 2:22 pm
A spokeswoman says the guitar maker’s corporate operations have laid off 50 people worldwide. The cuts amount to less than 5 percent of total payroll. From a press release:
Nashville, Tennessee…March 20, 2009…World Wide sales for musical instrument product categories in which Gibson Guitar compete have dropped more than 20% in the US and most of the world in the first quarter of 2009. While Gibson has continued to gain market share, the extent of the slowdown in retail purchases, and the uncertainty of when this market will recover mandates that Gibson makes changes to insure the size of our organization is appropriate for the anticipated sales levels. This large drop in purchases is being experienced in virtually all consumer product categories.
After implementing these changes, Gibson is positioned to continue to be profitable even under more severe stress, as it has been consistently since 1986. It will allow the company to continue to maintain a conservative balance sheet and be positioned for continued market share expansion.
Henry Juszkiewicz, CEO of Gibson Guitar Inc. stated, ”We regret that the company had to reduce our work force today to meet the economic challenges faced by our industry. We believe our streamlined team of talented people will continue to serve our valuable customers in an increasingly excellent fashion. We expect to continue to build the finest instruments in the world and lead the industry in quality and innovation.”
