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Bummer for SF Bay Area Soundies: Leo's RIP


Philip Perkins

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It is more and more difficult every year to be profitable in a brick and mortar store in California. So many local customers will use your location as a showroom and then purchase the item online instead to avoid the state tax. Full service dealers offer so much more than the lowest price but, to some, that is the end-all. I just had a 20+ year customer, who we wait on hand and foot whenever he walks thru our door, buy his 788t from B&H for the tax savings. He saved around $250.00. This is the same customer who we regularly no-charge loan recorders and wireless mics to when his equipment is down, move his lav repairs to the front of the service line and, help him carry his gear out to his car when he is all done. None of these services are available from B&H by the way. The free rentals, waived rush charges and personal service he receives from us more than exceeds the tax savings he got from buying his recorder from out of state, but the focus on the short-term savings trumped loyalty to his long-time dealer. Losing sales like this is a major blow for small companies like us. It is the kind of thing that puts a company like Leo's out of business. Is the full-service model dead? Only you can decide that. If you want your local dealer to be around when you need them,then you need to look long-term and support them.

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Buying B+H for a savings of only $250 by a CA mixer is stupid. Sooner or later you need help, expert, fast and nearby. I bought what I could from Leo's (mostly non-movei sound stuff), even when they had to order it (usually). They paid taxes that pay for the cops and firemen in my area. I don't like it when people shooting here bring in mixers from other cities, it's the same thing really. Nobody who buys that way should be complaining about runaway production.

phil p

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I had some fairly negative experiences at Leo's, going back to when I was a kid musician (they carried musical instruments, then didn't for a long time, then did again). But I'd still shopped there; largely for reasons Phil spells out, including taxes. Sad to see them go.

I know there's a use-tax exemption for "teleproduction and post production equipment," but there's a sales-tax exemption for that stuff too. I don't think local taxes are excluded... But geez, why buy from a non-local dealer if you have a good local dealer (and when you don't, I understand buying from a good out-of-state dealer...as I do when justified)?

An aside: A documentary producer I know talked about all the money he saved buying all of his equipment from B&H. He also didn't have a business license, etc (he's hardly alone amongst in those traits). So later he asks me to work on a documentary that would expose the hypocrisy of a big corporation that was screwing over its local community; I told him I didn't want to work with him on that, and I told him his hypocrisy was a main reason why. Pissed him off, but it was the right thing to do.

Not that my hands are totally clean... I just know how they got dirty and do my best to wash them.

Drag, Steve.

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I've been dealing with Location Sound for a very long time. They have always supported me in my endeavors. Working on location, I have the confidence that if I were to call with an immediate need, they would hustle to get whatever I needed to me by overnight express. On the few occasions when I have needed something expensive in a hurry, no one ever asked about the status of my account or whether I could afford to pay. Recognizing an urgent need, they would ship first and discuss the particulars later. They're not fools, of course, and wouldn't necessarily offer that level of service to a new or unknown client. But, if you had a relationship with them, they would always act more as your partner than as your vendor.

They have also, over the years, acted to support the larger community of sound people. Before RAMPS get-togethers, there were summer BBQs at Dick Topham's house and pizza lunch on Fridays. Some of that has disappeared as the business became larger but they continue to sponsor tech seminars and the like. And, I can also count on them anytime I need the use of equipment or personnel for an article for the 695 Quarterly.

I've done most of my business with LSC but I've had similar support on those occasions when I've dealt with Coffey Sound/Trew Audio.

Shame on the fool who took his business to another state just to cheat the state where he lives of the sales tax. (And, it is a cheat, by the way. The tax is actually owed even on the purchase from B&H; it's just not collected by the vendor.)

David

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This is my first time hearing about it! I loved going in there to buy Neutrik connectors or mics and dealing with Mark's snarky remarks at the accessory desk! Best part of my day... Leo's was never really a location sales house, nor did they try to be, but if you needed something they'd bend over backwards to get it to you. Fast. 20 years I've been shopping there...

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