St. John Group Shows New Products, Discusses New Dealer Challenges

The worlds of high-end electronics and luxury selling have more or less remained unaffected by the economic turmoil ravaging so many businesses.

Still, even those guys are tested by a changing landscape, according to John Caldwell, co-founder of St. John Group, distributor of Artcoustic, Cabasse, Cineversum, iSky and Screen Excellence.

The latest challenge that St. John Group is hearing from its high-end dealers has to do with time savings, according to Caldwell.

“That is, how can they shave time of their installations?” he explained.

The need to focus on efficiency isn’t a reflection of the economy, Caldwell said. He maintained that his dealers, which generally serve affluent clients, haven’t seen much impact from the struggling U.S. economy.

Caldwell’s take is that the need for time savings stems from something rather obvious: customers are having a lot more technology installed in their homes these days and it takes more manpower to do installations.

Time is money and integrators are seeking ways to speed up installation time. The goal is to move from installation to installation, paycheck to paycheck, as quickly as they did in simpler, perhaps more profitable times.

Indeed, there are a lot of components being installed in today’s home systems.

That’s evident from St. John Group’s spread of products during its recent visit to the CE Pro offices.

Caldwell discussed the latest product innovations from Artcoustic, Cabasse, Cineversum, iSky and Screen Excellence.

“St John is basically the stocker in the U.S. for all this stuff,” Caldwell said. “It’s one to two days away from all our dealers.” Again, it’s a time thing.

Caldwell held up a speaker from Artcoustic’s Diablo line, Diablo Target ($700/each MSRP) and said it’s reflective of a demand from St. John’s dealers.

“This can be installed on-wall, on-ceiling or outdoor.” He went on to describe installers’ need to hang speakers quickly and showed that, with one screw, this speaker can be hung in a unique and speedy way. “Time is of the essence,” he added.

Dealers should take the time, however, to photograph their handiwork, according to Caldwell. Artcoustic’s 2007 brochure has 72 pages of full-color installation shots, all taken by St. John Group integrators, he said.

In the luxury selling market, it’s important that dealers present their expertise in the proper light, Caldwell explained. He added that St John Group offers its dealers training on how to take good photographs, edit them and market their services properly.

He said it’s time well spent.