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Well, of course, all of us probably have!!
I often see EMPTY retail space just begging for a store, especially when they have BIG display windows and have been empty for some time.
Perfect locations:
1) Right on a corner of a busy intersection. Finally, a furniture store opened there. But really, a smallest furniture store WITHOUT foot traffic is a hard sell. Would have been perfect for audio sales, though, because foot traffic is a far second to VISIBILITY.
2) In my town, there is perfect location, while not the hottest location, is still convenient for locals AND visitors.
Real estate prices are going through the roof. You would think people could afford some audio gear ;-)
I love to just see some simple audio gear displayed. Maybe, a set of loudspeakers and a simple rack with CD player and integrated amplifier. I go to our Magnolia HiFi, and I don't see how one can enjoy the experience. However, they DO have a WALL just loaded with loudspeakers. I guess it would be hard to compete.
What I'm getting at, is I would eschew CHOICE for a simple display setup. Sort of like going to a Bose dealer and being BORED to death over the choice of THREE or FOUR almost identical looking setups. But there would be music.
In fact, I would have just two setups, a simple music only setup and a simple home theater setup to add music to one's life.
Should I declare bankruptcy beforehand and avoid the lawyer's fees?
Follow Ups:
I think it takes a lot of hustle to make your primary income off of it.
It's not a growth industry at the moment, too.
============================
As audiophiles, we take what's obsolete, make it beautiful, and keep it forever.
Hey! I have a blog now: http://mancave-stereo.blogspot.com or "like" us at https://www.facebook.com/mancave.stereo
My next door neighbor owns a high end audio/video store that specializes in custom home theater installations in the metropolis of Fort Wayne, Indiana. I have never seen more than 2 people in his store at one time although the equipment is top notch and he seems to be living qite the life! His secret... his father owned 62 pizza huts. That is the answer.
Kerry
was to open a Pizza Restaurant. However, I NEVER think BIG enough: I would have missed the boat on franchising and doing multiple locations, enough to live the good life. Anyway, plenty of Pizza out there already. Missed out on that one![Edit: Wine bars are becoming popular now. How about buy some wine and audition some HiFi at the same location? So, how do I go about getting a license to distribute wine?]
Edits: 09/30/14
Oddly enough, my uncle had an upscale restaurant with a very impressive wine collection and bar. That route was going only OK until he discovered the massive theft his employees were committing. The restaurant died before the upscale audio could be implemented. Going that route requires a very trustworthy manager or your very time consuming personal involvement. I'm still open to suggestion, I'd love to pull this off too.
Kerry
Here is what I was thinking (and I have no intention of doing this while I am still gainfully employed ;-)
1. One or two systems setup MAX with big store Windows.
2. Locate in a place with good property values and near lots of trendy restaurants -- describes my town perfectly.
3. Minimal overhead, minimal service, minimal choices.
The idea is that out-of-sight, out-of-mind, is NOT working out well for the audio industry.
Locate by trendy restaurants and in high traffic areas does not work for high end audio. It is a destination business. If people are interested they will travel to find you. The biggest high-end audio shop in Southern California is in a industrial area with no car traffic or foot traffic. They carry more high-end audio than most of the other stores combined. So don't waste your time trying to locate by the ferrari dealer or a chic restaurant. Locate out in the boonies and hope people come to you. The reason the store in SoCal does so good is. He is constantly picking up new lines where the other stores have been carrying the same goods for the last 20 years. By having many lines he gets the customers that want the latest and greatest. From a business stand point he is very smart.
What's the name of the store?
Sunny's audio and video. Covina, California. Absolute sound recently had his store in their magazine. He held an audio event there and a lot of manufactures showed up along with the editor of absolute sound robert hardly.
I live 2 blocks from a very nice high end audio store. They are on a very busy city street. The windows are all tinted out so you can't see anything and you have to be buzzed in. So much for curb appeal.
I walk through occasionally and enjoy looking at all of the really high end stuff that I really can't afford. Its like visiting a free museum.
They are never busy and I am always the only customer. If it werent for home theater installation they would be gone
Hey Dadbar, I live close to you and wrote in a previous post about the very store you mentioned. They seem to be ok.. Guess they dont have to sell many item, just a few really expensive ones to keep going. Ive been around for years and only been in there a few times. the only thing I ever purchased was a pair of Stax headphones many years ago. I recently subscribed to Stereo review for my kindle and was surprised to see a full page Goodwins ad in there. Pretty good considering a major (sort of) publication. Lets coordinate an effort, hit em, and take their stuff.. He HE
Did you use a time machine? ;-)
Cheers,
Al
oh.. now I get it.. he he.. page 83 of "Stereophile" October 2014 issue
Not "Stereo Review"... Hey, Im old.. get my kids names mixed up too : )
I'm old too. Sometimes I get nit-picky when I'm bored :-)
Cheers,
Al
I am pretty sure that Goodwin's High End is located where it is because of the low rent combined with the proximity of wealthy communities with easy car access.
