Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Meridian should have its own stores

Just wrote this all out in another thread and realized it probably deserves a thread of its own so here it is- Ill be deleting it in the other one- this was written in response to whether Meridian should have "elite" dealers. I say no....

hello from vacation land! took a quick look here. IMHO Meridian does not need to designate dealers as "elite" or not. They are too small and frankly, I doubt many would live up to this designation. IMHO Meridian has a real tough nut to crack in the name of B&O. B&O has retail stores and a high end name people know. Outside of we enthusiasts, many do not know Meridian. And they do not have a retail presence. The traditional Hi-Fi retail experience is basically dead to the general population. No one wants to be talked down to. IMHO Meridian needs something along the lines of an Apple store or B&O type store. Just like these companies, Meridian's gear is really meant to be a soup to nuts system and therefore they need to properly train and maintain staffing etc. This can only be done when you control the whole process. As retail is expensive it would make sense to me that Meridian find a partner whose products would compliment their products. Perhaps a high end furniture outlet or some other product that makes sense. Im sorry to say but I think Meridian is losing substantial business to B&O due to their lack of retail presence. One of my best friends just bought a whole B&O system when they could have gone Meridian because the local M dealer has a reputation for arragonace and the wife went into the B&O store and she loved the look and the friendly approach. "sure we can set it up- may we show you this horribly overpriced panasonic plasma with a nice case on it.." (Ok, I added that last part) but really, Meridian has the Faroudja name, which people outside enthusiasts don't know, and they have in wall stuff, projectors, could easily rebrand a plasma or lcd, and take on B&O. Additionally, sell some furniture to house the gear and also sit your tired rear end on and you have a winner IMHO.

Oh, and carrying costs to the manufacturer are probably less than for a typical hi-fi shop.

one suggestion for a retail partner that comes to mind is Ralph Lauren. You might laugh but they sell furniture and high end clothes and full room sets too and imagine if in their room displays they had a Meridian branded flat screen and then they had in walls in another room or the same room and at select locations they could have a full on M digital theater which is decorated by Ralph Lauren himself. M kicks in some $ and some equipment- give it a year to see how it works and if its not working youre out. No long term leases etc...

best regards,
Jerry