More than guitars at Shanghai's Gibson flagship store

With more than 40 professional orchestras nationwide, plus some of the world’s top music conservatories, it’s little wonder that China has become a top producer of export-ready classical pianists: Lang Lang, Li Yundi et al. 

And if guitar-manufacturer Gibson has anything to say about it, it won’t be long before we see China’s answer to Jimi Hendrix. The Shanghai Gibson flagship store, which opened on June 5, aims to be a creative space to nurture the talents of Shanghai’s budding Jimmy Pages and B.B. Kings.

The 150-square-meter space (which will double in size once the second floor opens) is designed to sell more than just guitars. The shop, which includes a stage and a bar, is selling an experience designed to create affinity with the Gibson brand, attracting local guitar enthusiasts with live performances, product demos and impromptu jam sessions. 

“In China where your brand might not be as well known, it’s really important to give yourself a chance to present your brand as you see it and as it’s meant to be seen,” says the president of Gibson China. 

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Gibson in China

The iconic instrument company is hardly a stranger to the Middle Kingdom. For the past six years, Gibson has been active in China’s wholesale instrument market, where, not surprisingly, 90 percent of its business has been in Baldwin pianos (a Gibson-owned brand).

Most of the world’s Baldwin pianos are made at Gibson’s Zhongshan and Dongbei factories. The company also manufactures Epiphone-branded guitars at its two Qingdao facilities.

The opening of the Hengshan Lu Shanghai Gibson flagship store is not just the company’s first foray into retail in China; it’s the first Gibson retail store outside of the United States, period. The only other Gibson stores on the planet are located in the company headquarters of Nashville, Tennessee and in nearby Memphis, Tennessee. 

The official line is that the idea for a Shanghai store occurred on a whim, when Gibson China was looking for new corporate office space and decided to experiment with a retail presence. But one has to believe that when a company decides to expand its offering from the Southeastern United States to Shanghai, it’s part of a more long-term and top-down strategy. 

A new Shanghai live music space

Whatever Gibson’s long-term plans for China, we’re happy to have a new live performance venue on the scene, operated by people who care about sound production and quality. The store manager, who due to company policy cannot be named, estimates the venue’s capacity at 150 to 200 people.

Raucous Beijing rock trio Rustic came down to perform at the store’s opening party. Look out for more in-store gigs in the next few months once the Sennheiser sound system is up and running. 

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Something for everyone

For guitarists on a budget, the store has a selection of Gibson’s “entry-level” Kramer guitars, which retail for less than RMB 1,000.

On the other end of the spectrum, guitar fetishists can find several wet dreams’ worth of premium product, including a RMB 31,499 Dusk Tiger self-tuning robot guitar, a RMB 46,000 reissue of a 1957 model Les Paul, and a RMB 48,000 thing of beauty with mother-of-pearl inlay.

For sneaker aficionados, the shop is worth a visit to check out the memorabilia shelf and get a glimpse of the limited edition Nike Dunk SB Low Gibsons, shoes designed to resemble the classic Gibson guitar case: Brown leather with a furry pink interior.

And for fans of "Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure" and the only marginally less rad "Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey," the store boasts an impressive range of Gibson Flying Vs. Rock on.

getting there

Shanghai Gibson flagship store
10 Hengshan Lu, near Wulumuqi Lu
衡山路10号, 近乌鲁木齐南路
Hours: Noon-8pm Monday-Friday, 11am-8pm weekends
+86 21 3461 2758
www.gibson.cn
Cash only

Abby hails from Washington D.C. and bounced around Hong Kong, Singapore, Massachusetts and Egypt before arriving in Shanghai in 2007.

Read more about Abby Lavin