I don't think there was ever any intention of drawing people passing by into the store.
talking about audio with very knowledgeable fellows, auditioning equipment for them or setting it up---- and having 1 in 50 buy something. 49 of them will find some minuscule reason to pick the sound apart, but most probably then go on line and buy something.
The vintage or used market shopper, I think, is more reasonable...
1 in 50? Try more like 1 in 200.
Yes, I did want to open a high end store and did so in 1995 after early retirement from my first career.
Hi Notes was located in Perry, Georgia as that was where we lived when I retired. Obviously I did not have any street traffic but I did have many customers from Atlanta, northern Florida, and the rest of the region. My primary lines were Conrad Johnson, Alon, Mondial, PSB, Quad, Cal Audio Labs, Rega, and Kimber. I also enjoyed bringing in some esoteric lines like Spectron, Morrison speakers, Fi, Sigtech, and a few others.
I worked by myself other than a part time administrative assistant. In the four years I was open, I averaged about 250,000 in annual sales which allowed a salary of about 30,000. This was about what my business plan had forecasted. Thank goodness I was retired and had a pension.
I had the great fortune to have some wonderful clients who later became friends. We hosted quarterly concerts, manufacturer visits and social events. I also had the great misfortune to have some real screwballs for customers such as a dentist who borrowed my ASC tube traps to bring them back after his dog had peed on them.
Hi Notes closed when another opportunity came my way but I thoroughly enjoyed those years.
From reading all the responses it is evident that high-end audio is on life support. Even stores that are established can't make it. You would be better off rolling the dice in Vegas than opening up a high-end store. I'm afraid that opening a high-end store is just a fantasy at this place and time.
...with all the hours you put in you made less than the fast food workers are demanding as a minimum wage.
Of course you had more fun.
Means people are saving, not buying.
Audio equipment is considered a "high-order" good. The market is small and so these stores are in large cities. The best place to locate is close to other high-order goods stores, preferably other audio shops in the center of town.
Observe, before you think. Think before you open your yap. Act on the basis of experience.
My observations have been:
1. A lot of empty retail space as it is now mostly concentrated in malls which IMO are the worst place for an audio store. You don't want non-essential foot traffic at all.
2. When property prices get high, well, people struggle to move into these places and can barely afford to buy furniture.
3. When property prices go through the roof, well, these people who move in DO have spare cash.
What happens is the restaurant business is booming and that's about all.
I DON'T want to open an audio store. I was merely suggesting that someone else try ;-)
I certainly WON'T be opening any audio business, not in this lifetime, at least.
Thankfully, we have audio shows to be able to see and hear various audio systems.
Because independent bookstores had such a bright future. :0
"The problem with quotes from the internet is that many of them are just made up."
-Abraham Lincoln
What a great bookstore. A lot of very good recent fiction, not just the popular stuff. Disappeared when Borders started taking away business. Of course, Borders went bankrupt and now there are now much less B&M bookstores. Of course, we have Amazon, which is not bad, but I miss being able to go somewhere.
...have fun with your hobby and keep your day job.
as long as you start out with a large one.
Couldn't help myself.
Never!!!!!!!
Back in the hey-day of stereo flying off the shelves (the 1970s and into the 80s), I worked at three hifi stores and two sound contractors. Sure, it was fun to listen to stuff and go to CES, but ordering product, paying invoices, getting the advertising handled, doing payroll, inventory, sales taxes, and all that other stuff never appealed to me. I MUCH preferred being on the sales/display setup/installation/training side of things.
One sound contractor liked to dabble in hifi, so he'd order this-or-that and always have a small selection of good stuff in "the shop". He'd get a couple AccuTrac or Lenco turntables, E-V Sentry III or Frazier speakers, a few Kenwood or Phase Linear amps, an occasional reel-to-reel, etc. We'd meet there after dinner and hook stuff up different ways and listen to Pink Floyd and EL&P. Those were the days! His mother handled all the invoicing, paying and taxes - their dining table was always FULL of paperwork.
:)
I remember them, pretty cool idea. Not a great 'table, but good enough for back then. And the only programmable turntable that I was aware of. I loves me some PF and ELP, too, brother!
-RW-
Strange...
.....an enjoyable hobby into the misery of running a failing business?
