Local dealer cuts store in half says audio is dead

You've said all that needs to be said. Let him go under. The customers he did have will go elsewhere and help other more deserving stores to stay in business.

I suppose that it depends on if you look at the store as half empty, or half full.

Wow, I never would hope for failure and perhaps he never had enough of a relationship with you to extend service you expect......maybe you just rub eachother the wrong way or something else is not being told here but it doesnt sound like it matters anyway but wishing failure is bad karma IMO.
Not assumeing anything here, just thinking outloud and perhaps he is so beat down and jaded by the INternet and bad Hi-Fi economics.....but still, wishing failure??????

A good audio dealer is a very wise investment. I have always loved the Verity Parsifal speakers. My local audio dealer had a customer who bought a pair new a few years ago and decided to go home theater or something and wanted to change. The dealer brought the Parsifal's to my home, set them up and let me try them out. They stayed. They let me demo new speaker wires, Nordost Heimdals, I ordered the Freys. I have demo'd three different CDP's from them and bought two, my current a $6000 player. My recent search for a new amp was supported by my dealer with demo amps delivered to my home, even when he knew my purchase was a not going to be for awhile. Another dealer in town has also been very helpful. They are getting in a new amp and pre-amp, MSRP $20,000+ and once they break them in in the show room they will bring them to my house to demo to help me narrow down future budgets. Though I could buy used off the net, and I sometimes do, I would never seek out their advise and aid then go somewhere else for the items they helped me with. Do I pay more? Yep, in the short run but in the long run it is a lot cheaper as I am able to build a nice synergistic system without multiple changes. There is a third dealer in my area that has nice stuff but the only thing I get from them is that my stuff is crap and their stuff can "walk all over" this and that and that their stuff is "better in every single way" than whatever it is that it is being compared to. Support good dealers. They will save you money in the long run and make music a bit more enjoyable. That being said, I think that there a lot of dealers that really have earned the right to go out of business. I am pretty lucky and hope to keep my two local dealers busy and could recommend them very highly.

I have started a thread with a complaint about a local dealer, and it took off like wild fire. A lot of people are frustrated with some stores. I don't think it's wishing failure. Audio dealing is not like other businesses. You cater to a community more than a market share, and I would hope someone who goes into this business does so with a passion for sound and music along with business and technical knowledge. When that lacks, things are not going to work out. If your experience was typical of the store, then it's more surprising that they have been in business for 30 years than that they are closing...