No more Sonus Faber at Magnolia
 

Was surprised to learn today that Magnolia no longer sells Sonus Faber. Wonder what happened? :scratch2:

Been gone for some time now Serge. They're just selling off the huge inventory in stock nationally.

I have not been very active as far as audio for the past 3 years. Your name came up in the conversation about Sumiko at Magnolia today Bill, compliments of course. :thumbsup: I think you have also moved on from Sumiko?

I have taken a step or two. :smoking:

Good luck in your endeavors Bill. :thumbsup: I just remembered you are with the Wilson family now. :D

I was showing the guys at Magnolia my youtube videos of the all Sonus Faber and then the all Wilson theater I had at my old house. They sure got a kick out of them. :D

Two questions:

1) Why did Magnolia drop Sonus Faber?
2) What are they replacing them with?

I saw B&W, Martin Logan and I think the salesman said they are bringing in KEF instead of SF.

KEF is correct. I have had several salesman tell me so.

KEF.


http://us.kef.com/hi-fi-speakers

Thanks Serge!

:smoking:

Why did Magnolia drop Sonus Faber though?

To quote one of the early Quadrivio partners: "The number she is the number. She a no lie."

What does this mean? :confused-22:

BB probably dropped SF because they weren't moving enough $$ per square foot of floor space.
Even with the made in China stuff at lower price points, SF is a relatively unknown brand compared to Klipsch or even KEF.

The Magnolia experience has always been challenging for me. The products on display are top notch; McIntosh, B&W speakers, Martin Logan, Sonus Faber, Marantz, etc. One of the stores I Visited had a C2500 / MC 601's driving a pair of Olympica III's. That's a pretty serious 2 channel system. Probably around $30k.
The problem I've had multiple times is that the sales people are not usually interested in talking to me.
They do not seem excited or knowledgeable about the products.
And the equipment is not set up to sound it's best.
So I think the BB Magnolia 'store within a store' model is flawed.
It has got to be excruciatingly difficult to find people to staff these Magnolia stores.
And for BB it is about tonnage. If they can make more money selling WiFi routers, they should, and they will.
I do think Magnolia has exposed a lot of people to brands they wouldn't have otherwise experienced. That's a very good thing indeed.
Tom

Magnolia can't find good staff because you can't make a decent living selling audio equipment on a Best Buy salary.

Back in the 90s I worked for a "Mid-Fi A/V retailer" but we also offered a few high end brands, ARC, SF, Martin Logan, Mirage, KEF. Even back then it was a hard sell to our customer base who mostly wanted Bose.

That being said, it wasn't that difficult to make 100K flipping Mitsubishi big screens and Bose Lifestyle systems.

Try making 100K now at a Best Buy Magnolia twenty years later.

Leave out the probably and you have it.

The formula of selling a high end boutique product at a supermarket of gadgets is akin to selling Lamborghini at a Honda dealership... Always struck me as an odd business model. The results speak for themselves.

I stopped by the Magnolia Center a couple weeks ago to look around and the sales person told me SF had recently pulled out. I asked what happened and he said they never sold anything so SF was gone. The only room of interest was a HT room with B&W, McIntosh and JL Audio. The rest was TV's with sound bars and a wall of cables. Doubt that I'll go back anytime soon.

I hate going into magnolia. The sales people are sketch and don't really know the industry. I remember asking about headphones when I was at bb with my wife.

I asked if they carried focal or audeze headphones and the sales person didn't know the brands at all... personally given the popularity I was shocked.

Careful, Magnolia is a productive hunting ground for independents seeking sales guys. Magnolia spends a great deal of money training guys (whether we see it or not) and if a guy has passion, he's perfect for the next step.

Think of Magnolia as AA ball and Independents as the Show. Same players, same passion for the game, but add in some advanced coaching and some insightful teaching of the game and voila!

We don't have enough great people in this industry. If Magnolia wants to give them their first opportunity, excellent. And if you find a good one at a Mag store and you want to refer him to your favorite dealer, even better.

That's fair. I don't mean any disrespect to upcoming folks but just stating my observation as a consumer.

I used to work at circuit city in college and most of us computer and audio sales folks were engineering majors and we knew our stuff. Even then, they did train us extensively well....but honestly most of the training was specific to what they sold, how to sell, and not the industry. I suspect it's the same at Best buy but I could be wrong :)

It may well be that now, but it certainly didn't used to be.