Cheers,
Al
A high-end headphone store might work, as many headphones are not discounted online. Display your headphones on a long wall and keep a demo table front and center but don't create a lounge atmosphere where people might be tempted to sit for too long. Consider selling some audio-related furniture, but keep lounge chairs away from the headphone alley.Try showcasing a small line of high-quality loudspeakers and electronics in a mini-theater at the back of the store. Make sure to keep a vinyl rig on display, along with a nice selection of vinyl. Keep minimal stock on loudspeaker-related stuff, and don't display anything that you wouldn't mind keeping for yourself.
The store should never be dead quiet - always have music emanating from this darkened and mysterious room at the back of the store.
Always make sure the store looks pristine, yet inviting. You want to appear friendly and you want to attract attention, but you don't want "undesirables" to feel comfortable venturing much past the front counter.
Tough balancing act here. Good luck!
Edits: 09/05/14 09/05/14 09/05/14 09/05/14
You mean like this?
http://www.soundlion.com/
.
Jedrider-
Absolutely! I have visited enough operations over the years to give myself insight on doing it right.
I can't think of anything worse than having to deal with my fellow audiophiles on a daily basis as they sample all the newest stuff and never buy anything from you :-)
Besides, after the initial thrill, I think it would get old pretty fast and turn into just another business with all its attendant problems as you slowly (or swiftly) go broke.
How many audio stores have you entered, never to hear the sound of music playing?
I must be in a sour mood.
Pogue is right! Audiophiles are the worst customers. There is a store in SoCal that used to host an audiophile event once a year. He would put out imported beers, wine and cheese. He had a beautiful home in the hills he worked out of. I would say that at least 75 people would show up for his event. He did it for about 5 years and stopped doing it. When I ran into him at the Newport show I asked him why he doesn't host the show anymore. He said that people would audition the gear at his house then call the manufacturer direct and ask for a 30 to 40 percent discount. He said it was a complete waste of time.
nt
What it wouldn't be is profitable.
Best job I ever had was working for a newspaper - in the 1960s.
Then perhaps a record and audio store wouldn't be so far-fetched either!
big j.
"... only a very few individuals understand as yet that personal salvation is a contradiction in terms."
Have the store as a showplace for my own systems. Selling equipment? hardly.
I would have like a dozen rooms with all the greatest equipment, stacks of wonderful music. All just for myself.
Pretend it is a business. and have my butler be the saleman. LOL
My take on this is it needs to be a niche. The middle of the road stuff will always be the domain of the big box stores and the web. You could never compete with that.. Ever. There is a store in my neck of the woods. It has been there for at least 2 decades. It caters only to HIGH end. The stuff you wont get anywhere else. You can hear things before you buy (what a novel idea in this day and age) They deliver, install and have appropriate customer service and cutting edge knowledge for its wealthy clientele. Their store has a simple yet elegant sign, blacked out windows and a locked door to which you need to be buzzed in... And visits are usually by appointment only. Anyway.. it seems to work. This idea of putting some speakers in the window and maybe a home theater setup... I cant see it. Not when you can peruse craploads of "virtual" store fronts on the web. the working stiff wants price. They may come to hear your wares.. but they wont buy............. Another niche could be vintage, repairs, consignment selling and the like.. But never consumer grade electronics. Certainly not catering to a mostly "doltish" clientele.
JMHO,
With *huge* horns and outré tubes and vinyl. Fine coffee, peculiar but delicious bistro food (something like rural Greek tapas). A few delicious wines and plenty of space . Like this:
big j.
"... only a very few individuals understand as yet that personal salvation is a contradiction in terms."
Maybe several formerly viable and distinctive businesses could combine to form a single viable business. I definitely don't think it'd be worth the trouble to open a stereo only store. It's been tried a bunch of times and almost never works.
Since physical media has become niche maybe sell cd's and records too. I wonder if music stores that sell instruments could include cd's, records and stereo stuff. I was always one who enjoyed going to the local video store and picking out a movie from the rows. Now that blockbuster is gone, at least around here, maybe an independent video store could add well-selected home theater gear to the offering.
I definitely think audio is an area where giving customers a ton of options causes more problems than it solves. The dealer should do a lot of the work to weed out inferior or essentially duplicate products. Too many dealers have far too many barely distinguishable choices.
Imagine how boring the internet would be if folks were as civil here as they are in person.
Maybe combine it with a nice cigar lounge on one side and I would certainly come see what you carry in both places. :^)
Audio retailers are clearly on the decline and opening one would be a risky proposition in most areas of the country. Impossible, no, but much planning and more than a little luck would be required. It would be wonderful if the younger generation would come to appreciate quality sound reproduction over something other than headphones. Perhaps a high quality system(s) displayed in a video game store would tickle the interest of our youth?
