I am openning a shop. What equipment should I sell

Hi Jim,

I always liked your (and other dealer's) approach to sell out of your home: Save the expensive rent and some of the risk having to recover from the first slow months of business. There's a reason I came to you to listen to the Abbys. More relaxed atmosphere, no buying pressure, BYOA (Bring Your Own Amp), etc.

As for a real store front: I would look for a neighborhood where people should be interested in getting into Hifi. Know your customer base. Denver seems great for Hifi these days, but is seems quite competitive. I always thought it would help to not sell the standard equipment. Something that catches a customer's eye when he walks in, i.e. more style than just showing off black boxes with silver faceplates and blue lights: The Abbys should work well there. So far I have not met anyone who is not impressed with them.

Good luck with a store front business if you decide to go that way.

Rene

I think you'll find another thread on this, but for speakers, you should consider the CARAVELLE.

I am not familiar with this speaker, but from what I read in this forum, it is THE BEST. It BLOWS AWAY every other speaker in the world.

Offering quality products like THE CARAVELLE will surely create a stampede to your door, whether or not you spend one single penny on advertising.

Remember, its not about marketing, promotion, hard work,macro economic trends or demographics -- its about QUALITY - so be sure to offer CARAVELLE.

The rest will fall into place.

Good luck

With a shop the services you provide the consumer are your most important selling point. I would recommend offering HT installation and home automation in addition to 2-channel retail; you'll reach more customers, and speaking from experience I can tell you that you make more money on services than retail sales provided you have steady business and aren't paying a professional installer to just sit around the shop four out of five days a week. As far as brands go, just try to find something reliable and decent that won't boomerang back to you. You need well known and solid performing "bread and butter" products that will draw in non-audiophiles (B&W, Pioneer Elite, Bose, etc) as well as exotic, specialty items exclusive to your store (Plinius, Cain & Cain, and so on). In my experience it's all about striking the proper balance in product offerings/price points and providing the customer with service exclusive to your business while doing so.

STAMPEDE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!

I think that is the joke post...........!

Just kidding.

I don't think he meant 'bass' when writing 'base'. I think he meant 'basic'. And, yes, a basic response in speakers is important, in fact, the better the response the more likely they are to go home with a customer. Just be sure to carry friendly speakers that are litter trained, and don't be upset when you sell more little monitors than big floorstanders. Seems most people want young ones when they're still so cute. Plus you can really influence their personality for when they grow up and...uh, wait a minute. What were we talking about here?