Starting my showroom again

No, no, and hell no. If you're that desperate/determined to burn money, pm me for my address. Sorry. It's a different world now. I don't think that you can start up now the way you could 55 years ago (to use an example above).

nashvillehifi

Good to have you back! Sound advice as above. Consider visiting the (3) already established Audio shops -Atlier 13 Audio, Gestalt Audio and Hifibuys. Consult and talk with those guys to determine the current economy climate. The best news is that a new President will take office in January. Americans have the money but were afraid to spend it over the last 4 years. 2025 will change all of that for the better. Much better.

Second consideration, start small. Perhaps out of your home? You already have the experience and knowledge to test your local market. Nashville is growing with no end in sight. There is something to be said for auditioning Audio gear in-person.

Keep me posted on your progress.  Season's Greetings.

Happy Listening!

I would only attempt that business if I had someone else's millions of dollars to use and I was in an affluent market.  In a small town, that's just financial suicide. 

How many Mercedes/ Aston Martin/ McLaren/ Rolex/ Chanel/ Gucci dealers are in town?  Why would there be any of those brands there?  They sell to the same type of clientele. 

Look at the local real estate offerings.  What's the average sale price of a home per sq. ft?  What's the average sales price of properties?  

Unless you're in an enclave like Carmel CA, or Aspen CO, I'd steer clear of that idea.

Unless you are looking for a hobby/job to close out your career, I would not envision owning a B&M HiFi shop as being a lucrative business venture, and particularly in a smaller community within 30 miles of a larger community where there are already three incumbents.

With the abundance of product information and reviews available on the internet these days, direct-to-customer sales, and manufacturers willing to allow 15 to 45-day return periods, the B&M business model is mostly obsolete. Exceptions might include locations in major cities where the buyers have more money than time, and companies handling a significant amount of internet sales that also have a physical presence such as Upscale Audio, Tweak Geek, and a few others. The model you remember from previously would be very hard to successfully replicate, IMO.

I stopped going to our local shop years ago (metro area pop. 250K+/-) when I realized that I would have to choose from only two or three brands, and that I typically knew more about the products than the salespeople, who seemed to mostly know only as much as their distributors had shared with them and about only the products they carried. The shop eventually closed over 10 years ago.

With the thriving music and recording industry in Nashville, there may be other types of opportunities for rewarding work. Maybe hook up with one of the companies that provides/maintains professional concert and recording equipment.

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