Walking Into A Brick & Mortar High End Audio Store

IMO Mapman and Bcgator have unveiled the issue central to this B&M discussion. I believe that genuine and real customer service is a lost art. Typically what we experience today is only lip service. This lip service is ultimately just another marketing tactic to drive sales. It isn't service at all. Consumers know this. So, now that customer service has been effectively removed from the equation, what do we have left? Product performance and price! We live in an age of disposable commodities (which impacts the product performance), and I believe this is partially a result of this lip service. This is why the sub set of price sensitive consumers is so substantial now. We have a generation (perhaps two now) of consumers who know nothing of true customer service. Nevertheless, I firmly believe that consumers who experience true customer service find it attractive and will be willing to pay for it. I think this is true in all aspect of the market as well.

One more thought...perhaps it is the public online forums (such as AudioGon) that actually doomed the brick and mortar stores, and not the online resellers.

Back in the day, I went to my local audio store to learn about high end equipment so that I knew what I wanted to purchase when I had finally saved up my money. Today, experts freely and willingly dispense with very technical information right here on AudioGon. All we have to do is ask our question. Back in the day, I paid for that knowledge when I made a purchase at the brick and mortar store. Today, I pay for that knowledge only if I make a sale through AudioGon.