Our Values
Do the Right Thing
Our mission is simple — always do the right thing. Whether for customers, visitors, fellow employees, or business partners, our goal is always to exceed expectations and conduct ourselves with integrity, honesty, and respect for others.
The Sweetwater Difference
Sweetwater’s strong culture is rooted in our shared values. Our values describe the positive attitudes and passions we bring to our work and our customers every day. They are the inherent qualities of the kind of teammate that thrives here.
We WOW customers
Our customers are the reason we’re here. Helping them pursue and fulfill their musical ambitions and dreams is what drives us. WOWing customers each and every day is the single biggest focus of our efforts. We’re not motivated by squeezing the bottom line or gobbling up market share. Instead, we are relentlessly focused on bringing value to our customers. And it’s worth keeping in mind that customers aren’t always external. Even when interacting with other departments, we search for ways to deliver WOW.
We get things done
It’s called Sweetwater Time. We move fast. We make things happen now rather than spending days and weeks deliberating. If we have a question, we pick up the phone and ask. If there is a problem, we solve it now instead of tomorrow. If we see a wrapper on the floor, we pick it up instead of waiting for maintenance. We don’t make problems or solutions bigger than they are. We figure out a way to make a quick, positive impact right away and then look for ways to build from there.
We obsess over details
Not only do we want to get things done quickly, but we pursue excellence in everything we do. Excellence is the product of digging in deep and understanding how things work. How our coffee is brewed in the diner, font choices and colors on signage, specific words on an invoice or contract, the tone of voice on our auto-attendant messages, the way someone closes a conversation with a customer — the list goes on and on. All of this matters immensely. We obsess over details to make sure it’s not only done fast but done well.
We drive continuous improvement
What we are doing today won’t be good enough to WOW our customers tomorrow. We constantly strive for a better way to do what we do, and we reject the status quo. How can something in your area be done faster? How can we eliminate wasted time in one of our processes? What’s a new idea for making the customer experience better? “That’s the way it’s always been done,” isn’t good enough here. We always look for opportunities for improvement.
We develop the future
We do not lose sight of the future even in our pursuit of WOWing customers, working quickly, obsessing over details, and driving improvement today. We develop ourselves and work to encourage, challenge, and grow those around us. Saying a kind word. Pointing out someone’s strengths. Being willing to help someone learn a new skill or improve an area of their game. Giving positive and constructive feedback. Hiring team members that will take us to another level. At the end of the day, Sweetwater is people — and people are our future.
A Microbus and a Mission
In 1979, Chuck Surack poured his love of music and recording (and a lot of Bondo!) into a hand-me-down VW microbus, turning it into a mobile recording studio and hitting the road to record performances all over the Midwest.
Chuck was committed to delivering more to his customers from day one. Whether that meant giving artists extra cassettes and albums or charging for a little less time than he actually used, Chuck always went above and beyond to show his customers that he was fully committed and working hard to help them achieve their musical dreams.
There wasn't a music or pro audio dealer around that provided the kind of service, selection, and support Chuck felt customers deserved. At the same time, Chuck had begun creating sounds for the groundbreaking Kurzweil K250 keyboard, selling those sounds to many of the biggest names in the music industry. Those sound-design clients were also seeking a retailer they could trust. Chuck saw a niche, and Sweetwater's retail division was born.
Sweetwater Today
Sweetwater has grown from one man in a VW microbus to over 2,500 employees working at a state-of-the-art, 1 million square foot campus and music hub — and the #1 online music instrument and pro audio retailer in the United States. With a recent expansion to Arizona, including a distribution center that opened in October 2022, Sweetwater is poised for even greater success. But, if you ask how we measure our success at the end of the day, it’s the millions of happy customers and friends that are now part of the Sweetwater family. Helping each and every person get closer to their music dreams is a privilege we’ll never take for granted.
The future for Sweetwater looks incredibly bright as we continue to drive ourselves and the industry forward through continuous improvement and a passion for creating amazing customer experiences. We look forward to the opportunity to serve even more customers in the future and can’t wait to invite you along on the journey.