Binghamton,
N.Y. – As part of a previously announced
to pursue distribution through luxury retailers outside typical CE distribution
channels,
has
signed up men’s fashion designer John Varvatos to offer select McIntosh
audio products in his boutiques in New York, Los Angeles and San
Francisco.
The distribution change is part
of a campaign by the high-end audio company to
expand its customer base beyond audiophiles to include affluent consumers who
are serious about music.
The Varvatos boutiques are
selling the company’s tabletop MXA60 audio system, and the New York City store
and West Hollywood store have also begun offering the Soho II home audio
system, which consists of the MT10 turntable, a high-performance amplifier, and
speakers. Both of those stores also sell vinyl records.
McIntosh said it saw a good fit
with Varvatos because “rock and roll music has always been an essential part of
the John Varvatos DNA,” matching up with McIntosh’s “own long and storied
history in the rock music world,” the company said.
McIntosh president Charlie
Randall noted that Varvatos is an audio enthusiast and McIntosh collector and that
the Varvatos brand’s “mystique is heavily steeped in his personal appreciation
for the authentic roots of great music – something that has always defined our
McIntosh commitment as well.”
The addition of the Varvatos
stores meets McIntosh’s commitment “to making sure [McIntosh products] are
offered in retail environments that meet our standards for refinement, care and
excellence and offer an upscale shopping experience that befits true
masterpiece products,” Randall said.
