Originally Posted by MR2NR

After 22 years of car audio sales and installation, it is time to hang up this hat (at least for full time work). 14 years ago I worked for a employer in Kelowna BC who is not welcome here on this forum (thanks to his stellar choice of a manager). This employer is the one that basically told me that I needed to be out on my own. Thanks to the manager at that time for making it easy for me to go out on my own. That manager (also a complete a$$hole) made me sign a document that said I would not install car stereos. I abided to this document after I signed it, to the point that when the manager asked me to install a car stereo, I refused. I was sent home for the day and terminated the next. I could have brought a case of wrongful dismissal forward at that time and I really should have but I chose to focus my efforts on the next step for me.

The next step was to open my own store. I recruited a installer from the shop I was terminated from and moved to Vancouver Island. I opened my store and never looked back. It is now time for me to make the next move in life. My spouse Tracy and I have been given a opportunity that we cannot refuse. This opportunity has literally materialized for us and we did not expect it at all. We are in the final stages of purchasing a business in Alberta and making our move there shortly. I have now given my landlord notice that I am terminating my rental of his property that my small shop has called home for so long. It is going to be wierd not seeing the same people come in to see what is new or to BS with us. It is going to be very wierd not seeing big mountains up close and smelling sea air.

What this means for you. My last day open as a storefront will be June 26. I will continue to special order items as needed for you provided that they can be shipped no later than this date. I will make some exceptions for certain clientele. It means that I have inventory to clear out. Do expect some good deals on equipment on a first come first served basis. Do not solicit me with low ball quotes on items as I will not return your messages. I am a fair person to deal with and that is why my business has done so well for the last 14 years. I have too much inventory to put it all on the CCA site so please PM me with your requests. Unfortunately there will be no price protection offered on the items that you people have purchased in the last month. Again, time and quantities are limited on some items. For any customer who is awaiting products, all requests will be fulfilled whether my storefront is open or not. I currently have one person awaiting a Sirius radio tuner, a set of Morel grills and some custom spacers for them. Once the grills arrive from the US market, I can get these shipped out. If you have deposits on items, the items will be stored for you until they are paid in full. I am closing my storefront, not disappearing for life. I will be here to help you out in the future.

Warranty will be handled by the manufacturer or authorized Canadian distributor. If you need warranty help, I will be here in that capacity to direct you to the right person. Just because I am no longer in a storefront does not mean that I am not able to both help you nor service you if needed. To that end I will more than likely continue to do my online functions as a vendor until my advertising runs out. If the sales from online work is worthwhile I may continue to be a vendor here on the site.

To my customers both here over the years and online, thank you for investing in my small business. You have helped to support my family across some rather difficult times with the Canadian economy. We made it through all of the bad times thanks in part to the online sales from this very forum. To my suppliers that stood behind me, thank you as well. Not one bill has not been paid to any supplier. My inventory is 100% paid for save for any of my current invoices that will be cleaned up by the time my business closes. Car audio is changing in Canada and it was a pleasure to be a part of it and see these changes first hand.

So you guys all know, I have had the pleasure of training many people over the years. Some people are better off in another type of job environment, others have proven themselves in car audio sales or installation. I am proud of the people I trained that proved that they could indeed do car audio professionaly. Brendan (cereal killer here on CCA) though is a whole different person. I think it is him that I am going to miss the most. He provides countless hours of amusement while doing a highly capable job. While he drinks a ocean of coffee every day, has bad habits of getting involved talking instead of working and smoking while doing so, the work that he has done is amongst the best I have seen. He has proven himself to be a highly adept and capable installer who came to me thinking he knew how to install and being able to be trained my way on how to install. He has since polished himself up and developed his ways as a refinement to what I trained him to become. He is a far different person today as compared to the person whom I judged him to be the first time I saw him.

To my installer / friend Brendan, thank you, my business needed you as the cornerstone to make it work for the 4 years that you have been here. There is no way that it would have succeeded without you. Had better pay been part of the picture, I most certainly would have. You have worked excessive hours, in the rain, in the snow, done countless missions to save a customer, cleaned up messes, dealt with the crapper after Arne was in there and countless other tasks over the years. I think it is you that I am going to miss the most about the store. I wish you well in your decision to continue on with installation at the competition. I know that you will be an asset to them and put them on the map as the place to go for car stereo equipment on the Northern Vancouver Island area.

Comments are welcome. If you have any issues that you need dealt with, please send me a PM so that I can get you looked after. I will more than likely not be able to fully hang up the car audio hat. I am not giving up my business name. If you are interested in purchasing my business at a substantial discount, we need to talk and you need to act super quick. If you are considering opening a store anywhere in Canada and you cannot get product lines as all the competitors in that area have them, you need to purchase my business as you have also then gained access to those lines. This is a great opportunity for someone to pick up a working store cheap if they really want to do car audio. Interested, we need to talk.

Thank you again to everyone on the CCA site, Rick you have taken care of many issues for me. Thank you for allowing me to stay here even though we did not see things on the same page. Your moderators may have pissed me off some days but I understood that they had their job to do as well. They are a credit to your site. Some of the members I was able to help, some were able to help me. Again, thank you for the last 14 years in my small shop, it has been a great ride.