On 09/03/04 05:46 ET, AHEM said...
I originally started this post not because I was
upset over Zon's decision go sell through Crutchfield
(I'm not a Zon dealer & could care less) , but
rather the contradiction to their stated policy.
If I had HAD bought into and made an investment
into their product, I'd probably be pretty PO'd
right now.
Could not agree any stronger.
Historically, Crutchfield has served as a stepping
stone for manufacturers to use to test the mass
merchandising waters. 15 years ago, I never would
have imagined the day that Mitsubishi, Klipsch,
Yamaha & Rockford Fosgate would be in Best Buy,
when Sony XBR would be in Circuit, when Denon
would be in Sears, but guess what?
Jump ahead year 2004. Where have all the specialty
A/V stores gone? What happened to the day when
people would walk into your store, buy a truckload
of stuff and leave happy campers?
The perceived answer is "well gosh, people want
to have trained professionals designing and installing
their gear these days."
Yeah, a lot of them do. Those would be commonly
known as "our customers".
However, I'd challenge anyone to spend a Saturday
afternoon at the local Best Buy and watch the
hundreds of thousands of dollars of audio/video
gear that leaves those stores on a daily basis.
Take a look at the customers who are buying stuff
there. They're not exactly all mobile home dwellers.
I see an awful lot of upper income people shopping
at those places? A lot of people who are driving
$50K plus automobiles. A lot of people who are
putting their new gear into their 5000 sq ft homes.
Remember them? They USED to be our customers
too.
Sadly I also agree, and hense this is the main problem.
Fortunately for us, Best Buy's not going to be
installing Crestron systems anytime soon, but
they do have their sights set on our business.
So does Sears, Crutchfield, Microsoft, and a
million or so online retailers.
While BB does not yet have the technical ability to execute the typical Crestron system, they are testing the water, and they are preparing to go in this direction. I read a quote from the CEO of Tweeter who said that 60-80% of all the profits from last year came from the installation side. With the margin on equipment they sell at all time lows, they are looking to other profit centers.
This forces us to change our strategy, and many of the CEDIA dealers have done so. They have changed to more like the architectural model.
Good post AHEM, I hear ya, and I agree 100%
