Starting my showroom again


 

Hello, audiophiles. I would like to get your honest feedback. Back in 2022, I had to close my business in Nashville owing to a series of unexpected occurrences (several deaths in the family, a rapid move to assist my mother-in-law, and a brain operation); all of this necessitated that I close the store in a matter of weeks. It was now a two-hour trek to Nashville. I worked as a glorified gate operator at a chemical company because that is all was available in our small town. I received an opportunity to become national sales director for an audio company, which would provide some income—not much, but enough to go back into the hifi business at the bottom level.

 

 

 

So now you know the incredibly brief version of the story. Here's the question: there is a little town about 30 minutes away that is booming and gaining more expensive retailers like Ulta and StarBucks. So here's the question.

 

Do you believe a small town like that might support an up-and-coming hifi business that sells receivers, speakers like PS Audio, KEF, and other manufacturers at a lower price point until the store can handle more expensive items? The closest "electronics store," Electronics Express, is nearly an hour and a half away. I have had an audio shop since 2003, beginning in Florida. Thoughts?

 

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Showing 5 responses by nashvillehifi

Funny you say that. I was a Dyn, Focal, and YG dealer lol. I’ve been trying to think of things that are different and appeal to a person that it’s their first time being in a real brick-and-mortar store. The internet is an unbeatable opponent, but I think there’s some to be said about hearing a pair of $900 focals for the first time or an electro-stat ML for 1800. Something new to them, different, and for a smaller town, kind of exciting. I mean you could do a Dynaudio Emit surround with a REL Zero fairly cheap.

It's so tricky now because when I first started it was a very small area of course this is 25 years ago or 24 depending on however you want to slice it but when I first started I carried MIT Denon receivers in the such with the idea of going bigger for the time I had to close the store in 2022 I was selling octave Dynaudio, Simaudio, and Audio Research YG focal Cardas cables nordost and the such I had a very large showroom so I'm trying to think simple but I also want to make sure that what I'm going to invest won't just be money that gets burned up

I think you bring out a very good point I'm 42 years old right now and I've probably got maybe another 8 or 10 in me my vision would be something to wear I could keep my overhead low I've run the entire shop all my life with one person me handling payroll bookkeeping taxes inventory and all that it's what's in my blood it's what I know how to do and my plan would be is to open a shop to where you could appeal to people that maybe just want something small and really don't know too much about it and all they see is ADS left and right but really don't know what they want and to have somebody explain it