[youravhandyman]

Many times I have read how few options the St. Louis region has for hifi equipment.  Enthusiasts will drive to KC or Chicago and sometimes farther just to hear and purchase their gear and this is a shame.  Since I have my own home theater biz it is clear why I am asking these next questions.  I have long had the goal of providing quality hifi for the enthusiast and the audiophile in our region.  So I ask 2 questions to start:
1.  What brands/products do you feel would be successful and are desperately needed to be represented here?
2.  What are the local enthusiasts willing to spend?

There are several brands that I am in discussions with to provide that aren't represented within 200 miles or better of the St. Louis region.  They want to be here though they want me to be brick and mortar and I'm not there yet.  At this point I can't mention their names since I'm not the only company in negotiations with them, but they are well thought of brands.  Am I trying to use your knowledge for personal gain?  Absolutely.  But this is something I am passionate about and if I am going to bet the farm on this I want to have a good hand, right?  Feel free to email me your thoughts as well. 

Matt

[youravhandyman]

Too soon?  Apparently this junior member broke protocol.   I apologize to any AC member that thinks I'm just here to do market research or hawk goods.  Feel free to take me to task for any misstep there.  Honestly, I'm in this for the long haul both from the business and AC member perspective.  So please feel free to give me your honest opinions on what I can help bring to St. Louis.  Also I realize that the second question from my earlier posting about willingness to spend probably doesn't belong in this thread so please disregard that one for now.  This should be all about the products and brands themselves so lets discuss.   

Matt

[daves]

Matt, don't mean to rain on your parade, but we have two stores that are closing or closed, and a third that has friends who have been on this forum for a number of years. We are willing to see what you can bring to the table, but we are not going to slit our friends' throats to help you.

Your subject header about a hifi vacuum is quite derogatory to the brick and mortar stores that are open, and makes me  and  It is not a good start, to say the least.

[Scott F.]

Matt,

This is just my opinion so take it for what it's worth.

I honestly don't think that in today's unshakey economy that I would ever consider opening a storefront, especially with high end audio. The populous are just barely getting over a deep recession and are in fear of that dead cat bounce...at least I am. Sure, people with money will always spend but I'm not sure the local market will support another high end store. The guys that do have storefronts will no doubt tell you that they are barely hanging on as it is but I'll leave that for Tim (electricbear) to address.

When it comes to some imaginary boundary that you may have overstepped, there isn't one. Post (pretty much) what you like as long as it falls into the rules of the site. If people are interested, they will respond. If not they won't. It's pretty simple. Nothing nefarious going on here behind the scenes. I just think your post didn't spark peoples interest, that or no one wanted to try to pop your bubble. God love ya for wanting to expand and grow your business and no doubt you would see some of the GAS crew at your place if you were to open it but I (personally) think that now isn't the best time to take that step. Then again, my crystal ball may be on the fritz so who really knows.

When it comes to gear, I think you go with whats hot. Moderately priced tube or hybrid gear (but you darned well better have a service tech to fix it when buyers break it), a moderately priced turntable, phono stage and cartridge line and some sort of either wired or wireless, server based music streamer.

As for spending, who knows but to attract as many folks as possible, I think you need to offer pieces that start with a medium price point. On the top side, the sky is the limit. I wouldn't expect to sell much on the top side, maybe one to two pieces a year...if you're lucky.

[Wind Chaser]

If you can start a business in this climate and survive, then you'll thrive when things get better.  I know someone who's attempting to do the exact same thing, open a dedicated 2 channel audio shop - but I'm with Scott on this one.

[youravhandyman]

Daves,
And to all others I may have offended that wasn't the purpose of the subject line but I apologize.  And it will teach me to repeat what I read elswhere(even here).  The Brick and Mortar stores that are still around do it right and it was never my intent to defame them.  So I'll step back and look at my own situation for a bit.  Let me once again offer my sincere apology for my approach.

And thanks Scott, I had not considered the repair issue at this point.

Matt

[daves]

Lots of us would be perfectly will to talk in private, but that is the same as for our friends in the industry, Matt. We have the new store that opened on Washington downtown, Music for Pain, and the Sound Room, plus a few more that are a little farther away.

As others have pointed out, the modern model is to minimize needless sunk costs that a storefront entails. Wylie(the late Speaker and Stereo Store) still runs his store out of his house, since closing the storefront. So does Flip's son, Thom.

Good luck in your venture!

[Mike Pranka]

Hi Matt,

I have friends and folks I'm friendly with at local shops and recently opened the "new store that opened on Washington downtown" (st. louis stereo) and I couldn't be less offended by your use of the term "hifi vacuum". In fact, I agree with it. I've worked on the distribution side of the business for about 15 years and deal with stores all over the country. St. Louis is obviously not a huge market, but given the population of the metro area, it's not a stretch to suggest that we have unusually low representation so far as high performance audio goes. That observation certainly isn't meant as a slight to the existing (and long running) shops in this market.. but it does recognize that there are more than a few ways to approach high performance audio- both in terms of product and how it's presented. I've been to more hifi shops than I can remember, both here and in Europe. The range of approaches, attitudes and most importantly to me, the results achieved.. varies enormously. If you think you have a worthwhile approach that can benefit people, bring it on. Honest enthusiasm and professionalism can only raise awareness for what all of us care so much about: connecting with music in the comfort of home.

