Julie Mullins

Re-Tales

Re-Tales #70: Is This Heaven? No, It's a Record Store in a Shopping Mall.

Julie Mullins Sep 11, 2026

Believe it or not, there are still active shopping malls in the US—and at least one, Garden State Plaza in New Jersey, leases to a modern record store, The Sharp Notes. The notion is so retro it's almost quaint.

Re-Tales

Re-Tales #69: High-End Audio Hotspots

Julie Mullins Aug 18, 2026

Audio Advice, the North Carolina–based hi-fi company, has been busy—and bullish. Recent acquisitions have brought its empire to seven stores. For years, Audio Advice has also hosted a hi-fi and home-theater show.

Re-Tales

Re-Tales #68: A Wine Event Holds Lessons for the Hi-Fi Industry

Julie Mullins Jul 30, 2026

In these Amazon days, retail customers need a good reason to enter any brick-and-mortar store. When you can buy anything and everything you want online, you need a reason to get up off the sofa. Especially when spending discretionary money, people want not only good products but good experiences.

Re-Tales

Re-Tales #67: Bart Stephens Creates a New Music Ecosystem

Julie Mullins Jun 23, 2026

Hi-fi listening bars have expanded far beyond Tokyo, which was their Ground Zero. They can be found in cities from Miami to London, from Brooklyn to Berlin. Recently, in Birmingham, Alabama, Bart Stephens opened High Dive, a listening lounge and restaurant that does things a little differently.

Re-Tales

Re-Tales #66: Introducing Florida's Sound Attic

Julie Mullins Jun 01, 2026

In some ways, the Sound Attic, a new dealership in Tampa, Florida, seems like a traditional brick-and-mortar hi-fi store. It does what such stores do: It sells a selection of hi-fi gear across a range of prices. But there's more to the story, according to Sound Attic founder/owner Charles Weiner, who Stereophile interviewed by phone and email.

Re-Tales

Re-Tales #65: Albany, New York dealer Hippo's Gets Hip

Julie Mullins May 04, 2026

With the hi-fi business, arguably, at a critical juncture, keeping it fun is more important than ever. Hi-fi salespeople play a key role in that—they're the boots on the ground. If anyone is going to foster interest and imbue the hobby with fun, it's salespeople.

Re-Tales

Re-Tales #64: L.A.'s Common Wave Hi-Fi Attracts a Younger Audience

Julie Mullins Mar 25, 2026

Hi-fi dealerships need to find creative new ways to get customers into their stores—to stoke their interest and to help new people feel welcome. Special events are the obvious way to get them through the door and keep them coming back.

Re-Tales

Re-Tales #63: Audio Concepts, Kind of a "Pinch Me" Situation

Julie Mullins Feb 17, 2026

In these days of industry transformation, acquiring a brick-and-mortar hi-fi store is not for the faint of heart. That's just what 41-year-old Brandon Bartee did in August 2025. Bartee acquired Audio Concepts from Mark Ashworth, who was celebrating the store's 40th anniversary, all 40 years under his ownership.

Re-Tales

Re-Tales #62: Sticking With It, 36 Years of Accent on Music

Julie Mullins Jan 20, 2026

David and Alma Wilson must be doing something right. They've been married for 50 years, and for 36 years, they've owned and operated Accent on Music on Main Street in Mount Kisco, New York, about an hour north of New York City.

Re-Tales

Re-Tales #61: A Tale of Two Walters

Julie Mullins Dec 22, 2025

A common theme in this space in Stereophile is the need to reach new audiences and generate broader interest in the hi-fi hobby. At a time when traditional hi-fi buyers are becoming scarcer—as older generations pass on—the need becomes more critical to the industry's survival. Recently, two industry stalwarts—who both happen to be named Walter—have come together to form "an audio distribution and marketing superpower."