MS Retailer August 15, 2007 - Vol.24 No.8 - Music & Sound Retailer

fifth EDITIONa trend-y DJ storeBy Brian Berkdrastic times call for drastic measures. When Bob savarese,owner of Music trends in levittown, n.Y., knew the record/cdindustry was suffering a quick death, he had to make a rapidchange or suffer dire consequences. so more than 10 years ago,he focused on becoming a dJ retailer. the move paid off and thestore, located in a shopping center anchored by Bally’s total Fitnessand near an old country Buffet and a huge flea market, hasbecome one of the largest dJ dealers on long island. if you visitthe store, you’ll still see some cds hanging around, but it’s definitelybecome an afterthought. “if i stayed in the music business,we would have been out of business,” said savarese. “We saw ourcd business slipping. We had people supporting us by buying12-inch singles. But that market became smaller and smaller. Westarted selling more and more software and hard drive piecesto the dJs so we just kept moving more toward the equipment.eventually, the cds had to take a backseat. the delivery of musicis pretty much accepted as coming from the internet now.”Music trends occupies 6,000-square feet, with an equalamount of space on two floors. savarese moved to levittownin 1980. the store, however, was in a bigger shopping centersetting before its move five years ago. He moved for two mainreasons: shed the mall-type image of being a record store, and soMusic trends could be on Hempstead turnpike, a major longisland thoroughfare. all of savarese’s current employees are dJsor lighting enthusiasts. His biggest selling products are made byWhat we offer thatyou can’t get on theInternet is personalized,knowledgeablesalespeople. also, youcan try the equipmentand experiment with it.the customer can makesure it’s a piece theywant to own forever.denon, Pioneer, chauvet, americandJ, JBl, community Professionalloudspeakers, numark,Gci technologies, ortofon, andGator cases.off site, Music trends is alsoinvolved with installations. “it’sa growing market,” said savarese.“there’s a lot of potentialthere because almost any type ofbusiness can use a good soundsystem. We sell long-lasting,professional—almost commercial—typesof sounds systems.something that can be used dayin and day out.”tough timessavarese’s business is certainlydoing well, but like manyof you, he faces big industrychallenges. “the biggest factor isthe internet,” he said. “there’s atremendous amount of informationavailable to consumers. Youcan always find a better price forsomething on the internet. Butwhat’s being sold on the internetcan be misleading. We’ve beenaround a long time and have a lotof customers. We have customerswho have kids who buy dJ equipmentfrom us. that helps. someof our original customers stillsupport us today. What we offerthat you can’t get on the internetis personalized, knowledgeablesalespeople. also, you can trythe equipment and experimentwith it. the customer can makesure it’s a piece they want to ownforever.“it’s tough times with theinternet because people sitting intheir basements will sell things ata couple of dollars over cost withno overhead, no employees, andno health benefits,” he continued.“a brick-and-mortar store, likemyself, must contend with that.so times are tough but i think thedJ business has grown up. it’sbecome a respected, mature, professionalbusiness where peopleearn a living—and sometimesa very nice living—from. in thepast, the dJ business was probablyfrowned upon by some inMi. i think the majority of people22 22auGust 2007