[QUOTE=dolsey01;859574]Magnolia can't find good staff because you can't make a decent living selling audio equipment on a Best Buy salary...QUOTE]

Magnolia sales reps are 100% commission.

Are magnolia folks on commission? I remember when I worked at circuit city, that was a big difference bc Best buy employees where hourly with no commission vs commission at circuit city.

That definitely incentiviced us to give a good experience and get the customers to come back. Many of our customers were frustrated Best buy previous customers.

Of course circuit city went under so what do I know :)

[QUOTE=Mahalo;859723]If that's true, it is new. One of their problems was that early on, Magnolia made people salaried. It limited the earnings no matter how good the salespeople were. That's a major part of the reason the good ones were easy pickings for independents looking for new hires.

I have to say that the salesman I spent a few hours with at magnolia the other day was in his 20's and it was obvious he was lacking the experience of someone who has been involved with the hobby (or the sales end of it) for decades like most of us on this forum but... he was very enthusiastic and eager to learn and it showed. We listened to some of the gear on the floor and he kept asking me to share my thoughts on the setup and gear. I also shared my memories what the hobby was like in the 80's and 90's way before his time. :D and we discussed where things are headed. It was an enjoyable couple of hours but I did feel old after I left for the first time in my life. :sigh:

The problem is that at a store like Magnolia vs a 2 channel boutique store, he does not come across customers like most of us on this forum very often and that does not help him advance in his knowledge and experience. Feedback from and the relationships one builds with customers at a dedicated high end audio store is invaluable, especially for someone who truly appreciates the hobby.

I think Magnolia has a place in helping hifi companies get products out to more customers. If you look at where Magnolia design centers are you can see that the stores are all in areas with higher income. They do a good job of selling gear to higher income customers who are looking for new "toys". Also they buy inventory upfront rather than ordering after a customer makes a purchase which is beneficial for the manufacturers. While their salespeople may not be the most knowledgeable, from my experience they are always polite and do not look down upon customers based on budget or if they are ready to buy now. There are plenty of hifi shops out there that are somewhere intimidating to average customers because the staff is very arrogant.

I think Magnolia has a place in helping hifi companies get products out to more customers. If you look at where Magnolia design centers are you can see that the stores are all in areas with higher income. They do a good job of selling gear to higher income customers who are looking for new "toys". Also they buy inventory upfront rather than ordering after a customer makes a purchase which is beneficial for the manufacturers. While their salespeople may not be the most knowledgeable, from my experience they are always polite and do not look down upon customers based on budget or if they are ready to buy now. There are plenty of hifi shops out there that are somewhere intimidating to average customers because the staff is very arrogant.

Some interesting points. Thanks!

A few years back I walked in the BB wearing my McIntosh baseball cap -- always wonder if someone will stop me and say great cell phones or computers, :blah::blah:etc.

Anyhows, walked into the component & speaker room and a young salesman and I struck up a conversation about McIntosh Labs -- he was quite knowledgeable about the SS gear, but did know of the MC275/C20 combination that struck his fancy.

After jaw jacking for awhile, he said he had his resume in at the local audio store down the road (BP knows who I'm speaking of -- Leon ...) and was hopeful he would have an interview in the near term.

Small world we live in -- I've missed the last couple musicmatters events at that store & haven't any idea if he was job successful.

Thought it was cool though and wished him well.

Best Sirs,

Bob

[QUOTE=metaphacts;859729]What I've seen more often is the good ones getting picked up by manufacturers or distributors. Although my favorite - and the best Magnolia salesman that I ever dealt with to this day -- left Magnolia when Best Buy decided to move a freestanding Magnolia into a Best Buy store (which they said they'd never do when BB first purchased Magnolia). He didn't want to be in a Best Buy store.

Someone got a pair of the Olympica 3s for half price here in Madison, WI. Sweet deal.

My local Magnolia was going to get me a part of Olympica IIIs for $5400 but unfortunately the store that had them cracked the top of the speaker while packing and that was the last one BB had. I had never heard the speaker but the deal was too good to pass up! They have Olympica I available but I want a nice floorstander. Looks like I may have to go back to my original plan of Focal 1028be or B&W 804 D3...

I am somewhat considering doing a bookshelf system instead with a Subs. Will I lose anything doing this vs Floordtanders? I have a lyngdorf RP1 which has a very good sun crossover.

We now carry KEF since we don’t have SBs anymore. Expect a full display of SVS also throughout Magnolia