GTRC Guitar Center (MM)

Netezza, a leading provider of data warehouse appliances, today announced that Guitar Center, Inc. (Nasdaq:GTRC), the leading United States retailer of guitars, amplifiers, percussion instruments, keyboards and pro-audio and recording equipment, has implemented the Netezza Performance Server� (NPS�) data warehouse appliance as its enterprise data warehouse solution at its Guitar Center retail stores. Guitar Center has selected the Netezza system, in collaboration with business intelligence software from QuantiSense and MicroStrategy, to manage and analyze data across its multi-channel retail business. The integrated business intelligence solution provides Guitar Center with a consolidated view of its operations to quickly identify and respond to trends in the business across divisions. Following an extensive evaluation of data warehouse solutions, Guitar Center selected the Netezza data warehouse appliance for its performance, speed to deployment, ease of implementation and overall business value. �We needed a business intelligence solution that would provide us with scalability and easy access to integrated and more detailed information to allow us to spend more time analyzing the data,� said John Zavada, CIO of Guitar Center. �We evaluated several solutions and felt that Netezza�s data warehouse appliance provided us with the flexibility and speed we needed, and the enterprise-class capabilities we required, with very little overhead and maintenance costs.� Mr. Zavada continued, �We have completed the successful implementation of the NPS system throughout our retail stores and plan to roll it out in our direct response and our Music & Arts divisions. Ultimately, we will have easy access to integrated information across all of our divisions and will be able to make more informed decisions as we analyze a wider array of detailed sales, advertising and promotion, store operations, vendor and customer data.� �Leading retailers like Guitar Center continue to purchase the Netezza data warehouse appliance over competing solutions to support very complex, rapidly changing and exponentially growing businesses,� said Andy Winans, vice president, Retail & CPG at Netezza. �The low-cost performance of Netezza, coupled with its ease of deployment and simple operation, have allowed our customers to gain the kind of insight into and across their businesses that would have cost significantly more and taken longer to achieve with competitive solutions.� The Netezza Performance Server system is built specifically to analyze terabytes of detailed data 10-100 times faster than existing data warehouse options, at a much lower total cost of ownership. The NPS system stores, filters and processes terabytes of records within a single unit, analyzing only the relevant information for each query enabling improved performance and deployment for Guitar Center. About Guitar Center Guitar Center is the leading United States retailer of guitars, amplifiers, percussion instruments, keyboards and pro-audio and recording equipment. Our retail store subsidiary presently operates more than 210 Guitar Center stores across the United States. In addition, our Music & Arts division operates more than 95 stores specializing in band instruments for sale and rental, serving teachers, band directors, college professors and students. We are also the largest direct response retailer of musical instruments in the United States through our wholly owned subsidiary, Musician's Friend, Inc., and its catalogs and websites, www.musiciansfriend.com, www.guitarcenter.com, www.wwbw.com and www.music123.com. More information on Guitar Center can be found by visiting the Company's web site at www.guitarcenter.com. About Netezza Corporation Netezza is a leading provider of data warehouse appliances. The Netezza Performance Server data warehouse appliance integrates database, server and storage platforms in a purpose-built system to perform detailed queries and analyses on large volumes of stored data. Recognizing the limitations of traditional data warehouse solutions, Netezza designed its NPS family of data warehouse appliances specifically for analysis of terabytes of data 10-100 times faster than traditional solutions, with a lower total cost of ownership and greater ease of use. Based in Framingham, Mass., Netezza has offices in Washington, DC, the United Kingdom and Asia Pacific. The Company is backed by leading venture capital firms, including Matrix Partners, Charles River Ventures, Battery Ventures, Orange, Sequoia Capital and Meritech Capital Partners. For more information about Netezza, please visit www.netezza.com. Business Risks and Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to, among other things, the implementation of the enterprise data warehouse solution. Guitar Center�s ability to timely achieve the expected results as contained in those forward-looking statements may be impacted by a variety of factors including among others, world and national political events, general economic conditions, its ability to efficiently implement and integrate information technology systems, its ability to integrate and profitably operate acquired businesses such as Woodwind and Brasswind, the efficient operation of its supply chain, including the continued support of its key vendors, its effective management of business risks, including litigation, and competitive factors applicable to its retail and direct response markets. In light of these risks, the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are not guarantees of future performance and in fact may not be realized. Guitar Center�s actual results could differ materially and adversely from those expressed in this press release. Further, the statements made by Guitar Center above represent its views only as of the date of this press release, and it should not be assumed that the statements made herein remain accurate as of any future date. Guitar Center does not presently intend to update these statements and undertakes no duty to any person to effect any such update under any circumstances. Investors are also urged to review carefully the discussion under the caption �Risk Factors� in Guitar Center�s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006 and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for subsequent quarters, which have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and may be accessed through the EDGAR database maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov.