Sound Advice starts liquidation sales, will shut down

Sound Advice, a Florida-bred consumer electronics retailer with 22 stores, will fade into history by year's end, done in by the big discount stores and relentlessly lower prices that have become part of a digital world.

The liquidation sale started Wednesday at all four Sound Advice stores in the Tampa Bay area. All sales are final for discounts that started this week at 10 percent on TVs, DVD players and stereo receivers, 20 percent on speakers and 40 percent on power supplies and cable. Liquidators expect to clear out the last of the inventory and close the stores after the Christmas holiday.

About 50 Sound Advice workers in the bay area stand to lose their jobs, about 30 fewer than were employed there a year ago.

Stores also stopped accepting checks and selling gift cards, warranties or installation service. Manufacturer-backed financing is no longer offered.

The end came after Sound Advice parent Tweeter Home Entertainment decided to close all 94 of its remaining stores. Tweeter, based in Canton, Mass., was acquired out of bankruptcy last year for $38-million by Schultze Asset Management. The new owners chopped expenses, closed stores and reduced the retailer's visibility by shifting advertising to direct mail and some radio before giving up.

Once touted as a bounty for consumer electronics stores, the spread of flat-screen and HDTV sets instead has become part of many chains' struggle to survive, including Tweeter, the defunct Rex stores and Circuit City, which this week closed 115 of its 714 stores. Discounters like Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Target have aggressively become bigger players, as well as installers, as manufacturers continue to lower prices.

Based in Dania Beach, Sound Advice was founded as a single store in 1974 — partly bankrolled by $100,000 in laundered cash from a marijuana smuggler with ties to the gulf beaches of Pinellas County. The company later went public until being acquired by Tweeter for $61-million in 2001.

Comments on this article

by Duece	Nov 10, 2008 1:18 PM
The company really died back when tweeter bought them. What made it unique was the people who orginally ran it. I worked there from 1987-1997 and it was the best sales training I have had to date. Salespeople in the box stores don't get that. RIP SA.

by Bob	Nov 10, 2008 1:01 PM
Tino is a very naive guy. Incentives are a part of every business no matter how good or bad the economy is. The gas rebate program is a good one. I found it useful for my family when I bought from ashley furniture. we got $500 back for our purchase.

by Michael	Nov 7, 2008 12:18 PM
Thank God, they are closed! Sound Advice, especially the one at St. Pete is well known among minorities that their sales persons are racist.

by Joe	Nov 7, 2008 11:57 AM
WOW, smuggling a little bud turned into $61 mill - America really is the land of opportunity!

by Jason	Nov 6, 2008 1:29 PM
This is too bad. The goods they sold is way better than the junk Best Buy and CCity sell.

by Richare	Nov 6, 2008 1:29 PM
I have nothing buy high praise for sound advice. Had good dealings with them. Seen many a customer from the discount stores in Sound Advice asking questions and then going back to the discount stores a buying the product.

by Sarah	Nov 6, 2008 1:29 PM
Never went. How many speakers can one have?

by dylan	Nov 6, 2008 1:29 PM
No wonder they went out of buisness. Their products and installations were astranomical

by Doug	Nov 6, 2008 1:29 PM
I for one will miss SA. My salesman for years, Dan, was knowledgeable. Their inventory was light years ahead of CC or BB.

by Dale	Nov 6, 2008 1:29 PM
The market has spoken. If you want knowledge and advice, look it up on the internet.

by Dennis	Nov 6, 2008 1:29 PM
I always found them to have higher end choices than the others stores, at prices equal or better. They also had employees who actually understood electronics and could explain every feature and characteristic of a product, unlike at CC and Best Buy

by dk	Nov 6, 2008 1:28 PM
Albright, CC closed 155 stores...get your facts right for a change

by Jay	Nov 6, 2008 1:28 PM
It was crazy what they charge for stuff.

by Kenny	Nov 6, 2008 1:28 PM
Another victim of the, 'Borrow and Spend' and 'Trickle Down' theories of the Republican Party.

by RE	Nov 6, 2008 12:20 PM
Of all the times I went in to their stores I NEVER found anyone that was willing to help me...when I did shame someone into answering my questions I found later they were untrue answers to coerce me into buying. Never had a good feeling about them.

by CrazyIvan	Nov 6, 2008 12:20 PM
I've bought many thousands of dollars of stuff from them over the years. The people I've dealt with there were competent and did not "oversell" me. I'll miss them.

by Mike	Nov 6, 2008 11:58 AM
If any of you purists (or fogies) need a needle for their turntable, I think this is the last place that sells them. Not positive, though. Better call first.

by Bob	Nov 5, 2008 8:59 PM
Everytime I went in there the sales help were arrogant and wanted to tell me what I wanted. Good riddance.

by Joy	Nov 5, 2008 8:52 PM
I remember them from years ago. Did not realize they were still around

by junebee	Nov 5, 2008 8:49 PM
Hey, who won't forget the back of the store that looked like the back of a radio? That was on Fowler or Fletcher in Temple Terrace back in the 80's.

by Lee	Nov 5, 2008 8:49 PM
The knowledge and expertise in those stores will not easily be replaced.People would go into Best Buy and complain about getting no answers and no help only for a lower price.Sound Advice died when they lost B & W.

by nolesfan	Nov 5, 2008 7:08 PM
thank goodness- that was one of THE worst stores in this city- you could never find anyone to help you and when you finally did they rarely knew the answer to your question- it was like pulling teeth to get them to honor their sales ads- no big loss-

by Jake	Nov 5, 2008 6:40 PM
They were always high priced. About 20% more than other stores, went in there a couple of times and walked out never with a thing.

by Al	Nov 5, 2008 6:40 PM
That's capitalism working darwin style. Did you ever walk into one of those stores thinking you were going to get a deal. Why pay more. Mgmt should've figured it out a long time ago...Americans hate overpriced stuff.

by Jasonhouse	Nov 5, 2008 6:29 PM
I worked there for a couple of years over a decade ago and owe my sales skills to their awesome training program. Shoppers didn't see the value of their superior workforce and products, and instead chose to shop at dumps like Wal-Mart. :-(

by DC	Nov 5, 2008 6:28 PM
Sound Advice took my flat screen a month ago for service. I called yesterday to ask what was taking so long. Now my TV is in Fort Lauderdale. YIKES!!!

by Troy	Nov 5, 2008 5:57 PM
Just goes to show that hedge fund managers don't know how to run a business. Just ask Chrysler!

by PJ	Nov 5, 2008 5:56 PM
Sad to see. Because they offered better equipment at comparable prices with the personal touch. I'll miss knowing there is a better option to BB and CC...

by Tino	Nov 5, 2008 5:56 PM
I knew they were about to go under when they were recently offering a "spend $1000, get $500 in free gas a year later" deal. To all those customers who took them up on it -- sorry!