mandi Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 Well, I had a few hours to kill but had prepared and looked on line for klipsch dealers in the area I was visiting. I was excited because they listed this particular store as a Heritage dealer. Now, this store dealt mainly in TVs and stereo "systems" (they would give you a better discount if you were purchasing a system). Salesmen EVERYWHERE, no one knew what Heritage even meant. Made it a point to ask all of them just to see if anyone would even relate the term to Klipsch. There was a room (nice theatre room) set up with an RF-7 system. I was wanting to spend some time playing with the sub. Rounded a saleman up who would take off the ballgame and put in a music DVD, I did not really care if it had video, I was more interested in audio and base. So I am playing with volumns and adjusting the sub, then going back to sit and have a listen (while reading the stores sales flyer). In walks new salesman I had not met, he started talking about the great clarity of the projector and the HD reception and made comment about the baseball game that was in HD, "if they hit the ball in the direction of the camera you will duck", so he turns out the lights and changes to the ballgame, and then walks out. Hmm, so much for my sub demo as well as reading the sales flyer. I went and found him, folded the flyer and handed it to him and told him it became hard to read in the dark. Now I will say that I probably would have not purchased anything yesterday, but I will probably not go back. Worries me about prices when the sales staff outnumbers the customers by 10 to 1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelerFan Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 Not that I'm defending the salesman, but I'm guessing they are just so used to dealing with the kind of customer who thinks of a good HT as great (usually big screen) video first. The audio part of the HT takes a back seat. Maybe that's why you can spend mega bucks on a Pioneer Elite plasma TV at BB, but they only carry (relatively) cheaper audio gear. At least that's the way it is at my local BB. It's the same at Sound Advice and CC here, huge video display areas, smaller audio rooms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCOOTERDOG Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 Our local Klipsch dealer The Sound Broker (not counting Best Buy) sucks. I don't think you could get a decent Reference series demo if you gave them 2 days to get there act together. The place is a freaking nightmare. I went in for the first time looking for some video cable and this place was a trash bin. I was hoping while I was there I could listen to some speaks. I don't know how often Klipsch reps go into these stores but these people need a serious talking to. They may be a klipsch dealer, and others but I would be hard pressed to buy speakers from them or any other equipment based on the demo capabilities and store appearance. There really must have been a 1/4" of dust on everything and it is in such disarray its pathetic. It's sad because they are my only Klipsch dealer within 100 miles. scooter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scp53 Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 my closest ref dealer is FS appliance. they seem to be a decent dealer- they have a dedicated sound room, good sales people, everything is neat and in order,etc. to bad there not all good dealers because customers im sure have been turned off from klipsch by poor representation. scp53 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Champagne taste beer budget Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 If I ever get a chance to actually get close to a heritage dealer that has anything in stock, I plan on doing my homework first. Near as I can tell, I'm like 12 hours or better to anyone that MIGHT have anything in stock, so if I was going somewhere on a trip, vacation probably, I'd check here first to see who people in the area would recommend, then contact the dealer to see what exactly they had in stock and what their policy was on auditions. Sorry to hear you had a bad experience, hopefully the next one will be better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddvj Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 I'm sure if you had told the second guy that you were listening to the system that he wouldn't have changed it. He probably thought that you had just wandered in (after all, you were reading a flyer and probably didn't look too involved in listening), and that the first salesman had just demoed the system and forgot to switch the TV back to the game. He probably had no idea why you gave him the folded up flyer, and he probably thought you were as much a jerk as you thought he was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyKlipschFan Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 I also want to point out thet what we call "Heritage" speakers... Were in fact, never called that, in their day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 Another great Forum opportunity for Klipsch. Here we all are, rabid audiophiles scattered across this great nation of ours (and foreign ports too), with tuned ears and deep wallets. Klipsch could use us as a source of information about how their dealer network is performing. I'm sure they all know their regional reps, but they most certainly would not know that we are reporting back to big daddy K! Any of us could go to a local dealer, even one familiar to us, and bring back a pretty impartial report on how the inventory is displayed, demonstrated, inventoried, repaired etc. Amy, USE US, we're here to help! Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minn_male42 Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 i agree with michael! ultimate electronics here in the minneapolis area always has a room setup with a full RF-7 system - good news so far.... but the empahsis is totally on the home theater presentation.... they always have sports playing or some tv show on... meanwhile in the other rooms they will have music videos / concert DVD's palying... and this is NOT just one store.... but every ultimate in the minneapolis/st paul area... give the people a chance to hear some great music being played on the RF-7's and ultimate would be shocked at how their sales would increase on klipsch!!!! but for now... unless you ask specifically to hear some music on the RF-7's it won't happen!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strabo Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 ---------------- On 3/23/2005 9:19:09 AM minn_male42 wrote: ultimate electronics here in the minneapolis area always has a room setup with a full RF-7 system - good news so far.... but the empahsis is totally on the home theater presentation.... they always have sports playing or some tv show on... ---------------- Last year I spent a long time auditioning quite a few speakers and that was my experience with UE also. I tried a few Ultimate Electronics stores and what really bothered me was hearing 4 RF-7 driven by some rinky-dink entry level receiver. I bet they had more money invested in the stupid screen for the front projector than they did in amplification. I'd be surprised if they sell any 7's with that set-up. It sounded bad, distorted and tinny, but hey, the picture sure looked nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Traveler Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 I am a huge fan of Klipsch, and as a one time investor in Ultimate Electronics, I wrote both on this issue several times last year. I received no response from either and business practice of ULTE didn't change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverSport Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 If the sales person thought you were done, he should have said so...simply changing to the game and leaving showed how much he thought of you and the impending sale...no sale with that kind of salesmanship...the sales person will either learn to do it better, starve or move on I guess...I would have moved on as well. