I am opening a Car Audio store in Austin, TX, need some input on brands

Custom Sounds in Austin already carries Kicker, so I don't want to get involved in a pricing war with anyone local if I can avoid it. I want to offer unique products.
Oh, and CA.com customer will definitely get a discount. I am also going to look into the possiblity of being able to ship to customers out-of-state. Not on an internet base, but more of an extended customer base.
that would be cool if you could get decent prices //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 
Y Austin again?
Austin because my wife is a nurse and wants to work at St. David's in Austin and plus we like 6th street and it's closer to alot of her family. I am origionally from San Antonio, so if for some reason the plans change I will be doing this there.

 
IMO if he wants to do the research and be knowledgeable about all these brands....go for it!!
Yea Im not saying that its a bad idea, but one iwll be hard for them to let you carry all those, and the fact you have to spend thousands(I think @ 20k of the companies merchandise) to be able to buy into the company....

And then may get lots of ppl there all day saying what would be best of this, and what makes this one better than this.....bc that is A LOT of equipment(very nice equipment I might add)

 
You will definitely want to carry alarms/remote starts as they are the bread and butter of many retailers. If you decide to hire an outside installer I was actually considering moving to austin in the fall. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 
I think its a good list, but think it will be too many brands.......maybe need a total of 4 or 5 brands between the speakers/subs/amps

just my opinion tho....
Yeah, this is a list tht's going to be trimmed and added to while I am finding out which brands are already in Austin as well as what different manufacturers require for me to be a dealer. It may be a complete different list in a month LOL

 
You will definitely want to carry alarms/remote starts as they are the bread and butter of many retailers. If you decide to hire an outside installer I was actually considering moving to austin in the fall. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif
I'll drop you a PM when I get up and running.

 
Yea Im not saying that its a bad idea, but one iwll be hard for them to let you carry all those, and the fact you have to spend thousands(I think @ 20k of the companies merchandise) to be able to buy into the company....
And then may get lots of ppl there all day saying what would be best of this, and what makes this one better than this.....bc that is A LOT of equipment(very nice equipment I might add)

I am dreading the buy in's but ya gotta go what you gotta do. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 
Austin is a college town. Go low end (Sony, Boss, the usual suspects) if everyone else is higher end. Make a nice profit in volume as the broke students look for cheap prices. Then put the profit into an uber-high end system in your vehicle as you laugh all the way to the bank!

If the low-rent idea works and you are looking to do something really special with the hoped-for profits, then go to the other end of the scale. Sell the uber-stuff like Critical Mass at another location to snag the high roller crowd.

Leave the middle to the masses as you work the edges of the market is the idea I'm putting forth. You aren't out there to sell your tastes as much as you are out there to compete in a crowded market. Personally I prefer the big fish in a small pond setup but since you're in Austin you'll have to work to find the niches that let you get the money flowing your way.

Rick

 
thats a real nice market, but in real life, not too many people can afford DD retail, DLS retail and the likes

im sure its a different market in austin but we dont do to many really expensive equipment systems

definately need a good budget brand, people want a name they like but they dont want to pay alot for it, we sell tons of kicker comps using jensen amps, not my choice of equipment but it dosent sound half bad

we do alot of suff other than car audio and alarms: leather kits, cruise control, weve done a few heated seats, power locks and power windows ...etc

carry a nice wire kit and a budget kit

being in alabama we do a good bit of shallow mount subs and under seat boxes for trucks

lots of other stuff, but each market is different

 
Austin is a college town. Go low end (Sony, Boss, the usual suspects) if everyone else is higher end. Make a nice profit in volume as the broke students look for cheap prices. Then put the profit into an uber-high end system in your vehicle as you laugh all the way to the bank!
If the low-rent idea works and you are looking to do something really special with the hoped-for profits, then go to the other end of the scale. Sell the uber-stuff like Critical Mass at another location to snag the high roller crowd.

Leave the middle to the masses as you work the edges of the market is the idea I'm putting forth. You aren't out there to sell your tastes as much as you are out there to compete in a crowded market. Personally I prefer the big fish in a small pond setup but since you're in Austin you'll have to work to find the niches that let you get the money flowing your way.

Rick
Thanks for the ideas. I am thinking along these lines. I think the only way to accurately feel the market is to be in it. I am interested in Austin being a College town versus Austin being a technology capital with the average income being pretty decent.

 
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