barneymiller
In 1922, Lexington, Ky., was a small city and county of 55,000 residents, and downtown was its center of activity.
To meet the demands of new car owners, an enterprising young man named Barney opened Miller’s Auto Accessories on Main Street. Having dabbled in electronics in the Army Signal Corps during World War I, it wasn’t a surprise when Miller began offering newfangled box radios for sale to a fascinated public.
Nine decades later, another Barney Miller, the founder’s grandson, offers some of the most sophisticated home technology, entertainment, audio and automation systems in the industry in his store, a few doors down from its original location.
But sorry — no radios (as such) are for sale.
“That’s been a key to our success over the years. We’ve tried to stay on top of what’s next,” explained Miller. “We have people who understand and can explain technology. We design solutions for our clients. We install, program and service them.”
Barney Miller’s recently celebrated 90 years in business — all of it downtown, with no suburban-mall or strip-mall locations or big-box store branches.
“There have been electronics stores in malls, but rent is too expensive for what the profit margins are on electronics,” Miller said. “More companies than I can name have come and gone because overhead was too high.”
There is a lot to be said for being your own landlord.
Miller said he feels he is following the example set by his father, Harry, and grandfather, Barney, by staying current, whether that meant radios, TVs or VCRs. Today, there are more complex entertainment, security and home-convenience systems present in the store than the original Barney could ever have dreamed of.
“We’ve evolved over the years,” Miller said. “We are more heavily into the ‘custom’ world than in retail. Many shops that went by the wayside were of the retail variety and relied on foot traffic, where customers selected items and left. I’d say 95 percent of what we sell is delivered and installed. That’s helped us survive in a downtown environment. Having a parking lot in the back helped too.”
Donny Allan, a Barney Miller’s sales consultant the past 10 years, tries to help clients understand and get comfortable with electronics so they are easier to use and enjoy. Allan estimates that 60 percent of the store’s sales and installation are residential; the remainder are commercial. He described one huge residential job that involved nearly every aspect of a very impressive Lexington home.
“It integrated high-definition video and audio distribution, indoor/outdoor lighting control, HVAC management, irrigation control, security interface and window-shade and blinds control [to protect furniture and carpets from UV sunlight]. It’s all in one device,” Allan said. “The client could use an iPad or a cell phone and manage them. They can tell the house goodnight, and all of the systems would shut down.”
You could call it whole-house control.
“That’s a big business for us now: being able to make your life at home more convenient by reducing energy, saving time and having security measures all around you,” Miller explained.
Allan said commercial customers, for example, don’t want to go into a board room or a training room and run into problems and have to rush off to get the IT person to save the day.
“We want them to be able to impress clients,” Allan said.
Many people don’t realize Barney Miller’s sells and installs all of these complex set-ups that work together in multiple rooms or on multiple floors.
“Yes, we’re a mom-and-pop store that’s been around 90 years, but we’ve grown and tried to become as educated as we can on the new products out there,” Allan said.
Miller said there used to be an industry term, “plug and play,” that described many available systems. Today, he said, there are few electronic systems that are that simple. It takes special knowledge that most customers don’t have. People — the employees, in particular — make Barney Miller’s tick, Miller said.
“I have the most qualified staff we’ve ever had in the history of the company,” he said.
And those employees are kept busy in the store’s interactive showrooms, a strong company selling point. The 10 showrooms are set up to display all of the latest gadgetry, as if they were already installed in your home or office.
Barney Miller’s has twice passed from father to son and is in its third generation of ownership. So is there a Miller-in-waiting to take over for Barney once he decides to retire, which is not expected to be any time soon?
“I have a daughter, Morgan Miller, but she seems to want to become a horse veterinarian. She’s going to the University of Kentucky. I’m not going to pressure her to go one way or the other,” Miller said.
Miller considers himself lucky to have been named after his grandfather. That shows continuity. “I think it has been real advantageous, because people can understand the history of our business,” he said. “It’s a great story to tell. We are a family-owned business.”