The public vote for our second Hi-Fi Retailer of the Year award took place via our website during October-November 2021. Our thanks to all who voted, and to Technical Audio Group for adding the encouragement of a pair of Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT2.
For the full details on each and every winner, check out the Special Awards Issue of Sound+Image magazine, on sale now in print and digital editions. Print subscriptions here; digital issues here!
So let's meet the winners!
NATIONAL HI-FI RETAILER OF THE YEAR
The Audio Tailor, Brisbane
So in our second annual online poll to find our Hi-Fi Retailer of the Year, the winner is... oh – the same as in our first poll last year! The Audio Tailor in Brisbane has taken out this award for the second year running.
While they won by a considerable margin, very honourable mentions go also to the State winners (see below), led in vote numbers by Sydney Hi-Fi Mona Vale in New South Wales, with Melbourne Hi-Fi topping Victoria’s vote (Selby Acoustics had more votes in Victoria but split across two stores), and a strong showing also in WA from WestCoast Hi-Fi Midland. Duratone Hi-Fi came out top in the ACT, and Quantum Hi-Fi in Tasmania.
To give The Audio Tailor the good news, we called Stuart Taylor; some may know Stuart from his years with Surround Sounds in WA, or from the online Aussie Hi Fi, now rebranded as part of The Audio Tailor, with the store in the marine precinct at Rivergate Place, Murarrie, off the south end of the Gateway Bridge. We asked him how business has been, since winning the award last year.
“The year’s been sensational for us,” he told us. “And I know we were very fortunate here compared to Sydney and Melbourne – we did have to close the retail store a couple of times but not for long, and we were still operating by phone and email, and sending stuff round. But yes, a strong couple of years in fact. We’re really stepping up in what we sell as well, going higher up the food chain, as it were, and that’s really paying dividends, focusing on quality rather than quantity.”
Stuart says the store name, the Audio Tailor, reflects how they treat each customer individually, “so it’s all tailor-made, custom designed,” he says, “focused on the customer so they really get the best result from their hi-fi or home theatre. And obviously they appreciate it because they keep voting for us!”
He is quick to give credit to the team at the store – including Vaughan, Gabey, Casey and Yvonne – and tells us they’re currently finishing renovations on four new rooms upstairs, one of which will be a theatre room. But most of the business remains in hi-fi.
“We’ve always been really big in turntables, and strong in streaming,” says Stuart. “We’d have no less than 20 streamers in the shop at the moment and you need that width and depth to really sell with confidence – so we don’t have one $3000 streamer or $10,000 streamer, we’ll have options.”
HI-FI RETAILER OF THE YEAR:
STATE WINNERS
QLD
The Audio Tailor link
NSW
Sydney Hi-Fi Mona Vale link
ACT
Duratone Hi-Fi link
VIC
Melbourne Hi-Fi link
TAS
Quantum Hi-Fi link
WA
WestCoast Hi-Fi Midland link
Our congratulations to all the winners – and thanks to all who voted!
