Bill Benson, seen here with the giant speakers that have been a Silverdale landmark for more nearly two decades, has sold Nuts About Hi Fi to two of his employees and will focus on his other business, Posh Speakers, as well as spending time with his new grandson.

Just a few months ago longtime business owner Bill Benson leased out the company’s Silverdale Way building — the one with the towering, functional speakers flanking the entrance — to American Marine Bank after the bank made him an offer too good to refuse. That left Benson, who got his start in the record business, and owned several record stores in Kitsap County before opening Nuts About Hi-Fi, with not much time to find a new location.

In the process of seeking a new space for the store — in January it appeared Benson had settled on the old Good Guys building in Silverdale — he decided that it might be a good time to make even more changes. And so, Benson, working with his long-time employees, Jim Lee and Bob Kraft, divided the two portions of Nuts About Hi-Fi into separate home audio and car audio components, and sold them to Lee and Kraft, respectively.

“It was just really good timing,” said Benson. “Jim wanted to do his own thing; I wanted to retire. So now he’s Nuts About Hi-Fi.”

“It’s all positive,” said Lee. “Bill and I are very good friends. It’s time for him to do a little bit less.”

The reconfigured Nuts About Hi-Fi custom home audio store will be relocating to the old Westsound Mortgage building, not too far away from the store’s current location. The 2,900 square foot store will feature an expanded video display area, media room and spacious conference room. “We’re going to really try to make it the best place in the world,” said Lee about the new space, noting that the majority of the current Nuts About Hi-Fi staff will remain on board.

Renovations for the new store location are going on now, and Lee expects a soft opening to take place on May 1.

Meanwhile Kraft is working to secure space in Silverdale’s Redwood Plaza for the car audio portion of the business.

“Bob should be opening up June 1 with the car audio side,” said Benson.

And while Benson talks about the sale of Nuts About Hi-Fi as if it was a retirement, it doesn’t sound like he’s planning on slowing down much at all. He will continue to own and operate 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, counts among its clients Nordstrom, Gap, Morton’s Steakhouse and Muzak, to name a few.

“I’ll probably spend a little bit more time on Posh,” said Benson, who is also a busy property manager and commercial real estate investor.

In addition Benson is looking forward to doing more traveling and also spending time with his four-month-old grandson. “I’m just having a blast with him,” he said.