Gibson restructuring continues with sale of Stanton Magnetics to inMusic
Gibson Brands Inc has announced the sale of Stanton Magnetics to inMusic; where it will join other legendary DJ brands. The sale marks further restructuring at Gibson and leads us wondering, “what’s next for the chop?”.
Gibson Sells Stanton Magnetics
Stanton Magnetics is a brand which will be familiar to DJs and Hi-Fi enthusiasts worldwide. Renowned especially for their phono pickup cartridges, Stanton was acquired in 2011 by Gibson, as part of its shopping spree of “consumer electronics” brands.
Shortly after the Gibson takeover, many of Stanton’s most popular and famous cartridge lines were discontinued; a bizarre decision at a time when vinyl was making a comeback.
Stanton will go to inMusic where it joins Denon DJ, Numark and Rane and may signal a new beginning for the brand. Gibson’s decision to jettison Stanton may signal the beginning of more sell-offs however.
Reversing the Rot?
Under former owner and CEO Henry Juszkiewicz, Gibson purchased a string of consumer electronics brands including Stanton and Phillips. It’s a decision which, along with some questionable guitar designs, no doubt contributed to Gibson filing for bankruptcy in 2018.
Since then, Gibson appointed James “JC” Curleigh, formerly of Levi Strauss, has led the company in the wake of a high-level management shakeup. Subsequently, we’ve seen Gibson slimming back, restructuring and perhaps getting back in touch with their roots. The question you’ve just got to ask is, “which brands will Gibson offload next?”.
We wouldn’t be surprised to see Cerwin Vega finding a new home sometime soon; it’s yet another classic brand that’s fallen by the wayside. Just like Stanton, Cerwin-Vega was a respected name in its field, but under Gibson management has arguably gone from bad to worse. In fact, if you google for “Cerwin Vega” the second most common search term is “Are Cerwin Vega still in Business”.
What would you like to see from Gibson? Do you think they’re moving in the right direction or is this too little too late?
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