Lol - yeah, this is all a nice "fantasy land" you have all concocted here. But, take if from someone who's worked in a quite a few audio/video and hi-end stores, YOUR DESTINED TO CLOSE THE DOORS!!!
First off, your "audiophile" market is not where you're going to make ANY MONEY! Most of your audiophiles and old 2 channel guys DON'T BUY THEIR SYSTEMS FROM RETAIL STORES!! They trade on the net, and have have the same systems for decades. They piece stuff together on rare occasions, and get it from all different sources - and usually not yours!!!!
That is why very very very few AV salons do high end 2 channel anymore. Most of them have gone to mainstream, mass-market custom installation, of mid-fi products! -where the money is! (with a few higher end pieces thrown in to make em feel like they offer something "special!") That's how it is folks. Sorry to inform you.
Most all of the audiophiles are the guys who piece stuff together here and there, and mostly "used stuff" on the net!
THE ONLY WAY to make a higher end av salon work, selling upscale audio/video, is to have a professional, higher end setup in a higher end neighborhood, selling to rich folks! There is very little other options. Yes, you can do some stuff no one else does/offers, essoteric gear, custom setups, mods, and repairs and such. But it all gets down to the relationship with your client, the location (critical), and how well you present and market yourself to your community! You also need a good sales-force, that people feel comfortable with, and who are confindent and educated about what they're sellilng.
It is VERY hard to keep the doors open on audio/video shops (without custom especially), and most who survive, only do just that - "survive"...not thrive.
You can have the best sounding, well engineered, best equiped, most stocked, best laid out shop around. And it will fold like dominoes, costing you big bucks!
Anyone trying to make one of these shops work, better do their homework, find a stellar location with upscale clients, (forget selling mostly "mid-fi", as you'll be competing with the entire world on the net, and the chain stores...and they'll GRIND YA to death!), and get a good marketing strategy and biz plan together. Also, you'll NEED to do custom to make any real profits. $80-$125/hour, per installer, is something you need to be doing to make money here - yep. You simply can't make a homerun in this biz by waiting around for that "whale" to come in and plunk down $100k for a surround sound system! It rarely ever happens.
I've worked in stores with Wilson, Thiel, Martin Logan, Magnapan, Audio Physics, Celestion, Krell, Theta, Audio Research, Audible Illusions, Pass Labs, Nero, and more! These stores only worked because they were in prime locations, with clients that drove up in $60k automobiles, with cash to spend! And even then, they had to rely on custom to keep real profits flowing in.
Good luck to anyone trying to do more "mid-fi" retail gear! You'll get all the Best Buy shoppers and drifters floating through the store, and you'll struggle to make the rent!!!
First off, your "audiophile" market is not where you're going to make ANY MONEY! Most of your audiophiles and old 2 channel guys DON'T BUY THEIR SYSTEMS FROM RETAIL STORES!! They trade on the net, and have have the same systems for decades. They piece stuff together on rare occasions, and get it from all different sources - and usually not yours!!!!
That is why very very very few AV salons do high end 2 channel anymore. Most of them have gone to mainstream, mass-market custom installation, of mid-fi products! -where the money is! (with a few higher end pieces thrown in to make em feel like they offer something "special!") That's how it is folks. Sorry to inform you.
Most all of the audiophiles are the guys who piece stuff together here and there, and mostly "used stuff" on the net!
THE ONLY WAY to make a higher end av salon work, selling upscale audio/video, is to have a professional, higher end setup in a higher end neighborhood, selling to rich folks! There is very little other options. Yes, you can do some stuff no one else does/offers, essoteric gear, custom setups, mods, and repairs and such. But it all gets down to the relationship with your client, the location (critical), and how well you present and market yourself to your community! You also need a good sales-force, that people feel comfortable with, and who are confindent and educated about what they're sellilng.
It is VERY hard to keep the doors open on audio/video shops (without custom especially), and most who survive, only do just that - "survive"...not thrive.
You can have the best sounding, well engineered, best equiped, most stocked, best laid out shop around. And it will fold like dominoes, costing you big bucks!
Anyone trying to make one of these shops work, better do their homework, find a stellar location with upscale clients, (forget selling mostly "mid-fi", as you'll be competing with the entire world on the net, and the chain stores...and they'll GRIND YA to death!), and get a good marketing strategy and biz plan together. Also, you'll NEED to do custom to make any real profits. $80-$125/hour, per installer, is something you need to be doing to make money here - yep. You simply can't make a homerun in this biz by waiting around for that "whale" to come in and plunk down $100k for a surround sound system! It rarely ever happens.
I've worked in stores with Wilson, Thiel, Martin Logan, Magnapan, Audio Physics, Celestion, Krell, Theta, Audio Research, Audible Illusions, Pass Labs, Nero, and more! These stores only worked because they were in prime locations, with clients that drove up in $60k automobiles, with cash to spend! And even then, they had to rely on custom to keep real profits flowing in.
Good luck to anyone trying to do more "mid-fi" retail gear! You'll get all the Best Buy shoppers and drifters floating through the store, and you'll struggle to make the rent!!!