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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Woodwind & Brasswind, a 33-year-old retailer of musical instruments, is closing its call center in South Bend and moving the operations to Indianapolis by the end of the year.
The call center’s 100 employees were notified of the closing on Wednesday and given the option to remain with the company and relocate to central Indiana.
The company also will close its retail store in South Bend, eliminating 15 jobs and making the company exclusively an online retailer.
The Woodwind & Brasswind filed for bankruptcy in November 2006. It was acquired the following year by Westlake Village, Calif.-based Guitar Center for about $37 million. Guitar Center has since been acquired by Bain Capital LLC in Boston.
Dennis Haffeman, vice president of human resources for Guitar Center, said the call center’s lease in South Bend expires in February.
He told IBJ that Guitar Center chose to move the call center to Indianapolis because of the company’s existing presence in the metropolitan area. Guitar Center has a distribution center in Brownsburg and a store in Castleton.
“We want to stay in the state, so [the move] gives us a bigger presence in the market,” Haffeman said.
Guitar Center has not signed a lease for the call center and is considering various locations, which Haffeman declined to divulge.
The company does not expect all 100 employees to relocate to Indianapolis and plans to post job openings.
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