Newell Named President & General Manager of Gruhn Guitars

Gruhn Guitars recently announced the appointment of Eric C. Newell to president & general Manager.

In addition to overall administration of day-to-day business needs and general staff management, Eric will focus on company growth and long-term development and will continue in his previous role as general manager.

“My promotion to president of Gruhn Guitars is the most prestigious of honors, to say the least,” said Eric C. Newell, “Ushering Gruhn Guitars into the next era while respecting the company’s history and the legacy of George Gruhn means a great deal to me both personally and professionally. I look forward to further strengthening the incredible team at Gruhn, connecting fine instruments with players and collectors worldwide, and the continued success of the business well into the foreseeable future.”

Company owner and founder George Gruhn will now act as Chairman & CEO. Though his unique and inimitable day-to-day role within the company will not change significantly, the appointment of Newell as company president will enable George to focus his efforts on large-scale passion projects, strategic long-term planning, and community activities.

We now have the finest management team in the history of Gruhn Guitars,” said George Gruhn, “Eric is extremely competent and dedicated to serving the best long term interests of the company and our customers. He not only enjoys managing the day-to-day operations essential to the health of the business, but is better at it than I am. Though I still work six days a week (except for the weeks when I work seven days), I am now able to devote my full attention to the activities I enjoy most and make the best use of my talents.”

Newell began his tenure with Gruhn Guitars in 2006 as repair department manager. At the time, though Gruhn’s world-renowned repair shop was staffed with highly skilled luthiers and was one of the greatest assets of the company, this department had not been subject to quantifiable results within the business. Eric worked closely with the repair team for six years and evolved this department into the most efficient and productive arrangement seen within the company’s history. In 2012, Eric was promoted to General Manager and took a similar approach to the business as a whole. During this time, Eric also strengthened the management team by promoting luthier Greg Voros to Repair Department Manager to organize and prioritize repair projects and oversee eight full-time repairmen, hiring Sarah Jones as Operations Manager to handle marketing and social media, website management, event planning, HR tasks, and new instrument purchases, and by sustaining the company’s long relationship with Robert Hobbs as Accountant to manage the company’s financial planning, daily accounting tasks, and IT responsibilities. Since restructuring in 2012, the company has experienced steady growth, increased sales and profitability, and an improved company culture. Gruhn Guitars plans to see continuous sustainable growth and efficient operations with the appointment of Eric C. Newell as president & general manager.