Best to you,

Mike Pranka

(314) 454-9966

[electricbear]

Hi Matt,
           I agree that there is a vacuum in St Louis. Your post does not offend anyone here, we pretty much all feel the same way. St Louis is a difficult market. I wish I could work out why audio is not embraced by the general public especially as we have some great live venues and a world class orchestra. Very little of our business at The Sound Room is two channel, there just isn't the call for it or the money in it. I think to be successful with 2 channel you have to get and have available to listen to a flagship manufacturer. This would be the keystone to your business. It would create the draw then your other lines should compliment it. Mike has taken this approach by choosing Audio Research.
There are some key areas that are not well represented at the moment but none of them would be big income generators. There is no one doing headphones and no one doing turntables in the $300 to $1000 range.
You could perhaps start a thread asking the St Louis Audio community what types of product and brands they would like to see and why they would like to see them.

[youravhandyman]

Tim,
I agree with your suggestions and thank you for them.  Do you think that the Sound Room's downfall is also it's success?  They are the big player in home theater so possibly the 2 channel customer doesn't think about them first.  One of the things that I battle with is naming my audio venture so that it speaks to what I am.  And since The Sound Room is taken I continue to struggle with finding a name.   The thought behind this thread was to find out what people want to see/hear and I'm sorry to say that my Subject line spun it of course a bit.  If we don't continue on with that theme then I'm all for starting a new thread. 

Matt

[Hifibone]

Some great points made here. With the current economic state of affairs I'm personally not in a position to consider major component changes or upgrades in my system right now. However, I am on the lookout for ways to get the most out of those expensive pieces. That means accessories, cartridges, acoustical treatments, "tweaks", etc. (Yeah, I know, these aren't exactly inexpensive...don't even get me started on cables!) Lately, as my interest in hi-res/computer audio is warming up there's a whole new side to the industry I've never even been esposed to. High performance/cost ratio is foremost for me to get my feet wet in those untested waters. Tim nailed it: "...the $300 to $1000 range"...can be a fairly accessible starting point with MANY components.

I may be showing a bit of industry ignorance here, but...it would be nice to get a bit more "mainstream" exposure to the products of some of the major audio design/manufacturing talent that is fairly local. (I don't know if it's okay to mention brand names and I don't want to leave anyone out.)

Dave

[Mike Pranka]

Hey Tim,

I have some idea of why the general public doesn't embrace audio.. but that's probably best left to a personal conversation. Not that anyone's particularly interested, but for clarity's sake- I didn't seek to work with Audio Research as some sort of business keystone. I did so because of people and product. ARC's product range over the years hasn't always made sense to me, personally. That's changed. I understand that everyone's experiences are their own, but I can report that there definitely is a call for hifi in the current market. Both here and around the country. I don't know much about headphones, but MFP is showing what I consider to be the best $300-$1000 turntables on the market.. Rega. Though, there's no question that public awareness of such things is fairly limited. I'm not and can't be down on the hifi business because I see first hand the good things going on (and the fun being had!). In these very early days of stl stereo, products from the following manufacturers have sold to extremely happy and enthusiastic customers: Kudos, Linn, Dynavector, Totem, Vandersteen, Well Tempered Lab, Parasound. As a side note, none of these customers were interested in ARC at all. That won't always be the case, but it's somewhat interesting/surprising.

see ya,
mike

[Scott F.]

Hey Mike,

It's been a while since I've been down to MFP and talked to the guys, how is their T+A tube gear selling?

[Mike Pranka]

Hey Scott,

No idea on the T+A sales performance.. I'm typically only down there on the weekends to set up turntables and check the donut box. If it's not turntable or donut related, don't ask me...

mike

[kirch]

My two cents involves public awareness, aka advertising. 

  Key to the success of any business is getting the word out with effective ad placement and constantly drive the message home. Ahh, but where are your customers? How old are they and what is their income level?  And of course how do you create a campaign that will motivate your potential customer base to act?

Does your customer base even listen to the radio or are they listening to their own stuff?  And if they don't listen to radio, how do you reach out to them?  

My advice is to consider the cost of getting the word out, effectively to your target audience.  And if you can handle that financially, your message should address your customer base's love of music, should position you as the expert and and let them know that Best Buy and Ultimate Electronics aren't really hi-fi.

It's a tough row to hoe, but marketing is at least equally as important as what you carry.

Actually, that may have been 3 cents worth, but what the hell.

[Scott F.]

If it's not turntable or donut related, don't ask me...

  I would expect no less 

I need to stop in and see what they've got on the floor and how the guys are doing. It's been too long since I've been in.

Speaking of which, I need to make it down to your new place. I really want to hear the Devores, Harbeth and the Leben...not to mention your WTL tables. Once this snow lets up, I'll get a hold of you or Charlie and come down on a Saturday (or Sunday?).

[Mike Pranka]

Sounds great- would love to have you down and get your feedback. The same goes for Tim.. I know we spoke about it earlier in the process of getting set up. I'm (mostly) the only one telling Charlie how deaf and clueless he is and need some back up...

[kirch]

Speaking of which, I need to make it down to your new place. I really want to hear the Devores, Harbeth and the Leben...not to mention your WTL tables. Once this snow lets up, I'll get a hold of you or Charlie and come down on a Saturday (or Sunday?).

Scott if you head dontow lemme know if you'd like some company. Id love to check them out too.

[Scott F.]

Cool, ROAD TRIP!

I'll start another thread. Maybe we can get a bunch of GAS guys to show up at the same time.

Hey Mike, how many can you comfortably handle at once?

[Mike Pranka]

Depends on how many donuts you bring..
The shop is a loft, about 1350 sq. ft. so, it can handle more than a few, but not a crowd.