Sweetwater bought out by capital investment company

[thebrushwithin]

[admin]

https://www.insideindianabusiness.com/story/43253298/sweetwater-hits-billion-dollar-milestone

https://www.wane.com/news/local-news/surack-stepping-up-at-sweetwater-providence-to-take-majority-ownership/
Surack relinquishes role as Sweetwater CEO as investment firm assumes majority ownership
LOCAL NEWS
by: Dirk Rowley, Corinne Moore

Posted: Aug 6, 2021 / 06:09 PM EDT / Updated: Aug 7, 2021 / 12:38 PM EDT

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – The founder and CEO of Sweetwater Sound has announced that he is "stepping up" from his role.

In a letter to employees that was sent out two weeks ago, Chuck Surack announced that he is transitioning from his role as CEO and into the role of Chairman of the Sweetwater Board.

Chuck Surack_127658
Chuck Surack
This comes just weeks after Sweetwater said that a firm out of Providence, Rhode Island is investing in the company. On Friday, Surack confirmed that Providence Equity Partners will now be the majority owner.

Sweetwater growing through investment group, take business to 'next level'
"They love our company and they realize how important it is to stay in Fort Wayne and the culture that we've worked for four decades, frankly, to develop. And the only really minor change is that I'm taking my role and I'm going to move my offices from the Sweetwater building to another building here in town," Surack said.

Surack says that he will start managing the Sweet Family of Companies. He told WANE 15 that he also hopes to start construction on a number of blocks that he owns in downtown Fort Wayne and more within the next year.

Sweetwater bringing better hands-on experience with new retail store
https://www.wane.com/news/local-news/sweetwater-bringing-better-hands-on-experience-with-new-retail-store/
"My wife and I have a real heart for southeast Fort Wayne and so we want to get some development going out there, and that's kind of where I'm going to focus for the next several years," Surack said.

He added this transition is like when a parent launches a child out onto their own.

"I'm just thrilled that I've been able to take it from an old, beat up VW bus to where we are today," Surack said.

These changes were effective July 15.
The new CEO is long time Executive Vice President and C.O.O. John Hopkins.
Sweetwater veteran of 29 years 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-hopkins-230b639/




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[chrish]

Quote "He added this transition is like when a parent launches a child out onto their own."

Good, now that the child is out on its own it won't need any more help from me.

I actually stopped shopping there when the salesman wouldn't give me a discount on the SY1000. He said it was too new to discount.

Then I called Alto Music and pre-ordered the SY1000 at a discounted price of $850.  Very happy with their service and prices.

[admin]

Quote "He added this transition is like when a parent launches a child out onto their own."

Good, now that the child is out on its own it won't need any more help from me.

I actually stopped shopping there when the salesman wouldn't give me a discount on the SY1000. He said it was too new to discount.

Then I called Alto Music and pre-ordered the SY1000 at a discounted price of $850.  Very happy with their service and prices.

I also prefer Alto  - always pick up the phone and mention VGUITARFORUMS for best deal when shopping there
https://www.altomusic.com/

[gumtown]

+1 for Alto 
great service from them, and that is from the other side of the planet for me too.

[aliensporebomb]

Not only that but Alto shipped quick and efficiently and often has a wide selection of interesting items! 

[vtgearhead]

Sad news...  I'm sure they'll screw it up in short order.  FWIW, I've never found their pricing to be anything special.  The one time I convinced the "sales engineer" to knock a bit off the standard pricing you'd have thought I asked him to saw off his left arm.

[Dalai_llama]

Years ago Sweetwater landed a blow to someone I really admire. This lead to the termination of a brand that I really loved. In a way, it was a cruel act disguised as a "business decision" that "unfortunately we had to make". (I later became friends with that person.)

For that alone, I stopped buying from them.

And nope, no discounts ever, regardless of having been a faithful customer. Found a place in Wisconsin that always valued my business, so I took it all there.