ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Hi Lee,
since I am not allowed to post in your 'garage sale post', I have to ask this way.
I stumpled across this there:
'but as you know, I'm not doing Loewe now,'
Well I actually did not know, but maybe I am the only one?
May I ask, what came across - you seemed very enthusiastic with your Loewe dealership earlier.
MM
There is a tv - and there is a BV
He took one look at the magnificence of the Eclipse and realized that trying to sell any other TV would be a futile effort doomed to failure.
Jeff
I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus.
Jeff: .....would be a futile effort doomed to failure.
.....would be a futile effort doomed to failure.
The above described the LifeStyle AV business model towards the end. Sometimes 'doing it properly' just doesn't stack up. As I mentioned, people came to expect the high levels of service from us (proper cleaning and testing, unbendingly accurate descritpions, pre-sale service, after-sale service, original packaging, no-quibble warranty and set-up support), but wanted our products at exactly the same price as the 'bargain basement private sale - sold as seen, condition a gamble' eBay prices. That model doesn't work. Never has, never will.
@ MM : You could have always sent me a PM. I'd be happy to answer any questions either yourself or anyone else has, rather than airing it publically. But, if you'd like me to answer on here, so be it.
Loewe was brought in to 'plug a gap' on the shortfall of B&O sales. It was intended as a 'slow burner' to build, over time, whilst providing a modest but growing income over the next 1-3 years. Eventually, if Loewe grew, I'd have opened dedicated stores - and if B&O carried on the same path, I'd have dropped pre-owned B&O altogether.
What happened was used B&O dropped off a cliff so severely, and so quickly, it meant we'd have had to turn over the best part of DKK 6,000,000 (around £700,000) in the first year of doing Loewe - with zero brand awareness and a very small advertising budget. There's ambitious, and there's unrealistic.
We were also going to do Devialet, and can I say it's really, really good. The guys came down and did a demo which blew us away. Genuinely nice people, too. I wish them all the very best.
In a nutshell, LifeStyle AV grew to meet demand in the boom times, then couldn't shrink fast enough to cope with the awful times. I tried, and planned for a medium term decline of around 50% in the next 2 years, but it happened so fast and so severely, it made carrying on futile. The tide went out, super fast, and my trunks were round my ankles. When you're so tied to the fortunes of one brand it can be as much a curse in the bad times as a blessing in the good times.
So, no Loewe, I'm done with B&O as a full time profession, and I'm looking for something new and exciting to get my teeth into. I doubt it'll be in the AV industry, but if something comes along to pique my interest then I'll have a look.
I'm taking the next few months off to rest, relax, recuperate after a year and a half of the extreme stress - and 'declutter' everything from gadgets, clothes, furniture I have in storage, collectibles, watches and so on. When you'e busy and earning really good money, as I did from 2007-2013, you buy things on a whim and they end up in a drawer or cupboard. What's the point of even having them if you don't see them, use them, or enjoy them?
Then, once I'm travelling light, rested and in my usual positive frame of mind, who knows what 2018 will hold for me!
Lee
Wishing you all the best Lee!
Too long to list....