RWR real world retail
» From Left: Outside Salesman Don Olson, Owner Ryan Autry, Expeditor Installer Russell Jones and Installation Manager James Coil.
Innovative Solutions
A tightly-knit staff, unique sales tactics and outside-the-box thinking help this Top 12 retailer live up to its name.
WORDS BY TED GOSLIN PHOTOS COURTESY OF AI OF FRESNO
42 Mobile Electronics June 2014 R
yan Autry always followed the rules. While working as store manager of Superior Sound, Autry listened to his boss and
implemented all requests, even those he disagreed with. When his boss wasn’t around to make a decision, he went with his gut and found that his decisions worked, maybe better than those from his boss. That’s when everything changed. Autry, owner of 2013 Top 12 Retailer
of the Year, Audio Innovations of Fresno, discovered that by staying true to his own ideals while incorporating the good ideas of others in the industry, he could achieve any goal he set for himself and his team.
“I always tell people, it’s not our way,
it’s the right way,” he said. “I didn’t make up the right way, I just follow it. I follow it by following the examples of the other best shops in the United States. I take what I see from other store owners and tweak it.” Autry began as a manager at Superior Sound in 1999 when asked by the owner, a friend of his, if he wanted to do something he loved while taking a huge pay cut. He said yes and began cultivating the skills that would lead him to purchase the store in 2007 and implement the “right way” of management that would lead to a shock- ing discovery.
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