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One big reason why brick and mortar high end audio dealers struggle.

I live in a major metropolitan area with several close by high end stores.  I never go in any of them.  A dealer just opened a new location 5 minutes from my house.  Major dealer with Magico, Constellation, McIntosh and many other serious brands.  I went by a couple weeks ago mid day on a Friday.  Door locked, nobody there.  I call today to make sure they are actually open for business.  Guy answers the phone and says that they were out on an install when I can by and that they are short staffed.  No problem, I understand.  But from that point on the guy takes a subtle but clearly defensive and pissy tone.  He states that they recommend setting up an appointment for customers to view their products.  Sure, and I recommend never going there.  Off my list.  Back to buying online.  Here's the issue.  So many of these high end dealers are only after the wealthy guy that comes in, spends less than an hour there and orders a complete home theater or 2 channel system and writes a check for $50k or more on the spot.  That's there customer base.  I get that it can be annoying to allow a bunch of lookers to come in and waste their time and not buy anything, but isn't it good for business to have more customer traffic?  If someone comes in, spends an hour there, listens to some amazing gear and then buys nothing, doesn't he tell his friends and family and coworkers about his great experience?  Isn't this word of mouth valuable?  These brick and mortar dealers almost universally are unwelcoming and unfriendly to people that want to come in and just look and listen and not buy.  Sorry, but the vast majority of potential customers are not going to spend 20 minutes by private appointment to order their new $100k system.  Why not encourage people to come and spend time with zero pressure to purchase.  I have purchased dozens of high end speakers and electronics over the many years I have enjoyed this hobby.  I might well buy from a dealer if they were actually nice, friendly, and encouraged hanging out and getting to know their gear.  But they don't.  I would never go to a high end store that required an appointment.  Because this creates a huge pressure situation for you to purchase that day.  I'm not ready to purchase on my first visit.  And neither are thousands of other potential customers.  If they can make a good living just catering to the wealthy one time buyers, then, ok, good for them.  Doesn't seem like they can though since so many have gone under.  Maybe it's time to try a different approach?  Step one, no commission sales people.  Step two, welcome people to listen and not buy anything.  Encourage it.  This will create positive word of mouth and significantly increase customer traffic and ultimately create more paying customers it would seem.  I don't get it.  Rant over. Please don't respond that you have an amazing dealer.  I'm sure they exist but they are the exception.  What I am describing is the typical customer experience.
jaxwired
hilde45's avatar
hilde45
4,974 posts
 
What a complicated question! Just a couple thoughts.

Appointments. I resist them, though I have shopped and purchased gear from brick/mortar. Why? It ramps up the pressure. It almost feels like an engagement. For me, personally, if I'm going to listen to gear that costs thousands, I am really not going to go to a store with an intention to buy. I'm not intending to tire-kick, but I need to feel at ease in order to listen objectively. I have to imagine there are others like me. If everything comes together, and service can help, here, I will buy and it will be at that store. Their expertise deserves to be paid for.

Specialized stores still exist -- mattress stores, jewelry stores, cheese shops, etc. Those lines have found ways to give customers a reason to shop with them, rather than at a supermarket or Macy’s. If hifi could get itself disentangled from consumer electronics, it might stand a chance. But since most people listen ubiquitously (e.g. while they’re cooking, commuting, etc.), this is a challenge. In some ways, it might take the music industry to push this change, but since they want to push content, they couldn’t care less if it was coming across bluetooth headphones.

Best Buy -- upped their lines a few years ago. It’s not hifi enough for me, but there are some good things there. Yes, it’s still a terrible space to evaluate audio equipment, at least one can fall into it while shopping for something else. If HiFI could become part of, say, Nordstroms, there might be a chance for people to both make it a destination and also fall into a shopping experience for hifi.

Combining online with in-person. The Music Room is building a listening space after years as an online seller. It seems that online retailers could follow suit and build or rent spaces to demo gear. That way, when nothing else is happening (e.g. foot traffic) they could just do the online sales/service work they’d be doing anyway.
richopp
760 posts
 
Wow!

This thread is something else.  I choose not to jump in all the way, but, as a former "High-End" (HE) dealer during the wonderful 1970's and early '80's when the inventions were a tidal flood, I can tell you that there are as many types of HE dealers as there are anything else in the world of retail.

A customer's attitude has a lot to do with the way they are treated by "normal" (if there are such things) dealers, but of course there are people who behave the way they do whether they are selling or buying, so individual personalities enter into the equation.  All my fellow HE (and other) dealers back then were pretty nice.  All we wanted to do was make you happy so you would shop with us exclusively.  I had tire kickers, discount-seekers (FAIR TRADE was in effect back then--look it up), and everything in between.  Once, Bill Johnson paid a surprise visit to my shop and told me he did not think my showroom was conducive to selling his stuff--this is when Audio Research and Magnepan were aligned and selling their stuff as a "system."

