It's no secret that Gibson has big ambitions for its Garage concept – a retail and experience centre that allow players to get hands-on with an incredible range of guitars. The first Gibson Garage in Nashville has also proved a big success in hosting events too. So the question is, when and where in the world will the next Gibson Garage open? Well, it looks like there's going to be one in London.
A job advertisement has recently appeared on UK site Glassdoor for a General Manager and it reveals what's coming; 'This General Manager – Retail position is based at The Gibson Garage in London, a ground-breaking, public Gibson Brands experience centre, located in Central London,' states the listing.
The requirements of the new role also reveal the kind of events the General Manager will be overseeing at the Gibson Garage: 'Coordinate in-store promotions and appearances, coordinate and book private events in the space after business hours, coordinate a regular calendar of community events in the space after business hours, promote the Gibson Garage through trade and community events.'
Gibson already has a private showroom in London but this will see the company step up into the public space in a big way. Great news for UK guitar fans judging by how well the first US Gibson Garage has been received.
That was a very big investment," Gibson Brand President Cesar Gueikian told MusicRadar last year. "The first one is in Nashville. It's at the heart, at the centre of culture of Nashville. And the traffic that we've been getting there is such that now it's become a destination. And that's another place where it's all about the experience.
"You go in there, you can try you can try anything from a Murphy Lab '59, or a Gold Top, all the way down to all the Epiphones and all the acoustic guitars; Custom Shop acoustic, USA acoustic, Original Collection, Modern Collection."
It's really creating that sort of ultimate experience of what's going on at Gibson
The Nashville Gibson Garage features 200 guitars going round on a conveyer belt – the kind of thing we have dream about. But it's also a destination for artists, who might visit at any time.
"You never know who you're going to run into there because all of our artists come through, and they watch that and they get really excited," added Gueikian. "It's really creating that sort of ultimate experience of what's going on at Gibson. You go in there, you say, 'Okay, I get it'.
As far as timescale, it's not clear when the London Gibson Garage will open but the existence of this job advertisement suggests it can't be too far off. More news when when have it!
