In my case there is one other family member - with both. But that is not a recent change, and before that person became my brother in law 35 years ago I knew no-one we else into hifi.
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I think some of the problem is that many dealers are less than welcoming. For example Audio T Bristol now makes you ring a bell before they will let you in! When you do get in there is a hard sell, you don’t feel you can just browse or hang out at all.
There are good dealers - James and Henry at TomTom Audio for example, but many seem to have an attitude problem.
I’m an older bloke with over 50 years experience of hifi and fairly self confident - I dread to think how anyone who is younger or a beginner would get on!
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Moorgate Acoustics in Sheffield has a record store associated/in the basement. It’s a nice idea, add in a decent cafe and I suspect it would work nicely as you suggest
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I hear the same complaint very often. I have little sympathy for these shops. OTOH, when I walk into expensive apparel shops in Paris and Belgium they also have an attitude problem and I see other customers double down on spending too much to prove they are good enough whereas I take my tatty jeans and trainers elsewhere. I wonder if it is the same tactic?
Mind you, the bloke who is sent out to get 2 flat whites and returns with 2 flat whites and an LP12 won’t be very popular with his partner
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Their mistake was forgetting the slices of cake with the coffees though.
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If you said, “My dealer baked this” you’d really be onto something 
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Yeah, one friend has spent a large sum on a sports car, a couple of others on cycling, and everyone has holidays to fund (which are increasingly expensive). They’re all happy with Sonos, except one who added a used SN2 and PMC speakers to a listening room which he hardly uses 
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It’s an interesting set of points about the buying experience and environment. In the past few years I’ve been in Deco Audio Aylesbury, Audio T Bristol, Tom Tom in St. Alban’s, The Audiobarn in Harlow, Analogue Seduction near Peterborough and Moorgate Acoustics in Sheffield. Buying products or services from 3.
They’ve all been lovely to me, but The Audiobarn, Analogue Seduction and Moorgate are the closest to “destinations” and only Moorgate has an actual other reason to visit - Wax Sheffield, downstairs. Deco Audio has a record store associated as well, but the shop is on an industrial estate and I don’t think it’s realistically a “destination” in the sense we’re taking about.
I haven’t seen a Focal powered by Naim boutique, but personally would prefer a nice and comfortable hifi dealer/record store/cafe type of environment to a boutique where I’m likely to get my mucky fingerprints hastily wiped away as I’m ushered the door. And I realise I’m being very harsh on somewhere I’ve never visited!
I suspect they’re different target markets, and the second hand vinyl buying, coffee drinking, first hifi rung type of customer isn’t who the boutiques are aimed at. But that doesn’t mean somewhere that is aimed at them wouldn’t be popular. Put the music first, set up the vinyl racks, maybe put some headphone amps and phones around, sell decent food and drink, might actually do alright. Obviously not all retail spaces could be configured like that but the larger shops with space could even think about putting a bit of live music on.
(turns off armchair retail consultant mode)
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I’m sure I upgraded my LP12 with an Ittok from Audio T in the late 1980s in London… was there a shop in Swiss Cottage?
but my point is, there is hope for the younger set yet. My 26 year old daughter had Spotify. I use Tidal, so we played a few Taylor Swift and other songs, alternating between streaming sources, on a simple kitchen MuSo. The difference was substantial, so she has switched to Tidal (she has a MuSo too). I’ve offered her some spare Naim units, but she has declined so far.
Inflation /costs does seem to have hit Hi-Fi - some of the speakers I have been musing over have gone up in price significantly.
This annual price increase, even when inflation was running low, always use to get me as why does hifi have to have an annual increase…
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Our local HMV does sell very basic turntables as well as vinyl.
I can’t see them selling anymore than basic systems and headphones but it would still be a step up, my guess is that with mortgages, student debt etc, younger people aren’t interested in getting on the audio systems ladder.
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When I lived in the UK, I used a local Audio-T store in a famous horse-racing town nearby, on two occasions, to upgrade a system box and discover Isoblue and it was like having a discussion with an enthusiastic, knowledgeable friend.
In contrast, in the town a short train ride away in the other direction, the NAIM-centric store seemed staffed by patronising snobs who gave me the impression I was an unwelcome interruption to their navel-gazing day.
In a shrinking market, you’d think that a sales centre would pull out all the stops to keep the customers coming back! Sadly, it seems, even this is now less effective than it should be.
I’m getting the distinct impression that us audiophiles are a fading breed.
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Gone.
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I’ve been visiting Cultured Audio since they opened a few years ago and they are always very welcoming. They also now sell vinyl too! I’ve demo’d a miriad of kit there and have bought my current 222/250 Neat Petite system from them. Mike has been in the hifi biz for 20+ years and has a vast knowledge of the industry as an ex Naim rep.
The coffee is good too😃
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My wife mentioned playing music on our HiFi to her work colleagues in her office a couple of years ago. The use of the term HiFi was almost ridiculed. She might as well have mentioned a Slide Rule or a Penny Farthing.
It is now a very small minority interest, sadly. Plus as volumes fall companies have to sell higher priced items to keep revenue and margins up. It’s only going to go in one direction.
Really? Muso and Uniti are Naim’s biggest sellers. I think the lower end is more variable to market conditions but equally will always be the biggest sellers.
Change of mind.
Just before the Enfield Audio T store closed I asked the John, manager, what was the reason; the answer I got was, “The landlord has decided not to renew our lease and has other ideas for the property.”
I haven’t since ventured back to see what are the “other ideas”.
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For some people of a certain age their view of hi-fi shops is tarnished by this!
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