Pandemic causes spike in TV, stereo sales

Flanner’s Home Entertainment in Grafton has been experiencing a noticeable increase in traffic now that people are staying at home during the coronavirus pandemic.

Dave Didier, the store’s project manager, said business was down initially in March but has recovered as customers remodel their living rooms, basements and entertainment centers.

“They realized their televisions and audio systems were not quite what they wanted them to be,” Didier said. “We definitely saw an uptick in business and it has stayed busy. When the holidays hit, it got crazy.”

Didier added business, could have grown exponentially if the Green Bay Packers were playing in the Super Bowl on Sunday.

“Unfortunately, the Packers didn’t do us a favor a couple weeks ago in the playoffs,” he said, noting he wasn’t expecting many Super Bowl get-togethers this year but the chance to watch the Packers win the Lombardi Trophy would have been enough incentive for many fans to buy a new TV.

The audio and video store is located inside Colder’s Furniture, Appliances and Mattresses at 2600 Washington St., which is owned by the same family company. Flanner’s has one other location in West Allis.

Prior to the pandemic, Flanner’s saw a spike in sales when the Best Buy store in the Grafton Commons closed in 2019, Didier said.

Didier has been in the home-entertainment industry for 43 years and has seen TV sets getting bigger and cheaper over the past decade due to market competition.

“It’s interesting because 10 years ago a large television set would be 50 inches. Now, the standard is 65 inches and the larger ones are 85 inches,” Didier said. “The funny thing is people are paying less for a 65-inch TV (with more features) than they would have paid for a 50-inch set back then.”

In addition to TV sales, Didier said, one of the other biggest sellers is stereo receivers, which were in short supply because many manufacturers were shut down, Didier said.

“Every body must have been buying them because there was a shortage throughout the area and nationwide,” he said. “On certain models and brands, it’s continuing that way.”

For example, Didier said, customers have been looking for the Sonos Sound Bar for months but a part for the speaker was not available due to a production shortage.

“It’s finally subsided and we have them in stock,” he said.

For hard to find items, Didier recommends customers be proactive and order several weeks in advance to avoid a backlog of orders.

Didier said his store has been following Covid-19 protocols, but for people who feel uncomfortable shopping, store representatives will offer at-home consultations.

“We really want to support our customers’ needs and we understand some of them don’t want to leave their house,” he said.