A&B Sound

Infobox_Company
company_name = A&B Sound
company_type = Consumer electronics retailer
company_slogan = "Canadian Owned, Canadian Operated"
foundation = 1959
location = Richmond, British Columbia
key_people = Fred Steiner
num_employees = over 100
industry = Retail
products = Electronics
revenue =
homepage = [http://www.absound.ca/ absound.ca]

A&B Sound is a Canadian home electronics retailer based in Richmond, British Columbia. The flagship store was once located in downtown Vancouver, but the chain has been struggling as of late, and as a result, led to many store closures, including the downtown Vancouver location. A&B Sound now has a total of four stores in western Canada.

History

A&B Sound was founded by Fred Steiner in 1959. The first store was located in downtown Vancouver, and in 1965 it moved to its current location at 556 Seymour Street. The store initially sold televisions, stereos and radio equipment, adding music sales later that same year.

Expansion throughout British Columbia

. A fourth location opened in 1984 on South West Marine Drive in Vancouver.

Fred Steiner retired in 1987, and his son Nick became president of A&B Sound. New stores subsequently opened in Surrey (1987), Burnaby's Metrotown area (1988), and Nanaimo (1990). Fred Steiner passed away in 1991, the same year that the East Hastings location moved into a larger property at the corner of Hastings Street and the Trans Canada Highway, across from Playland. The following year, an eighth store opened in Kelowna.

Expansion into Western Canada

In 1993, A&B Sound moved into the Alberta market, opening locations in Calgary and Edmonton in 1993, followed by south Edmonton (1994), a second Calgary location (1995), Lethbridge (1996), and Red Deer and a third Calgary outlet in 1997. Also in 1995, a store was opened in Abbotsford, British Columbia. Expansion continued throughout Western Canada, with new stores in Regina and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (1999) and Winnipeg, Manitoba (2000). In 2001, Nick Steiner stepped aside as President, retaining his role as Chairman, and long-time CEO Tim Howley became President and CEO.

Impact on Vancouver's record, tape and CD retail industry

For years, A&B Sound maintained a reputation in the Western Canadian music market for having the lowest prices and best selection on records, cassettes, and later CDs. Often, the chain would out-price other major retailers, including A&A Records and Tapes, as well as Toronto-based Sam the Record Man, which never managed to penetrate the Vancouver market with the same success as it did in eastern Canada. A downtown Vancouver location of Sam The Record Man was located next door to A&B Sound's Seymour Street location until late in 2000 when it was closed. In a 1993 article in "The Georgia Straight" newspaper it is noted that A&B Sound's aggressive pricing policies resulted in Vancouver having the lowest record prices of any Canadian metropolis. These low prices were not only responsible for other chains closing, but may have been one reason for some chains not opening stores in Vancouver, including Tower Records, which had scouted Vancouver as a possible location to expand into Canada. When HMV finally opened stores in the Vancouver area in 1993, HMV Canada's then-president Paul Alofs said that breaking into the Vancouver market wouldn't be easy. "A&B is certainly a very strong competitor, and we have a lot of respect for what they do." ["The Georgia Straight", an issue from March or April 1993.]

Bankruptcy and a new owner

In the 1990s and 2000s, A&B began to face increasing competition for music, DVD and electronics sales. Vancouver-based Future Shop added music to its product mix, using the same aggressive pricing structure it did with consumer electronics. An attempt by A&B to expand its offerings by adding books to its product mix ended in failure.Fact|date=June 2007 Besides HMV, other retail giants like Wal-Mart, Virgin Megastore and Best Buy entered the marketplace as well, the latter having purchased Future Shop in the early 2000s. In early 2005, with a debt of C$57 million, A&B Sound filed for protection under Canadian bankruptcy regulations. A sale to American company Sun Capital Partners Group Inc. was announced, but this sale was not approved by A&B's creditors. Instead, the company was purchased by Canadian computer manufacturer Seanix Technology Inc., based in Richmond and led by Paul Girard. He announced that they planned to close down or relocate some of the branches that were losing money and focus on the BC and Alberta markets. That year and the next, a number of employees were laid off, and several locations were closed, including both the Winnipeg stores in 2005, the Hastings Street in January 2006, and in August 2006 their Red Deer, Regina and Saskatoon locations. [ [http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/business/story.html?id=858f87eb-1c14-43fb-af45-c08ff3820603&k=39842 StarPhoenix story on Saskatchewan locations closing, accessed January 15, 2007.] ] The downtown Calgary store was also closed sometime in this period. Meanwhile, new locations were opened in North Vancouver and Pitt Meadows, while the Kelowna and south Calgary and Surrey stores were relocated. In March 2007, the downtown Edmonton location closed, with plans to re-open another Edmonton location in the works. The Burnaby location was also closed around this time. On December 15, 2007 a new location opened in Langford (near Victoria). On January 4, 2008 the Delta store, which had re-located from Surrey, was closed. Early 2008 A&B was planning to open a new store in Chilliwack, located not far from the local Future Shop. As of July 2008, all signs for this location have been removed, and plans for the Chilliwack location have been scrapped.

Audiotronic & Store Closures

On April 3, 2008, it was announced the historical Victoria Location would close its doors permanently. On April 8th, 2008, it was announced that A&B sound would be joining the Audiotronic Chain, but nothing further has been announced, and nothing has seemed to come of this parnership.

On July 23, 2008, management made the decision to close the Nanaimo location. Several days later, on July 29, 2008, the decision was made to abruptly close the once-profitable Calgary North location as well, leaving A&B with no remaining presence in Calgary after the south location was dismantled after only a year in its new location. Employees and management at both branches were greeted to a locked front door and a message stating that the location had been shut down, with no prior notice.

On August 12, 2008, A&B Sound officially announced the closing of the two remaining Vancouver stores, Seymour and Marine Drive.

August 29, 2008 - Langford store, in Greater Victoria, is now closed.

A&B Sound now operates four stores chain-wide (North Vancouver, Pitt Meadows, Abbotsford, Edmonton - South), down from 22 locations in its prime.

Retail Analysts now say that A&B Sound does not have long left. Retail Analyst David Ian Gray has been quoted as saying "I think they're done. They had to close stores, for sure, but they're getting to a point where their brand is lost, and I just don't see them being able to restart it." [http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=91c84df1-8fa1-46e1-b044-0de9f22867a0]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.absound.ca/ A&B Sound.ca]