Anyway, we sold a ton of it, so kind of proved it was the people not the setting that made the business successful.  Some manufacturers had ridiculous rules that small shops could never follow, some could not do enough for you, and others just filled your orders.  SO, from the point of view of the dealer, the customer was sometimes the easiest part of the equation.

For those who find dealers today are not to their liking, TELL THEM, politely, what your perception is and then LISTEN to them.  Some will blow you off--the fool I sold my shop to was like that--some will try to explain the situation and work to earn your business, and others will just hang-up or walk away.  I have no idea why, but if you work with a dealer, more than likely he or she will work with you.  If you are a jerk, and there seem to be several on here from the inane prattle I read in some posters who try to dominate the various threads (you know who you are), you will be summarily dismissed and asked to leave.  The one thing the idiot I sold my store to did was throw out jerks, and being a large person, he could with impunity.  It was not my style, but it worked for him for a while, I guess.  I understand some posters' frustrations, and I am sorry you are having that experience.  Keep trying to find a dealer who will work with you.  I am certain they are out there.

And remember, it is all about the magic of the MUSIC.

Cheers!
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mayoradamwest
430 posts
 
You only needed to make an appointment! At least it wasn’t as bad as Audio Vision in SF which charges $150 for the honor of listening to something in their store, even if you’re a serious customer. Oh, and depending on who’s asking, another $250 for their advice. Hahahahaa. At least there is Music Lovers Audio which is awesome and has some of the most friendly people I’ve met in high end retail.
I actually called Audio Vision first when looking for a system, and the person was so rude I never would have gone there. Went to Music Lovers and over the past 2 years probably spent $350k in there. So the OP is right. These shitty HIFi stores suck and are probably turning people off hifi.
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cleeds
5,960 posts
 
tubebuffer
I have be careful with word here. This idea that store should be there to serve you is knuckle dragging liberal philosophy full of expectation ...
Nonsense. This has nothing to do with politics.
rajugsw
217 posts
 
All you old Geezers here are making some great points. My Audiophile Journey is almost over after dipping my feet back into it 3 years ago. For twenty years I’ve been more into 5.1 including upmixing my 2ch stuff via Dolby Pro Logic II and now the “new” Dolby Surround on my Sony STR-DN1080 and all the wonderful variations on 2ch upmixing on my Onkyo PR-SC5530AV Preamp feeding an Orchard Audio Ultra Amplifier and BAT VK50-SE Preamp. My Speakers have always been hombrew except for my Bose 901’s and my loaner KEF R3’s.

It doesn’t matter if it was 36 years ago in my hometown of Hamilton, Ontario buying my Dual CS515 w/ the ever crappy Ortofon OM10. 23 years later and 6 different Carts, I’m done with Vinyl. 
20 years ago, in Phillipsburg, NJ, I traded in my beloved Adcom GFP-345 and GFA-545II that I purchased 8 years earlier at a Dealer in my Hometown for a Denon AVR-1802 and a used Adcom GFA-555II. That Hometown Dealer also had a pair of Mirage M3si’s that were gonna be mine but my layaway payments only covered the Amp/Preamp. My post college purchase only would cover so much. I burned the Dealer on the Mirages and am not proud of it to this day. I built a pair of Homebrews instead and saved some money there.

Fast forward to now and Scottsdale/Phoenix AZ. Plenty of Dealers here but none are to my budget.

My entire rig currently is bought online without an audition used or new. PS Audio gives you 30 days trial and TMR Audio gives you two weeks trial on their used stuff. So going to an intimidating Dealer by appointment only is a non starter for me.

I honestly feel for these Dealers who no longer can afford to cater to us budget Audiophiles and can only survive on the high ticket crap that I’ll never be able to afford and even if I could, wouldn’t on my twisted principles.

I’m that 16 year old High School kid that bought a TT/cart in 1985, went on to buy an Amp/Preamp after college, and then went 5.1 after marriage and a mortgage. As Newlyweds back then, we enjoyed watching Movies together while I fell asleep listening to two channel music late at night on the 5.1 rig 😂. Our newborn also enjoyed watching his Cartoons on that rig.

Now that I’m a non upmixing 2ch Audiophool and slowly revamping my 5.1 rig in the same room with the same Speakers (currently a blend of homebrew and consumer). I’ll never buy from a Dealer ever again. You’ve lost us Budget folks. To those in my 50+ age group that can finally afford all the high ticket stuff.

May God Bless You….but I’m out !
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