My two cents: My storefront was open for 23 years, it was well located, had a huge amount of traffic, lots of audiophiles dropping by, carried name brand mid-fi and respectable and entry level audiophile components, offered home loans, gave discounts, took trade ins, and was considered to have a helpful non-snobbish staff. Results? We had great mid-fi sales, but small results in the audiophile department. What would it take to be successful with an audiophile store in STL? MFP and Sound Room have good well-established stores, as did Fum, but what people tell me is that their doors stay open because of home theater installation, not two-channel. I think Mike's new enterprise sounds almost an ideal test of whether St Louis has much prospect of supporting what we think of as an audiophile store.
