Advice wanted: Taking over an HiFi Store

[sajgre]

I could never sell something I don't believe in. Imagine a customer that wants to "upgrade" his DAC with "better" one. I couldn't sell him new DAC unless I believed it is better.

 

[Purité Audio]

That is precisely the problem, once you realise SQ is more or less completely down to the room and loudspeakers sales opportunities become somewhat limited, if you value your integrity.
Keith

 

[fpitas]

Unfortunately too, even the finest Belden industrial cable just won't fetch much of a profit

 

[Timcognito]

Here is some free advise so you get what you pay for.
Three Rules for a brick and mortar store: 1) location 2) location 3) location

 

[fpitas]

Here is some free advise so you get what you pay for.
Three Rules for a brick and mortar store: 1) location 2) location 3) location

True enough, although a clientele is still necessary.

 

[fivepast8]

That is precisely the problem, once you realise SQ is more or less completely down to the room and loudspeakers sales opportunities become somewhat limited, if you value your integrity.
Keith

Keith, your advise is much appreciated. You carry the brands that I admire as well. London and Zurich are similar: full of affluent people, plenty of bankers. lawyers, doctors and the like. I was thinking that providing a full service including installation and room calibration would generate a good basis for a business... not so? I have friends who are typical customers, interested in good sound, little tech knowledge, no time to fiddle and ample budget for Kii or D&D.
We can take this conversation also private if you so desire.

 

[Purité Audio]

Completely onboard, but the majority of customers simply believe the marketing BS, only a very small percentage ( mostly ASR) are technically literate.
Retail has changed so drastically, if a large ‘shop’ ( Thomann/Scan etc) sells a particular product you may as well forget it, perhaps if you keep it as an enthusiasm, but you don’t need a concrete shop for that.
Keith

 

[JeffS7444]

It's been a long time since I had a part-time job at a high-end audio shop, but I'm pretty sure that even now:

Manufacturers want dealers to represent the views of the manufacturer in the best possible light, so if you have a Rega dealership, you need to be able to present Rega products as the best choices in their respective classes.

You can't always "cherry-pick" products: If you want to carry Technics SL1200s, Technics may also want you to showcase their other products, including amplifiers and speakers.

The beauty of vacuum tubes and phono cartridges is that they wear out and need periodic replacement. And sales of these products can be especially good as the end of year holiday season approaches.

If a customer wants professional setup of their new phono hardware, give them a show! Linn LP12s were great for that, as they had special setup jigs and all sorts of recommended tips for optimal setup, and a certain type of customer really likes feeling like they're receiving insider information.

The most avid customers want a reason to visit repeatedly, and although they may not always make a purchase, they love to tell others about their wonderful experiences.

But as far as selling audio science and engineering (as opposed to catering to hardware fetishes), I don't know!

 

[levimax]

To start I would look at the financials strictly by the numbers. Buying it "for stock" sounds good but if the business is loosing money it may not be worth anything or even have "negative" value. If the numbers make sense then proceed to next steps again being very dispassionate and looking only at the numbers. Even though you don't "need the money" no one wants to work for free or worse work for free and lose money. If you have ideas on how to improve things that is great but those are your ideas and don't factor in to what the business is worth now.

 

[Doodski]

That might be one of the reasons to actually buy the store as it has been around for 40plus years, doesn't dabble in brands that can be purchased online, and he seems to have curated his customer based. Except for the COVID slow down, the store is financially sound: albeit it used to be bigger it has been turning a profit every year they have shown me. This has me puzzled

Maybe they just need out after so many years of serving the general public because one gets burned out. Got to make sure one takes holidays and time off to regroup one's thoughts and emotions for more sales or one gets burned out.

 

[Marc v E]

The thing about hifi shops is that I don't know what they're there for anymore.

I think you should consider what added benefit are you bringing to people. Home installations? Selling high end hifi? Selling high value low cost Chinese brands?

I couldn't make this work

 

[Doodski]

That is precisely the problem, once you realise SQ is more or less completely down to the room and loudspeakers sales opportunities become somewhat limited, if you value your integrity.
Keith

I survived mainly on commissioned speaker sales for 9 years quite well but that was in the 80's and 90's. What the market is like now I have no idea. As well I had ~10+ speaker lines to work with and full line inventory too so it was sometimes easy sales because the competition had 2-3 lines of speakers. Speakers is the bread and butter for any audio store. Relying on cables for the bottom line is kinda ewwwww.

 

[sarumbear]

Honesty and “Hi-Fi” doesn’t co-exist. I would not even consider that as an opportunity. Unless of course you are too settled and looking to inject stress into your life while wasting money.

 

[Doodski]

True enough, although a clientele is still necessary.

We started a store in the mid 80's in a city of a million and we where beside a major shopping mall and had a large parking lot. It took about 1 to 1.5 years to build a customer following and really get the stock turnovers happening. So a pre-existing business might be better.

 

[Doodski]

The most avid customers want a reason to visit repeatedly, and although they may not always make a purchase, they love to tell others about their wonderful experiences.

This^^^. I can't count the amount of sales I made due to the customers that just wandered in every month or so for a peek and then brought in friends and family. Always treat everybody like a buyer no matter their station. Show off the gear as much as possible even if you know they are not buying today or this week etc. It pays off in months and years of building a loyal following of customers and it separates the hang-around clerking sales people from the professional salespeople that are making the money.

 

[fpitas]

The beauty of vacuum tubes and phono cartridges is that they wear out and need periodic replacement.

Yup. A friend and I in HS had the job of replacing KT88s once a year and resetting the bias. Our pay was the used tubes lol.

 

[Trell]

Educational back ground is PhD EE and MBA. I have the wonderful opportunity to re-invent myself and I am mulling over some options.

One of them is the opportunity to take over an well established Hifi Store in Zurich city.

With your educational background you might very well be quite unhappy with the unscientific BS used in marketing to sell HiFi, just to make the store go break-even.

 

[Soniclife]

I think there are two questions here.
1) Can the store make money and survive.
2) Would you enjoy the work.

I've no idea about how to answer the first question, but is there an option to work unpaid in the store for a week? People I know who have made big career changes have done this, and found it illuminating.

 

[JeffS7444]

I wouldn't want to sell audio as a standardized commodity, because the profit margins are probably going to suck. Whereas people are much more apt to spend generously if there's an emotional appeal too.

When I worked there, the store could be crazy-busy on Saturdays: Some regular customers stayed until closing, it could be standing room-only, with queues for the seats in the demo rooms.

 

[fpitas]

The only way I can see the business flying is to cater to those higher-end folks who want turn-key. You install the equipment and even do a preliminary EQ tuning for room correction etc.