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddvj Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 ---------------- On 3/23/2005 12:45:14 PM tkdamerica wrote: ...as a one time investor in Ultimate Electronics... ---------------- Hopefully you got out while the getting was good. Their stocks are now 65 cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Traveler Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 toddvj, You win some you lose some...The writing was on the wall (and in my letters) at ULTE, but I was still hopeful because I liked the concept of high-end discount Home Theater stores. Let's just say I got out before it hit $.65. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyKlipschFan Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 I just got back from Naples, FL, where the old Sound Advice chain used to carry Klipsch. I asked why the manager why they did not continue to carry Klipsch he said the market is all Home Theater. Stereo speakers amounted for 12% of sales. Now I had my own bias what was wrong with his store.. But I have never run a store like his. With Klipsch stereo and HT speakers, he said you can only carry so many brands. And there is a lot of mid, hi fi, and a few High End equipment in our store for everybody too. They had three different rooms low, mid, high end rooms with some pretty nice and regular generic stuff you would expect. Good or bad I would have love to have that 12% of that chains business. I think they are missing out on the other good Klipsch Stuff IMO. Stereo speakers are, afterall, also lead in products for Home Theater too. ------------------------------------------------ As far as the Salesman or Saleswoman of if they are TG, Salesperson (lol Sorry, could not resist!) Remember, were fanatics about Klipsch. We might know more than they do about our Klipsch products. I am positive he knows something about something in his store I have no clue on! I corrected the salesman when he said Klipsch does not make any of those big (What we call Heritage) Klipschorn, LaScalas or Belle, or Heresey speakers anymore. They do. He was just mis informed. Then again, in his store, they do not carry them/ stock them anymore. But for minimum wage and some little knowledge of audio, he was just a salesman after all in a local retail store. Couple steps up from XYZ big box store, I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strabo Posted March 24, 2005 Share Posted March 24, 2005 I hope they don't owe Klipsch for receivables. Ultimate Electronics closes half their stores. http://tv.ksl.com/index.php?nid=5&sid=157945 THORNTON, Colo. (AP) -- Consumer electronics retailer Ultimate Electronics Inc. will lay off more than 25 percent of its work force and close nearly one-half its stores as part of a bankruptcy reorganization. Ultimate received a default waiver from its lender which provided most of the reorganization financing, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Wednesday. Ultimate was in default on that loan. A telephone message seeking additional comment was not returned Thursday. The announcement occurred about a month after Mark Wattles, 44, former head of the Hollywood Entertainment video chain, was named chairman and CEO of Ultimate. Ultimate, which operates 62 stores in 14 states, said it would close 30 stores in Iowa; Kansas City, Mo.; South Dakota, Texas and Utah. The closures will occur by June 30. About 965 employees will be affected the closures, including 65 central office employees. It plans to continue to operate 32 stores in Arizona; Kansas; Minnesota; St. Louis, Mo.; Nevada; New Mexico and Oklahoma. The filing did not mention stores in Colorado, which operate under the SoundTrack name, or in Idaho and Illinois. Previously, Ultimate said it would close three stores, including one in suburban Highlands Ranch, where leases had been set to expire. Roger Heuberger, president of Progress Retailers Organization, a buying group for smaller electronics retailers, said he believes Ultimate ran into problems when it began to expand rapidly. He praised the move to close stores in markets where Ultimate has not done well. "I think what goes on in some of these other markets is that there are some strong regional TV and appliance stores that make those markets harder than they might look like from the outside," he said. Ultimate filed for Chapter 11 on Jan. 11, one day after Wattles spent $4.4 million to acquire a controlling interest and loaned the company $5.6 million. Some shareholders led by Atticus Capital LLC asked the bankruptcy court for permission to establish an official equity committee after Ultimate said its reorganization was unlikely to result in value for common stockholders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Traveler Posted March 25, 2005 Share Posted March 25, 2005 Whew!!! I am glad this "stuff" doesn't keep me up at night anymore. Ultimate Electronics did a tremendous expansion right before September 11th happened. If it wasn't for that event I think it had a chance to be a strong competitor for the mid to upper range of the Home Theater market and compete with Bestbuy (and Tweeter in my area) for those customers. That being said I have 2 market analysis opinions: 1) There was a reason Mark Waddle bought all of those shares of stock. When they close those stores and emerge out of bankruptcy they have a chance to be a leaner more competitive market force. 2) I think with Klipsch reputation, they could put KLIPSCH HOME THEATER STORES in several large markets (DFW being one of them with so many of us Arkansas boys here:). They would only need approximately 2500-3500 square feet of retail space and have 3 to 4 theater rooms displaying their different lines (including Heritage), with different price points. Instead of having run of the mill sales people, they pay minimum wage--They could have Owner/Managers and the like talking with customers. Just my 2 cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donnie Posted March 27, 2005 Share Posted March 27, 2005 Just got back from spring break vacation. Checked out the postings, sorry late on this one. I must say, my previous posting SmallTown Dealer Rules is right on the mark here. It is so nice to be called by your first name when you walk in. Howard and myself have built a nice relationship over the years, and its not just me , he is great with everyone. When I wanted to upgrade my sub, the RW-12 was in my budget, he says " Donnie take it home for the weekend, and you decide, what better demo than in my HT room, bought it Thursday. WOW. The response on the posting I started DLP vs Plasma was really great, you Heavyweights took it to an amazing depth on info. This is a GREAT resource. I purchased the DLP from ( Howard ) of course. Keep it up People!!!!!!!!!!!! many thanks Donnie ps Wife now says every dollar well spent. Diamonds go a long way BABY.. HA AH AH.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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