There's a ton of very cool and functional consumer audio products that would appeal to the masses. I suspect a shop in a high walk-by area would do best selling music equipment with prices starting well under a $100 where with stuff costing more than a couple of hundred bucks that might be considered high end. Top of the line stuff in a shop like this could be headphones, high quality but lower priced audiophile DACs (ala Schiit, Cambridge) and TOL DAP players (FIIO, HiFiman, etc.). Key here is plenty of affordable gear.Now for someone wishing to carry a couple of specialist audio lines a shop selling quality used vinyl makes sense to me. Sell the music out of the front of the store and the gear out of the back. Believe it or not we've go a tattoo shop combined with a high end audio dealership here in Phoenix.
Give me rhythm or give me death!
Edits: 09/04/14
That would be another store with COMPLETELY different requirements!
I bought a pair of Shure ear buds at San Francisco airport. I was very impressed with that I could find a shop like that at the United International Terminal.
Yes, for a HIGH foot traffic location, that would be ideal. Another GREAT business idea! OK, who has the money??
It sounds like Phoenix. Home to meth and trailer trash.
...back in 1998 I took a year off between jobs and already had decided I didn't want to buy the Absolute Sound and keep it running.
So I decided using my experience to open an audio store might be fun, found a location, talked to some manufacturers and put together a business plan.
It was all sounding great until I put together a 3 year pro forma financial statement.
In the very best scenario, I would be investing a lot of money in a very risky proposition where the small profit would be my salary.
Not long after that I got a call from a recruiter and went back to work.
In the 16 years since then, as I have watched the successful B & M stores go under, I have never regretted avoiding taking the fun out of my hobby.
The cars driving buy theory doesn't mean squat. A dealer local to me had a location with 50,000 cars driving buy a day. He opted to relocate on a side street with 200 cars driving buy a day. There goes your theory!
hmm. good story. quantity not equaling quality.
roger
In my opinion you need to sell new and used gear and do service. Forget HT. I also recommend combining used CD,vinyl to increase foot traffic and people knowing who you are.
You need to do what nobody else does in your town.
ET
Of course, I have a real/reliable job. I thought I'd get some college marketing type to actually run the store!
I'm just trying to think outside the box. Something simple. I don't want door slammers that will buy online!!
I don't want door slammers that will buy online!!
So don't sell anything that can be bought online then
ET
Convince them to drop a couple grand on stationary audio equipment and you're on your way to riches.
Edits: 09/04/14
This generation and a couple before it.
This 46 year old does 50% of his listening like this - Galaxy 4 and Sennheiser Momentums.
........I was a vegetarian for 15 minutes... until the main course.
Laughing...
Bought part of a nice CD collection at give-away prices. I left a lot of material because I'm not greedy and already have a lot -- I know, one can never have enough!
Undoubtably, someone with such a nice collection has probably gone exclusively to downloads. I wonder if the quality really mattered??
I'm still buying CDs and vinyl but I rarely play it. The vinyl to record it to digital and the CDs get ripped directly to the PC.
Lossless and high rez downloads recently surpassed CDs in my collection (378 to 375). Vinyl ~ 1500. No doubt the downloads I'm getting sound better on average than the CDs I buy. I download mostly live and/or demo recordings.
Recordings made from my TT sound better than the CD and playing everything back digitally sounds close enough (for me) to the original and preserves my CDs and vinyl.
I know youngsters with 100K+ songs who are very much musicologists, in fact I run into young people like this far more often than audiophiles. It's some what hard to get them to give up the convenience of mp3 for lossless in spite of them hearing the obvious differences. This is where , IMO, the battle lies. The cost of SS HDs and SD cards coming down and the availability of high rez DAP helps bridge the difference between lossless and mp3 as well as gives the youngsters access to self contained HiDef systems. Throw powered loudspeakers into this mix and one can get into entry level audiophile quality gear for under a couple of grand. Something our generation never experienced.
Give me rhythm or give me death!
Start with a large fortune.
"The problem with quotes from the internet is that many of them are just made up."
-Abraham Lincoln
I'm sure he deducted all of his expenses this way. He finally got his own audio store and he is STILL in business. So, it is possible -- youngsters without a family, take note!
The store is also in GEEK land, for hardware oriented silicon valley. I'm on the financial/software side of town. We carry iPods, I presume ;-)
Q - How do you wind up with a million dollars selling audio equipment?
A - Start with two million dollars.
A gentleman is best defined as someone who knows how to play the accordion ... and doesn't.
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