I am active in the business right now (in hi fi and in pro via high end recording gear) . The business has completely changed from when you were running a store. One of the issues is that most of the lower end brands (90%+ made in China) will make deal with a customer (a store) who can buy more-making small operations vulnerable to your competitor buying the same thing for much less than you. It is not uncommon that quantity discounts kill small retailers all the time in almost every business. Finding something unique to sell is the game.
Small town means you have to "pull from Nashville" because that's where the people with money are. With the recent Nashville aversion to bad traffic, why would someone invest 60 minutes x 2 to come see you? You need to answer the question first.
Becoming a distributor does not work either as you need relationships that are long and deep all over the country to survive against behemoths fueled by almost unlimited money that own major brands most people don't even know are really Chinese companies now. Due to their unique conditions, they can almost sell at manufacturing cost just to keep a factory operating.
Recording gear is just a specialized as high end hi fi, plus there are 3 or 4 long term participants in Nashville ; Vintage King has a strong presence there as does GC Pro. Sweetwater is one day to ship in and talk about buying in quantity- you cannot compete head to head with them. So I don't believe you can make that work either due to the intense competition.
My suggestion is go to work for one of those other stores or manufacturers seeking a sales rep and learn where the industry is at. Learn what is and isn't working before you spend your own money.
Brad