Kicker to enter Walmart in September

[Smurfboy]

Wow, I did not see this coming. However, unlike 95% of people here, I'm happy and hope people buy more Kicker production. I'm a huge fan of Kicker, myself. Also why are you guys hating on Kicker Company, anyway? Have you seen Steve Mick's setup (8 18" Solo X tuned 28hz @ 156+dB)? He literally ripped the van's door away (look up at Youtube). Also what about Neil Barbar (24 10"L7s blastin' at 157+dB)?

Seriously, though. No need to bitterly-hate on Kicker. If you know what you're doing with the right power and the right box design, then it'd pound really good (especially with the L7 and Solo X series).

[dog24fret]

apparently bestbuy wasn't enough

i have a feeling there will be price wars between bb walmart

bestbuy is going way the hell out of business.

wouldnt be surprised if they closed within the next 5 years.

walmart will stay in business because of their low prices that bestbuy cant compete with.

the only 2 things keeping bestbuy in business is: their geek squad and their online store

Guitar and other musical equipment BB stores.

[Smurfboy]

Kicker also said that it plans to “accelerate” new product development. It will make a significant investment in research and development, and it plans to debut a new line of woofers, amps and speakers for specialists at the SEMA show this fall.

New line? I've noticed that Kicker dropped L5 and Solo Classic lines this year. Maybe a new line between L3 and L7? Maybe more powerful than Solo X? (Yeah right, lol.) And as for SEMA, when is the date for that? I'd like to keep an eye on that.

[snafu]

OK, why is this so bad? I've been in car stereo since just about the time Kicker started its business. The reality is that the market has changed a LOT since then. Then, Kicker made a premier product, had limited distribution, and their retailers could charge a premium price. Everybody made money and nobody complained. Today, it simply doesn't matter how good a car audio product is, consumers want it to be readily available to them online and to pay as little for it as they can. Many are offended when this is not possible. All major car audio brands have had to make incredibly tough market decisions over the last five years to make this possible for the consumer.

Kicker is first and foremost a business - a business that employes hundreds of people in Stillwater, OK (and they are likely one of Stillwater's bigger employers). Just the fact that they employ so many, means that they contribute millions of dollars to that economy. The owner of the company is loyal to a fault to his employees. Rest assured that when Kicker made this decision, they were thinking first and foremost of their employees and their families and that should absolutely count for something.

You are free to your opinion of their products. Yet, you should consider just how big of a reseller Wal-Mart is and how much car audio is actually sold there. They have over 4,400 retail outlets in the US alone. In 2011, Wal-Mart did $444 Billion in Sales and was ranked first on the Fortune 500 list of the worlds largest companies. When they call, you take their call.

Judge Kicker by what they do after the partnership is established. Best case scenario, Kicker can take a portion of the profit dollars from such a relationship and sink it into R&D to bring exciting new products to the marketplace.

[snafu]

On another note, isn't it time that we all stopped poking fun at the uneducated consumer in our market place? If we laugh at him loud enough, he'll feel unwelcomed and find something else to spend his money on besides car audio. On the other hand, if we take a moment to educate him, show him what a REAL system sounds like, educate him about the brands we all love, etc. we have a chance of making him an enthusiast JUST LIKE WE ARE! By taking an audio "nerd" under your wings, you have the unique opportunity of showing him the way.

Guess what? I was that audio nerd in 1983, not knowing a good brand from a bad one. And the owner of the local shop took me under his wings and showed me the way.

You think you're the baddest in your town? Then I challenge you to take the guy with the Wal-Mart system in his car and show him something. Help him to get his electrical in order. Set the gains on his crappy amps with your DD-1. Help him get his enclosure optimized for his subs.

Make HIM one of US!

[dog24fret]

On another note, isn't it time that we all stopped poking fun at the uneducated consumer in our market place? If we laugh at him loud enough, he'll feel unwelcomed and find something else to spend his money on besides car audio. On the other hand, if we take a moment to educate him, show him what a REAL system sounds like, educate him about the brands we all love, etc. we have a chance of making him and enthusiast JUST LIKE WE ARE! By taking an audio "nerd" under your wings, you have the unique opportunity of showing him the way.

Guess what? I was that audio nerd in 1983, not knowing a good brand from a bad one. And the owner of the local shop took me under his wings and showed me the way.

You think you're the baddest in your town? Then I challenge you to take the guy with the Wal-Mart system in his car and show him something. Help him to get his electrical in order. Set the gains on his crappy amps with your DD-1. Help him get his enclosure optimized for his subs.

Make HIM one of US!

In 83 lol,Finally I don't feel so bad.No offense sir. Nicely said hater or lover of a brand we all,well the old ones lol,have had hated brands at one point. That and the availability of products with people who will help get car audio where it's at now. Way better than it was in the 80's IMO.

[littlebuck1919]

i agree with Snafu...they may use the extra funds for better subs, maybe upgrade the L7's and solo x's or maybe a whole new line, who knows, we'll see where it takes them. and why hate on a brand? im sure we've all owned something people hate now...who cares?? if ur happy with it, and arent making false claims about it, who cares? if u need to learn more, then good people will try to help u out any way they can, whether ur running Sony or Ascendant Audio or anything else u can name for a brand.

[412 CVX]

I will say that on a business level, it was somewhat of a smart decision. They will probably sell quite a bit more product, but i think a lot of their current fanbase will be lost. Distributing at Wal-Mart devalues the product considerably

[Smurfboy]

On another note, isn't it time that we all stopped poking fun at the uneducated consumer in our market place? If we laugh at him loud enough, he'll feel unwelcomed and find something else to spend his money on besides car audio. On the other hand, if we take a moment to educate him, show him what a REAL system sounds like, educate him about the brands we all love, etc. we have a chance of making him an enthusiast JUST LIKE WE ARE! By taking an audio "nerd" under your wings, you have the unique opportunity of showing him the way.

Guess what? I was that audio nerd in 1983, not knowing a good brand from a bad one. And the owner of the local shop took me under his wings and showed me the way.

You think you're the baddest in your town? Then I challenge you to take the guy with the Wal-Mart system in his car and show him something. Help him to get his electrical in order. Set the gains on his crappy amps with your DD-1. Help him get his enclosure optimized for his subs.

Make HIM one of US!

Amen, brother! I wouldn't be surprise if a newbie, who doesn't know a thing about stereo system, probably will be the loudest system on earth within next few years!

[Hotdog]

Kicker better hope Walmart dont run them out of business.

Get in bed with the devil and your going to get the horns. Walmart is known for placing huge orders then backing out.