Kicker to enter Walmart in September

[dog24fret]

There is a rumor thats been going around.. After walmart sold out and became a corporations the business practices became alittle in moral, Once they have a vendor in the stores they threaten to drop them if they dont lower the prices they sell to them. just a rumor though.. but being an employee for 12 years and going through the sale of the company.. and seeing where its going I wouldn't doubt it...

hmm with my 10% discount maybe do a small kicker build lol

I know when my friend Sam died his company went down the drain as far the treatment of its associates. Lot changed in 24 yrs. Yes they do threaten vender's like that sad but so many big companies do that we just don't hear it. I didn't think of my discount Smd's at wal mart so i can use my discount(not) lol.

[CstrokerV]

2000 to 2004 05 it was great working there after that shit started going bad... anyways they bought vudu for 100mill wtf lol pay to do something you can do for free lol yay

[IBleedMusick]

The only thing I honestly see wrong with Kicker going to WalMart is what it will do to local dealers. A lot of shops carry their gear and we all know they wouldn't be able to compete with WalMart's pricing. A lot companies threaten to drop vendors if they can't get more competitive pricing to beat the competition, which is why most local shops won't be able to offer the entry level Kicker gear for the same price as WalMart would. Kicker is a solid entry level product gets the job done and is still a pretty decent product, when you have a guy that doesn't know anything about Car Audio I would rather he tell me I have some CVR's and a Kicker amp than I went and bought Legacy, Power Acoustik or Boss. It's a very popular product around me and everyone runs the L7's or CVX's and yeah you get those guys who think Kicker is the end all be all but what brand doesn't have nuthuggers. At the end of the day Cableguy and Snafu said it best they have been around forever and they honestly do keep this industry relevant hate on em all you want but if it wasn't for the mainstream brands like Kicker, RF or JL a lot of us would be paying a higher mark up in a much smaller industry.

All in all I just really see the local guys taking a huge hit when it comes to be able to sell Kicker at a nice mark up now. After September the only Kicker they would honestly be able to rely on selling at a mark up would be the CVX's or L7's and the ZX amps.

[Colin - STAPUFT]

^ good point.

And VERY Well said CableGuy. I will be clear again- I have NO issue with Kicker as a company. And seriously- if they put out some low end decent inexpensive 12"s, I WOULD get a mess of them for fun.

Kicker has been around forever- a Legacy Brand as CableGuy so well said. I admit- what has happened to Cerwin-Vega and many other brands hurts the audio part of my soul. Everyone seems to look back on "the good old days" of Car Audio with nostalgia and think how much better it was then... but nothing can stay the same forever. They must adapt or die. Now I find myself in the very strange situation of owning very old Cerwin-Vega subwoofers where people either remember them and say "WOW- where did you get 12 of those?", have no clue what they are at all, or think they are total crap because Cerwin-Vega "sold out". Eh... You never know- the same could happen to Kicker... or they could become the McDonalds of Car Audio and dessimate everyone else. Who knows?

Like I said, the last thing anyone wants to see is another car audio brand do poorly or fail- especially one with as much history as Kicker.

[eltortuga94]

Just read the letter....Only Comp subs, DS & DX speakers & DS & DX amps. So their entry level stuff. Not their whole lineup or half of their lineup for that matter.

I don't think many shops have much to worry about.

[05 obs]

I think it will hurt because uninformed people will say ohh well you want 250 for that 12 but wal-mart has a kicker 12 for 100 im going there. I do not fault them for going into wal-mart but it will hurt the dealers.

[IBleedMusick]

Just read the letter....Only Comp subs, DS & DX speakers & DS & DX amps. So their entry level stuff. Not their whole lineup or half of their lineup for that matter.

I don't think many shops have much to worry about.

It will considering the comps and entry level amps get sold in shops at a nice premium I know the shop my dad works at you can get a comp 12 for $150 whereas online its only $100 walmart will probably sell for 75-85 so it will hurt the dealers somehow some way.

[weshole]

As a former employee of a retailer that used to sell Kicker, I can say that the Kicker retailers WILL take a hit. The base model product is primarily what is sold vs. the premium products. Like a ratio of 10:1 in most cases. Most consumers are quite young and dont spend a lot on their systems like they used to and with Walmart in the picture, they wont be able to be price competitive and retain even close to the same margin which itself has already taken a huge hit in the last 10 years. I foresee a lot of the mom n pop retailers switching brands when this takes place.

It is unfortunate for the dedicated dealer base they have/had. I think it will be a big mistake for Stillwater Designs.

Oh and wait til the WARRANTY claims start running through.

[Baydestrian]

It also depends on location though if retailers take a hit, out here in the Bay Area there only 12 Walmarts, majority being in the East Bay/South Bay. In the Peninsula we have only 1 in the lower side closer to the South Bay but tons of Kicker dealers.

[fueledbysound]

Looks like kicker is on to do the big audio brand thing: disappointing subs and overpriced amps that just do rated.

It cracks me up when I constantly see comments about Kicker being overpriced. I compared the price of a Kicker IX1000.1 sold from car audio company on Ebay to the price in the dealer sheet and the Ebay price is $6 more than dealer cost. And that is not just one unit, almost all Kicker's products are on Ebay within $1-$10 of dealer cost. You don't get much cheaper than that! I realize that the large dealers pay less than dealer sheet but they have to make some profit. I'm sure someone will respond and say that Kicker has too much margin and should sell for less. Well that is what the market has been saying with buying habits and guess what Kicker product has gotten cheaper and cheaper because that is what sells.