Reaction to last week's a&b sound feature

Wowzers, when I posted that analysis of venerable Western Canadian retailer a&b sound I didn't expect to kick over such an anthill.

I recieved a deluge of sentiments in my email, and am not permitted to reprint all of it, out of respect for confidentiality. However, I've got some nice juicy excerpts here:

The Supporters:

• "Is A&B sound still the major force it once was? No - You can thank Best Buy for that. Then again neither is Visions"
• "Is the company still locationally challenged? Yes. Is it going to grow? Yes."
• "Are all vendors supportive of A&B? No - Too many that got burned in the [court-ordered creditor protection] are bitter about the name. Yet they fail to recognize that its not the same people or company. In that case, both sides lose."

Note that these were all company insiders, speaking off the record. I edited numbers and metrics out of their responses, but they waved some dollar signs around that if true, are a credit to the new management.

The Doubters:

• "I was under the understanding that staff were doing quite well at AB sound. Every TV sales staff will make well over 50 grand this year Audio sales are up about 30 percent as well. Course they don't tell me EVERYTHING. I can confirm your Calgary Soundsaround Vs. AB comment... Friends and family wont even shop their[sic] (even if I can get them better pricing). "

That was an ex-salesman from Calgary who still has close ties to the firm.

• "you are the only person who cares what a+b does, says or thinks ! they fell off the important retailer landscape a long time ago !"
• "Who are they taking their market share from? Visions? Best Buy? The independants? I don't think so. They're the only ones closing stores in the Prairies."

Those were individuals who still have a business relationship with them, and are disapointed in a&b's performance as a dealer.

• "Their business plan is insane."

That was uttered to me by the representative of a distributor that dumped a&b this year. It was said in confidence, and I feel like a bit of a heel for leaking that, which is why I won't tell you the rest of what he told me, because that would be a dead giveaway.

Incidentally, traffic on businessopinions.blogspot.com went throught the roof over the three days after I posted that piece. And a couple of members of the trade media that I met at CEDIA Expo commented on it without being prompted. It's highly gratifying to know that people are actually reading this site.

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