I often frequented a fine audio store in Ann Arbor, Michigan, called Accutronics. Two floors of stereo equipment with four rooms in the basement handling used high end stuff. The owner, Arnie, specialized in calling people who advertised in the old Audiomart and buying their items. He'd then do a reasonable mark up and sell it from his store which also had a service department who would check over the thing.
He also carried new gear like ProAc, Cary, Accuphase, Parasound, etc. Then one day Arnie stopped being on the floor very much and the guys working for him said he was working on creating a high end audio website. Next thing I knew Arnie called me so say he was having a huge "going out of business" sale as his website was fully up and running and this was how he intended to make a living. That website, of course, was Audiogon.
His store was like a virtual (in the real sense of the term) Audiogon as if you went into it often enough, you'd most likely find anything you wanted.
He also carried new gear like ProAc, Cary, Accuphase, Parasound, etc. Then one day Arnie stopped being on the floor very much and the guys working for him said he was working on creating a high end audio website. Next thing I knew Arnie called me so say he was having a huge "going out of business" sale as his website was fully up and running and this was how he intended to make a living. That website, of course, was Audiogon.
His store was like a virtual (in the real sense of the term) Audiogon as if you went into it often enough, you'd most likely find anything you wanted.