For all its growth, the custom-install business is fraught with challenges for independent installers.
Independents have been hammered by competition from sometimes-undercapitalized start-ups, from lighting and security installers who have encroached onto custom-A/V territory, and large A/V and CE chains that have begun to encroach on their territory. If that wasn’t enough, new technologies, including Internet-protocol based music and video distribution, could force a departure from comfortable tried-and-true methods of installation.
TWICE assembled a panel of key industry players to discuss independent installers’ current status in the market and how installers must evolve to retain their footing. Questions were e-mailed to the respondents, who offered these replies:
