Brick & Mortar Stores

Niteshade · « **on:** 13 Apr 2010, 11:20 am »

How popular are brick & mortar retailers these days? Around here, one wouldn't survive a month. I get too many, "What's an amplifier?" questions. "What's stereo?" Sorry- I'm not kidding!

We do not have any high-end retailers for at least 100 miles from my location.

What's it like where you are? How is the place doing?

Crimson · « **Reply #1 on:** 13 Apr 2010, 11:50 am »

Depends on where you live I guess. Here in the northeast, I have at least a dozen within a 100 mile radius.

JakeJ · « **Reply #2 on:** 13 Apr 2010, 12:03 pm »

You mean to tell me you don't have a Best Buy in your town?

Seriously, though, I live in an area that has about 250,000 people residing in it. Besides BB ther are two other independant AV dealers that focus primarily on the home theater market. For real-deal two channel dealers I have to go to Seattle, WA or Portland, OR.

Niteshade · « **Reply #3 on:** 13 Apr 2010, 12:07 pm »

There is a Best Buy locally- 1/2hr away. That's not high end, really. I mean a real high end store that carries nice turntables, good speakers, high end amps & preamps, etc... Basically things Best Buy would never consider carrying.

Crimson · « **Reply #4 on:** 13 Apr 2010, 12:34 pm »

Sound by Singer
CSA Audio
Audio Nexus
Audio Connection
David Lewis Audio
The Tuner Guy
The Record Shop
Innovative Audio
Avalon Audio

are just a few along the I-95 corridor between Philadelphia and NYC. These are high-end stores, not big-box chains.

gerald porzio · « **Reply #5 on:** 13 Apr 2010, 12:37 pm »

Lyric & Stereo Exchange.

macrojack · « **Reply #6 on:** 13 Apr 2010, 12:49 pm »

We have Best Buy and an outfit called All Sound and Security which has Krell and Focal and Cambridge. I've only been there once. There are two other places that have a storefront but they are primarily HT and certainly don't display turntables. Denver is about 265 miles and Salt Lake is about 280.
Nothing useful or interesting within 100 miles. I usually buy factory direct. Or used.

bregez · « **Reply #7 on:** 13 Apr 2010, 03:17 pm »

The Chicagoland area has a handful of dedicated audio stores.
My favorites are:
http://www.saturdayaudio.com/
http://www.audioconsultants.com/
In addition to new stuff, both stores also carry used equipment whose inventory changes every couple weeks.
I actually prefer to go in a store and push buttons before I decide to buy.

decal · « **Reply #8 on:** 13 Apr 2010, 03:30 pm »

I have to travel 4 hours to the closest audio store,believe me,I've searched far and wide for something closer..There is nothing around here except home theater and it's mid-fi at best,even at independent dealers.Thank goodness for the internet!!

JCS · « **Reply #9 on:** 13 Apr 2010, 03:47 pm »

In the Albany, NY area, the only one I'm aware of is Oasis Audio in Latham. They sell Totem and Magnapan. I don't think they are getting rich, but last I knew they seemed to be doing a decent amount of business. There may be others that I haven't heard about. It's been a couple years since I was out looking.

Cheers, Jim

smargo · « **Reply #10 on:** 13 Apr 2010, 04:30 pm »

Quote from: Crimson on 13 Apr 2010, 12:34 pm

Sound by Singer
CSA Audio
Audio Nexus
Audio Connection
David Lewis Audio
The Tuner Guy
The Record Shop
Innovative Audio
Avalon Audio

are just a few along the I-95 corridor between Philadelphia and NYC. These are high-end stores, not big-box chains.

The tuner guy - i believe is no longer there - and you forgot "Overture" - near I-95 in wilmington - also the HI-FI House about 2 blocks away from "Overture"

Nuance · « **Reply #11 on:** 13 Apr 2010, 04:34 pm »

Quote from: Niteshade on 13 Apr 2010, 11:20 am

How popular are brick & mortar retailers these days? Around here, one wouldn't survive a month. I get too many, "What's an amplifier?" questions. "What's stereo?" Sorry- I'm not kidding!

We do not have any high-end retailers for at least 100 miles from my location.

What's it like where you are? How is the place doing?

Do you live in a small city? I am 20 minutes north of Milwaukee; a smallish city. We have four "hi-fi" shops in the metro area, three of which I consider pretty darn nice. The forth has conformed to the ipod crowd and moved into a much larger building with no more dedicated listening rooms. I'll never shop there again...

I think part of the reason B&M's are suffering is A) The economy, and B) Internet competition. These days consumers are educated as to what kind of markup B&M's are charging, so they shop elsewhere. I feel bad for some of said B&M locations, but not all of them.

srb · « **Reply #12 on:** 13 Apr 2010, 06:31 pm »

I live in Tucson with a metropolitan population of over 1 million, yet there is only one brick and mortar audio store. Unfortunately, even though I have spent several thousand dollars there, their snobbish condescending demeanor in tandem with their unwillingness to discount more than 5% off of MSRP has made the decision for me to no longer shop there.

I don't expect deep discounts, and I am willing to pay more at a brick and mortar store, but I feel it must be earned through customer relations and other value-added services.

Steve

droht · « **Reply #13 on:** 13 Apr 2010, 06:42 pm »

Quote from: Nuance on 13 Apr 2010, 04:34 pm

Do you live in a small city? I am 20 minutes north of Milwaukee; a smallish city. We have four "hi-fi" shops in the metro area, three of which I consider pretty darn nice. The forth has conformed to the ipod crowd and moved into a much larger building with no more dedicated listening rooms. I'll never shop there again...

I think part of the reason B&M's are suffering is A) The economy, and B) Internet competition. These days consumers are educated as to what kind of markup B&M's are charging, so they shop elsewhere. I feel bad for some of said B&M locations, but not all of them.

Do you mind posting store names? I'm in that area a few times a year, and usually drive from Milwaukee to Oshkosh. A few audio pit stops would be great.

BrassEar · « **Reply #14 on:** 13 Apr 2010, 06:55 pm »

>>their snobbish condescending demeanor in tandem with their unwillingness to discount more than 5% off of MSRP has made the decision for me to no longer shop there.

BINGO. I grew up in SoCal and the vast majority of high end shops were arrogant and snobby in the extreme. Thankfully, most of them are now gone. But there are still some of them out there. Not only are they turning off audiophiles but they are destroying any chance of new people entering the hobby.

While I don't agree with the people that shop and listen at the brick and mortar's and then buy on Audiogon or the Internet, I certainly agree with audiophiles that avoid the snobby brick and mortar's entirely.

On a business trip last year I went in to Singers and was floored by their arrogance and elitist attitude. The sales guy told me that all CD players under $5K sounded like JUNK. I told him I disagreed and asked him if he had heard the Oppo. He told me to my face that the Oppo was trash and I had a hearing problem.

BobM · « **Reply #15 on:** 13 Apr 2010, 06:59 pm »

Quote from: BrassEar on 13 Apr 2010, 06:55 pm

He told me to my face that the Oppo was trash and I had a hearing problem.

Thus your Nom de Plume, oh Brassy one?

srb · « **Reply #16 on:** 13 Apr 2010, 07:06 pm »

Quote from: BrassEar on 13 Apr 2010, 06:55 pm

He told me to my face that the Oppo was trash and I had a hearing problem.

Quote from: BobM on 13 Apr 2010, 06:59 pm

Thus your Nom de Plume, oh Brassy one?

Hey! Brass is still #7 in electrical conductivity at 28% (with copper as a baseline 100%), behind Silver, Copper, Gold, Aluminum, Nickel and Zinc.

Brass is still a lot better than cotton, rubber or dirt!

Steve

pardales · « **Reply #17 on:** 13 Apr 2010, 07:30 pm »

There are 3 high quality high-end, B&M retailers in the metro Detroit area and probably another half dozen smaller retailers that carry 2-4 different brands out of either their home or small office.

Fortunate for people in the area, though I don't patronize them because I know I won't buy from them. Good people running these places, for the most part, I just enjoy doing things myself, buying used, and the like. Most started out as 2-channel but have had to expand into home theatre for survival. I'm not sure how they make it.

Stu Pitt · « **Reply #18 on:** 13 Apr 2010, 08:08 pm »

Quote from: JCS on 13 Apr 2010, 03:47 pm

In the Albany, NY area, the only one I'm aware of is Oasis Audio in Latham. They sell Totem and Magnapan. I don't think they are getting rich, but last I knew they seemed to be doing a decent amount of business. There may be others that I haven't heard about. It's been a couple years since I was out looking.

Cheers, Jim

I used to live in Watervliet.

I thought Oasis closed? Last few times I drove by it didn't look like much was going on inside.

Clark Music, which was across the street, used to sell hifi gear. They've moved and stopped selling hifi. They sold pianos on one side of the store.

Hippo's in the Stuyvesant Plaza sells some decent gear. McIntosh is their highes end gear, and they've rotated NAD, Rotel, and Cambridge. They've got a decent speaker selection - B&W, KEF, and a host of others.

Towne Appliances or something like in the Schenectady/Rotterdam area sells Paradigm speakers. Not sure what else; never been there.

Nuance · « **Reply #19 on:** 13 Apr 2010, 08:17 pm »

droht, it won't let me post them for some reason, so I PM'd them to you. That's very odd...

Edit: AC didn't like me posting the links to them, but it will let me post the names:

Ultra Fidelis in downtown Milwaukee
Audio Emporium in Brown Deer
Lev's Audio/Video in Milwaukee
Sounds Designs is also okay (located in Mequon), but they prefer you make an appoint.
Finally, the shop I spoke of that I no longer like is Flanners Audio and Video in Brookfield. They are like a gloried Best Buy.