CQ reports that Amateur Electronic Supply, one of the US’s top amateur radio retailers is going out of business. They did not give a reason for the closure.
I’m sure there are several different reasons. My take is that they just weren’t aggressive enough with their marketing. Compare AES to DX Engineering, for example. DX Engineering has been much more aggressive with their advertising, including sponsorship of Ham Nation and Contest University.
This is a grave problem – for hams in this case, and for other people in all the other cases, where ‘bricks and mortar’ traditional stores are closing down, and even internet sites are being squashed out by bigger internet sites and by off-shore vendors such as Alibaba and Bang Good and all the others, aided and abetted by eBay.
So, for example, for me in the Seattle area – an area with a large number of hams – where can I go to actually see and experience different radios before buying one? Nowhere within an hour or two of driving! It seems we are increasingly expected to buy a $5,000 – $15,000 radio sight unseen!
On the other hand, we only have ourselves to blame. The rise of ‘showrooming’ – going to look at gear in a retail store, but then buying it online to save a few bucks – is what is killing traditional retail.
In theory, there should be more and more ham radio type stores opening and prospering, because the number of licensed hams is steadily increasing every year, and presumably we’re still buying gear at a similar rate to before.
I’ve no idea what the answer is, but I do clearly see this as the underlying problem that is driving so many stores out of business.
Entiendo y recpeto la opinion de cada persona, la situacion economica no esta solida y por mas promocion que se de entiendo que puede ayudar pero entran en mas gastos entiendo que habia que tiral muchas ofertas para llamar la atencion de los clientes lamentamos el ciere
Dave New, N8SBE says
Could it be that their web site looked it was designed in the previous century, and apparently no one cared?
Dave New, N8SBE says
Looks like I spoke too soon. Looks like the updated to one of those newfangled ‘responsive’ sites. Maybe that’s the reason. ;-)
Dan KB6NU says
I’m sure there are several different reasons. My take is that they just weren’t aggressive enough with their marketing. Compare AES to DX Engineering, for example. DX Engineering has been much more aggressive with their advertising, including sponsorship of Ham Nation and Contest University.
David Rowell, NZ9G says
This is a grave problem – for hams in this case, and for other people in all the other cases, where ‘bricks and mortar’ traditional stores are closing down, and even internet sites are being squashed out by bigger internet sites and by off-shore vendors such as Alibaba and Bang Good and all the others, aided and abetted by eBay.
So, for example, for me in the Seattle area – an area with a large number of hams – where can I go to actually see and experience different radios before buying one? Nowhere within an hour or two of driving! It seems we are increasingly expected to buy a $5,000 – $15,000 radio sight unseen!
On the other hand, we only have ourselves to blame. The rise of ‘showrooming’ – going to look at gear in a retail store, but then buying it online to save a few bucks – is what is killing traditional retail.
In theory, there should be more and more ham radio type stores opening and prospering, because the number of licensed hams is steadily increasing every year, and presumably we’re still buying gear at a similar rate to before.
I’ve no idea what the answer is, but I do clearly see this as the underlying problem that is driving so many stores out of business.
augusto wp4ock says
Entiendo y recpeto la opinion de cada persona, la situacion economica no esta solida y por mas promocion que se de entiendo que puede ayudar pero entran en mas gastos entiendo que habia que tiral muchas ofertas para llamar la atencion de los clientes lamentamos el ciere