Showroom Splendor in West Hollywood

“An excellent showroom environment is like a very good piece of theater,” says Aaron Gutin, showroom manager for DSI Entertainment Systems. “You’re captivated from the moment it starts and it leaves you feeling energized, interested, and excited. Hopefully, you want to come back for more.”

This idea is a core concept behind how Gutin and DSI run the company’s showroom in West Hollywood, California, but there is much more going on as to what makes this location special.

Showrooms can be the calling card for luxury dealers looking to market themselves and what they can do for potential clientele. But unlike many showrooms that look to present home A/V products and control systems, DSI places less emphasis on product and pays more attention to luxury brand partnerships and an overall aesthetic.

“It’s designed to look like a luxury residence and it’s in the heart of the Los Angeles’ design district in West Hollywood,” explains Josh Christian, Marketing VP for DSI. “A lot of interior design showrooms are in this area. It’s a great place to have a showroom, and it wasn’t just us throwing a bunch of TVs and integration stuff in there. There are a lot of tie-ins to other luxury brands.”

The tie-ins Christian refers to are not in the electronics category but other high-end residential products, such as those from Snaidero, an exclusive Italian kitchen brand that makes very high-end cabinetry, appliances and countertops. Some of what the company has to offer can be found in the DSI showroom, which is located just blocks away from one of Snaidero’s own showrooms. “It’s nice because interior designers and architects come in and they instantly know exactly what their products are,” notes Christian.

Gutin, who is partly responsible for managing the relationships with these other brands, says it isn’t as simple as just having their products in the showroom. “It’s an ongoing relationship,” he says. “For example, Snaidero does not have the countertop finish [we have in our location] on their showroom floor.”

This means potential customers could be sent their way because of that exclusivity. “It doesn’t always result in a sale, but our aim is not necessarily to capture sales,” Gutin says. “It really is just an exposure. Perhaps they are not considering anything A/V this time around but next time they do, maybe they’ll remember that really cool space they saw and think ‘I should give those guys a call.’ It’s similar to networking at a party.”

And the relationships continue with the furniture, as well. DSI has been in business since 1994, but didn’t have its West Hollywood showroom until it acquired Ambrosia Audio/Video in 2005, renovating the location shortly thereafter. The landlord is Phyllis Morris, a luxury furniture dealer and interior design company, whose show room is attached to DSI’s. “We rent from them and there is a tie in with that company as well,” Christian says, “so when you come in, about 80 percent of the furniture you sit on is from Phyllis Morris.”

This relationship started with Ambrosia, but was furthered by DSI. Not only does each company share products in their respective showrooms, but a synergy was also developed that has led to some unique product introductions. Christian says Phyllis Morris has designed unique frames for DSI that go around flat panel televisions. In one case, they created a custom frame that matched the carved wood design of one of the pieces of furniture that was in the showroom.

DSI has also used its facility to function as a gallery of sorts for local artists. Two are currently using the location as a place to bring prospective buyers, which not only shows off the art in a home-like setting, but also brings them in front of the A/V lifestyle, as well. “It exposes more people to the showroom, which is a great tie-in,” Christian says. “It’s been great for Mike Chearney [one of the artists] because he has a presence now in the community and it’s great for us because it makes the showroom look good.”

The connection to the art community is further tapped through an annual West Hollywood Art Walk, an event where galleries open their doors and serve wine and hors d’oeuvres in the hopes of attracting art aficionados. Since there are many art galleries in the area, and DSI functions as a gallery itself, its showroom can be a part of the action. “There’s a map of all the galleries that are open,” Christian says. “It helps us expose high-end art clientele to experience a high-end A/V showroom.”

All of these tie-ins with other types of design professionals, art-lovers and DSI’s core customers are positive, but it took a shift in thinking to really get the showroom updated in the right way. Gutin says that they wanted it to reflect the lifestyles of their clients and potential customers that came in. “It’s less about the equipment than you would think,” he says. “We want the showroom to look like what the clients live in or would buy.”

That meant making changes such as getting rid of having too many visible rack systems and highlighting more in-wall speakers.

“We really went back through and looked at everything we were doing,” Gutin explains. “For example, we had an armoire with an LCD in it, but if you look at any furniture dealer you find out that armoire sales are relatively dead, at least in the bedroom. We had to bring [the showroom] up to speed and make it more modern.”

This process is ongoing. Gutin says that he tries to flip products and models as often as possible—at least every six months, especially for products like front projectors.

Even if the customer may not know whether a model is new or not, it helps keep the showroom from looking stale.

Showroom as classroom

To assume that DSI’s showroom is only for buyers would be wrong. In fact, clients have top billing with others.

“Our showroom is geared towards designers and architects, the end-user is sort of a byproduct of our environment,” says Gutin. “We wanted to have a space where we could teach continuing education units and expose our peers to what we do.”

By continually hosting “lunch-and-learns” and other education sessions, DSI has become a learning center for architects and interior designers that are looking to expand their horizons or earn credits that count towards their licensing by learning more about A/V integration.

The side benefits to this are obvious. By bringing all of these professionals into their showroom, it could mean referrals or partnerships in the future. Gutin does, however, warn that dealers who do this need to be careful. “It can’t be a commercial for DSI otherwise it can’t be a continuing education unit,” he notes. “But generally, it gives us the opportunity to get in front of architectural firms and interior design firms and bring new blood into the space."

Gutin says that word-of-mouth helps fill the classes. If one architect attends and likes the learning session, that often means they will see others from his or her firm next time around. The classes are basic. He says that their goal is not to teach these professionals to be acoustic specialists, for example, but to gain an understanding and appreciation for the topic, so that they are aware of it in their own projects.

CONTACT: dsientertainment.com