The Gretsch Company Overview

Media contact:
JoAnna Anderson
404.214.2139
janderson@jacksonspalding.com

Download this page as PDF: Gretsch Company Fact Sheet

The Gretsch Company Overview

• Company founded in 1883 in Brooklyn, N.Y. as banjo, drum and tambourine manufacturer.
• Privately held company; four generations of family ownership.
• Headquartered in Savannah, Ga.
• President Fred W. Gretsch; CFO Dinah Gretsch.
• Gretsch products sold in the United States and 112 countries worldwide.
• Recipient of the 2003 "Heroes Award" from the Atlanta Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS)
• Recipient of the 2007 Century Award, designated for family businesses at least 100 years old, from the Cox Family Enterprise Center (at the Georgia Family Business Awards).

That Great Gretsch Sound

• Gretsch drums and guitars are the preferred instruments of many studio musicians and recording artists looking for unique tonal quality and hand-made craftsmanship.
• Notable Gretsch endorsees include Chet Atkins, Charlie Watts, Neil Young, Brian Setzer and Phil Collins.
• Gretsch Custom drums manufactured at production facility in Ridgeland, S.C.
• Kaman Music has been the exclusive distributor of Gretsch drums since 2000.
• Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has been exclusive guitar distributor since 2002.
• Gretsch owns and manufactures other popular and historic music industry products and brands including Bigsby® Vibratos and Sho-Bud® Pedal Steel Guitars.

In the Community:

• GuitarArt charity art program started by Gretsch Co. in 2002; company donates guitars to non-prof it organizations, which then decorate them to be sold at auction. Company also donates higher-quality instruments to be decorated by celebrities and auctioned for charity.
• Major sponsor of the Georgia Music Hall of Fame since museum's founding in 1996.
• Gave four major scholarships to Georgia Southern University, Elmhurst College, and University of West Georgia in 2006.