Audio stores going out of business?

Things seem to be booming here in Atlanta.

living in the nj-ny area,there are quite a number of so - called high end shops,yes they sell very expensive audio,and carry the brands we most lust for,but sincere and informative information is a lost art.you could walk into any of these dealers and the mix bag of information from sales person to sales person is a joke.profit and commissions are priorty,i feel we as music lover's and audiophlies are really catching on to the primary interest of audio manufacturers and dealers.MONEY.this is leading to a decline in new 2ch audio system's.look at the USED market.

It's a tough buisness.
I own a small used audio store here in Minneapois,and in a span of about 1 year I have seen 3 hi-end dealers close their doors.I suspect the two remaining ones are struggling
as well. The used market is not much better thanks largely to E-Bay and the likes. I can't tell you how many times a cutomer has mentioned a used piece that they have,and when I ask what their plans are for it they say "oh,I think I'll throw it on e-bay cause I'll get more that I can selling it locally".
Folks,If you have a dealer or even a used or consignement shop locally that your on good terms with,Please support him! The brick and mortar guys have expenses like rent,utilities,insurance,after sale repairs[unavoidable]
sales tax, and a host of others that most folks don't realize just to keep the doors open.
Sorry about the rant,But this buisness is not all a bed of roses and the customer needs to realize that the stores don't run on kool-aide.

Cornfedboy - I saw a Soundtrack on on the way to DIA this Xmas. Scary. It dwarfs the Tweeter stores here in Dallas, which are popping up like cockroaches.
My TT dealer(out of state) was forced to locate his store in his house because his dot-com investors bailed. Says he likes, though, and he gives me the impression that he will sell audio no matter what misfortune he encounters. All my other chickies are accounted for. Good luck, guys.

Well there are no high end dealers up in my neck of the woods, no one sells any of the components I use in more then 250 miles! The so-called high end shop won't even talk to me no more, because as stated above there all about money, and I won't buy there over priced crap, but do like a good deal on somethings I may use(and a good deal and retail do not go hand in hand). Hey check this out the local high end shop crosses off retail prices on all brochures that have retail pricing and increase it a little further! I nearly fell over when I saw that. The reason they are not being supported is they offer NO service, NO fair price and cry that you can get a better product and better service from some one else, I am not seeing the problem?? I run a business that is highly competetive, and if I was not able to be resonible(price) and offer good/great service I would be gone. The likes of Discount tire and the Tire Rack make life difficult sometimes but I don't go to tire web pages and complain about it, if that were the case I should find a new job, times change and so shall all retailers! The web forms an enormious segment of all retail markets now, its a fact of life, it isn't going away, I say if you can't beat 'em join 'em.