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Those of you who used the enormous speakers outside Silverdale’s Nuts About Hi-Fi as a landmark will have to find something else to use as a navigational aid. The high-end stereo and home theater system business, which has resided in its Silverdale Way location for the 20 years it’s been open, is moving.
“The big speakers are going to be coming down April 1,” said Nuts About Hi-Fi owner Bill Benson.
It’s a move that no one, least of all Benson, expected to happen. “This kind of popped up on us,” said Benson.
But when American Marine Bank approached Benson — who also owns the building — with an offer too good to refuse, he didn’t balk at the chance to lease the space to them. The bank plans to do a complete interior remodel, add a drive-through window and even have a gourmet coffee shop out front.
“It’s going to be gorgeous,” said Benson.
The leasing schedule doesn’t give Nuts About Hi-Fi much time to relocate, however, and Benson admitted it was a challenge to find a suitable location.
“It’s not easy to find install bays,” for car audio installation, said Benson.
But in the end, Benson decided to lease the old Good Guys location, next to Best Buy. The new location will effectively double the company’s space, allowing Benson to expand his home theater displays, and increasing the number of car audio install bays from two to three.
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Nuts About Hi Fi owner Bill Benson and the huge, fully functional, stereo speakers which have become local landmarks in Silverdale. He hopes to be able to move them to the firm’s new location in the former Good Guys building on Ridgetop Blvd., but county rules may prevent it. |
As with any unexpected upheaval, this change has given Benson the opportunity to take a look at his current business and reflect on where he might like it to go.
“Our custom and home theater business has been really great for us,” said Benson. “We’re really going to focus on high-end, custom and home products. That’s always been our expertise. But now we’ll have the facility to do it.”
Benson got his start in the record business, and owned several record stores in Kitsap County. From there he opened Nuts About Hi-Fi, which specialized in home and car audio and over the years has also developed significant expertise in custom home theater design and installation. Today, said Benson, “we can do virtually everything,” including electrical wiring, phones and cable. The company even has its own electrical administrator, who oversees all the required permits for Nuts About Hi-Fi’s home installation jobs.
Benson is also the owner of Posh Speaker Systems, located on Bainbridge Island, which manufactures high-end, in-wall and in-ceiling speakers for both residential and commercial applications. Posh, which Benson bought in 2003, is also growing — it counts among its clients Nordstrom, Gap, Morton’s Steakhouse and Muzak, to name a few. One regret that Benson has about the rapid pace of this move is that he didn’t have more time to investigate properties that could accommodate both businesses.
“Posh will have to move eventually,” said Benson, “We have 10,000 square feet now; we’d like to have 20.”
But although Benson does envision Posh Speaker Systems and Nuts About Hi-Fi eventually sharing a single space, he acknowledges that it may be difficult to ever find the right space to combine them effectively.
“They are really three different types of business, manufacturing, retail, and car audio installation,” said Benson. “It’s not easy to keep them all together.”
The other regret that Benson has about relocating is the uncertain fate of the giant, functional speakers that dominate the exterior of the company’s existing location. The speakers — which, according to Benson, are just a few pieces of paperwork away from being listed in the Guinness Book of World Records — are constructed from steel, so they can’t be moved in one piece. Benson is unsure if he’d be allowed to re-build them at a different location.
“I’m not sure the county would let it happen again,” he said. “I had a hard time the first time around.”
But despite a few lingering regrets and a wish for more time, Benson is looking forward to the move.
“The major thing is that we’re moving up, we’re not moving sideways,” Benson said. “I think it’s a good move for us.”. |
