High end stores closing do you really care

The stores in my area are 1) open to home auditions but don't carry the gear I want to hear, 2) closed to home auditions but have the gear I want, or 3) have more of the gear I want but want an appointment to survey my interests. I bought an amp that I could have gotten from dealers 2 and 3 over the internet for half the retail price and only a couple of months old, but overall, I regret not buying from dealer 1, so what am I all about?

Hi-fi is only one of many industries going through this issue. Clothing, furniture, sporting goods, and many others are experiencing the need to change the way they do business due to on-line sales. Things change, and new generations have different "first" thrills compared to the ones we had. I understand Brucephan's remorse over the loss of brick and mortar stores. My first visit was 34 years ago, and I will always remember the "experienced audiophile" salesperson who helped me pick out drivers for my first DIY speakers that got me through college and beyond (they still work). However, technology changes and the information available at the touch of a keyboard is astounding compared to even 10 years ago. Because of the collective information and reviews available electronically, you can learn much more about a potential purchase than you could have from a single sales person 20 or 30 years ago. I can foresee a time when manufacturers may offer "video auditions" to allow potential buyers a narrated demonstration/review of their products and features. Buyers today largely want quality goods at competitive prices, and the group willing to pay for sales/service is getting smaller.

My local high end shop closed in the Fall of '04. To be honest, I don't really miss it, as I never felt comfortable in there anyway. I bought a few items in there over the years, but not enough for the salesmen to treat me like a human being. Sure, they fawned over the guys who threw mega bucks in their direction, I guess that's just human nature. I do miss being able to see/hear the latest toys, though the hear part is a stretch, as I much prefer listening to gear in my system than in any dealer's showroom. I' do not miss the snobbery though.

I do agree with Jab that the death of B&M stores ties in with the squeezing of the middle class. You can see it everywhere in society today from the Wal-Marts to all of the new sport stadiums with their abundance of luxury boxes. Compared to 20-30 years ago, there are many more rich and many more poor, while the middle class has shrunk.
Many need two incomes these days to make ends meet, unlike 30 years ago. Time marches on, it is called progress, isn't it???

John

I 1st got into the equipment with the advent of CD's during the 80's. My parents were killed in a hotel fire in Puerto Rico in 1986. I spent a month down there finalizing their affairs and I wound up spending a lot of time at a audio salon. It was a national tragedy and the guys at the shop understood I was hurting. I'll NEVER forget the kindness extended to me AND the education I got as they spent time with me in their budget room and worked me up to their highest end offerings (over the course of repeated visits). All I bought was a few CD's and a green pen for the CD's (remember those?). I've moved from NY to PA to FL to finally here in Atlanta. Wherever I lived I always made it a point to seek out and befriend my local audio salons. Unfortunately, here in Atlanta, I just wasn't able to break the ice. I tried to invite them out but they weren't interested, and even though I'd visit often, since I wasn't buying anything more than accessories, I always felt like they had my number and didn't want to waste time. Fine by me, I haven't step foot in there for over 2 years. But I gotta admit I miss it.

I had a retail audio store that was operated out of my house to keep overhead down. I went through hundreds of thousands of dollars trying wire and all levels of solid state and tube electronics. I bought many products just to try and use as a reference for listening to other items. I feel that the typical store environment does no justice to customers wanting to upgrade and improve their systems, rarely do they have a handle on correctly addressing the wires used in any given system. $3000 speakers will be demonstrated with the same wire and components that a $25,000 set next to them are run with which makes them sound like you will never again hear them.

I find it easier to be able to act as a free agent not bound with a lot of useless lines that are not my favorite products anyway. I can talk to any person, find out what he has in his system and what he's looking to do in the future and start an upgrade path that totally changes his reality as far as putting things on the right track and making bigger improvements that he's ever heard. And do that in such a way that they are not committed to something they don't like in their system, it's more like try this and see what you think.

I'm writing a book that goes a long way toward educating audiophiles in a way that they will be able to better use a store demo environment.