Supporting Local Audio Stores are we?

Back in the day 1976 to 1983 had a high end shop. Carried NAD as entry level,Luxman as mid - level and Threshold as the high end. Turntables were Linn, Luxman, Micro Seiki. Cassette decks only Nakamichi. Speakers were Magnepan,DCM,Polk and Allison. In those days there were not many accessories such as cables and power cords.

Carried roughly $125K to $140K in inventory and had monthly sales avg of 60K. Always took trade-ins of like equipment to be applied to new gear. It did not take long to realize that the used sales were quite a viable part of the business. Used sales added very nicely to the bottom line.

Service was our forte. No matter what you purchased it was always delivered and set up for the customer and the customer was guided through its operating parameters of what to do, but more important what not to do.

The store itself was set up basically like someones living room, with couchs and chairs, tables, drapes, you get the idea. Always had refreshments and deli trays on hand for the customers. In other words a home type environment, where customers could kick back relax listen to music and the gear that was on display.

Never any pressure to buy,or to ignore the customer.

One of the important things to remember about this time, is that the manufacturers had protected territories for their dealers. Say I wanted to add Audio Research to the inventory. Audio Research would not sell to me as they already had a dealer within that marketing area. And most of the manufacturers had the same or similiar arrangements.

To anyone that has been in this hobby/business realizes that in two channel audio, this is an ever evolving hobby, with solid repeat sales. Home Theater on the other hand does not work in the same vein. It is for the most part one big sale and thats it. Out the door and gone.

Back then HT was not even a blimp on the radar as was the internet.

But business moves forward and to remain viable one has to embrace all the possibilities to enhance the bottom line.

Another key to our success was a striking employee. Her name was Candace. She started out as a customer and I ended up hiring her. She had that personality that men trusted and ,here is the good part was able to converse with wifes and girl friends why their husbands and boyfriends were in this hobby and why it was non-threatening to their relationship. One of the best hires I ever did.

Yes the business ebvironment has changed, but solid business models have a far greater chance of success, than to think of all the ways it can fail.

I buy on value, which is not quite the same thing as price. I don't mind paying a lot if the product is truly exceptional. I won't pay for hype. For me exceptional performance is how it sounds or how it functions, but some people value a noble brand name or a chassis design which belongs in an art museum. To each his own.

When there was a good store in town serious audiophiles hung out there, and, once in a while, bought something. It was a place to exchange ideas. Of course it went bankrupt. Now we hang out on Audiogon.

I live in the Los Angeles area and most of the dealers have gone the home theater route. The couple that survive either work out of a very small store or work out of their house. The heyday of high-end brick and mortar stores is over. Lucklily I grew up in the day where you could walk into a variety of stores and hear different gear. One of the dealers admitted to me that if it weren't for a couple of customers he would of closed 5 years ago. I guess these 2 customers buy new systems every year and keep him in business. Keep in mind he works out of his house so his expenses are much lower than someone with a store. Plus he has no workers. The other dealer fixes and upgrades gear so I believe that is why he is still around.

One can buy new, direct from the builder in many cases. No retailer needed. Some of these direct from builder items are sold without the crazy, inflated retail prices often seen in this industry.

It is MOSTLY these inflated retail prices that make many used Agon buys look so good. Example,

One shops for a brand new set of speakers with a $12,000 suggested retail price. Dealers, especially those that do both internet and store, sell the speakers for a discounted price of say $6300-$6900. They call them "demos" but we all know they are not. The buyer pays $6300 and can now sell them on Agon for $5900 - $6300 in time. This is a real example as an FYI.

Look at the retail prices of this stuff folks! Very little of it sells for anything near it for the most part. In one case I purchased speakers new from the builder and sold them for a $1000 profit a year later. (yes, these speakers also sold through a dealer network)

I recently puchased amps and a preamp direct from a builder. They are sold at real world prices with no silly, inflated suggested retail price. These amps and pre simply don't show up used for the most part. When and if they do one may save $10-20% tops. Why save that little, when in my case I get free upgrades and killer service for years!
I paid the price - the only price these amps will sell for.
The price was outstanding as the performance of the pieces far surpasses anything else I have heard.

There are many small companies selling direct and making killer gear for real world prices. I am finding this to be the current sweet spot in high end audio. This is the sweet spot for us the high end consumer based on my recent experience.

So, go ahead and get to know some of these these smaller audio companies that sell direct. Talk the owner/builder and find your way to killer gear at reasonable prices. Many of them are on the cutting edge of technology and make gear that sounds well - world class!

Guess what, no need to deal with used items that show up DOA, broken or modified in ways you may never know.

I will always use Agon to buy used gear so get me wrong, but boy do we have some nice direct options today.

Direct from builder and used are the wave of the future I am certain.

My dealer hangs in there being open only on weekends except for appointments and has been in business this way as far back as I remember. I think it is a second source of income for him.