Gibson has announced its plans to open up its second Gibson Garage, which will serve as the brand’s first-ever flagship store outside of the US.
Located in London, the new electric guitar and acoustic guitar mega-store will follow in the footsteps of the brand’s premiere Gibson Garage located in Nashville, which first opened back in 2021.
The London Gibson Garage, dubbed “a groundbreaking flagship store for all things Gibson Brands”, is scheduled to open its doors in early 2024, and will be situated just off the English Capital’s historic Oxford Street – a tourist-heavy area noted for its retail.
More than 4,500 square feet of space will make up the Garage, which in turn will offer visitors the chance to peruse and play more than 300 electric and acoustic models from a host of Gibson brands, including the Gibson Custom Shop, Epiphone and Kramer.
Furthermore, the brand’s newly revived Maestro pedal range and Mesa/Boogie guitar amp catalogs will also be featured at the Garage.
Speaking of the London Gibson Garage, recently appointed CEO Cesar Gueikian cited the city’s “influential musical ecosystem” and its status as “one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world” as key factors behind the move.
“When we first began designing the Gibson Garage, our global flagship, we asked ourselves, ‘What do we want our fans to experience when walking into Gibson?’” he reflected. “We imagined an immersive dream space where fans walk in and say, ‘Wow, this is the place that Gibson should have always had!’
“The Garage we built in Nashville is an exciting place to experience Gibson music and lifestyle through instruments, sound, media, and apparel. The Garage is designed to be a part of the local music community with a live stage featuring performances and events from icons and emerging artists on any given day of the week.
“The Gibson Garage in Nashville has had an extraordinary impact on the music scene in addition to becoming a global music destination and we are thrilled to bring the Garage to London.”
Gibson’s move to Europe seems to be indicative of a wider trend among the industry’s biggest names taking retail into their own hands. Fender, for example, recently opened its flagship Tokyo store, with Fender CEO Andy Mooney telling Guitar World the model could be recreated in other countries if it proves to be a success.
We imagine it might be a similar case with Gibson – the London Garage might yet be the first step in a long road of numerous other Gibson stores, which could open in other major cities around the world.
Keep your eyes peeled on the Gibson Garage website for further developments.
