I RECENTLY DEVOTED a whole Knightline to good news stories. No sooner had the magazine been delivered than I was receiving calls from dealers who said it was so good to read some positive news, so I am continuing with that theme.

I was in Blackpool last week and took a trip to Fleetwood on one of the town’s new ultra-modern trams. They are quite luxurious compared with the old ones that kids of all ages, including me, liked because they shaked, rattled and rolled.

The tram took me straight to the door of Mike Sanderson’s large emporium. I was immediately surprised to see a young mum and dad taking a photograph of their toddler son, who was pointing to a TV in the window. When I got closer, I could see the cause of the young lad’s excitement, as the display looked more like a zoo than a TV shop.

Long ago Mike and I served on the Retra council and he always had a great sense of humour. The Zoo TVs are made by Hannspree and the 19in screens are built into four-foot-high soft toys in the shape of either a crab, a camel or a zebra. The youngster had soon trailed his parents into the shop to touch the soft “skin” on the zebra. Mike tells me they are a great window attraction and sell in surprising numbers.

Mike Sanderson Electricals sells all kinds of brown and white goods and even has an excellent computer section. Across the road, Mike’s daughter Angela has a designer kitchen outlet that complements the products sold in the main shop.

Back on the tram and into Blackpool, when I found the Reliant out-of-town warehouse that distributes orders taken on its Reliant Direct website. Judging by the number of fork-lift trucks running around, this is a booming business and I was pleased to see Reliant is doing so well.

I STOPPED OFF at Carlisle on my way home to Aberdeen. There is a Panasonic Centre and a white-goods shop immediately adjacent to the long-established Peter Tyson shop, making this area a real destination point for electricals. Everything looked absolutely perfect, from the subdued lighting in the home-cinema section to the very friendly way staff greeted everyone coming into the shop.

Three streets away, the Tyson family have another superb outlet that sells Bose and Bang & Olufsen products. As befits these upmarket items, they were displayed in almost a home setting and the staff were offering customers expert advice. Matthew Tyson himself was there keeping an eye on all the activity.

A number of Sony Centres have closed this year, so I am pleased to report that the Sony Centre in Carlisle was very busy when I called. The shop looked very smart, with a clean white design on two levels. A salesman called Stephen certainly knew his products and was in the middle of demonstrating a camera to two attentive customers who seemed to appreciate his advice.
I liked the special display that had three screens all showing the same fast moving sports programme. The purpose of the display was to demonstrate the advantage of buying a set with a higher screen refresh rate. A salesman called David did a very good job of showing the advantage of the more expensive screen without using any technical language. He was also very good at offering a “proper professional” installation and a three-year guarantee for a single extra payment of £99.

TOP NOTCH HI-FI manufacturer Naim has recently been holding its Future of Hi-Fi event at 21 of its dealers nationwide.  
These shows have proved to be very popular with that special type of customer – a dedicated and discerning audio enthusiast who is prepared to pay for the best equipment and, most importantly, is also prepared to pay for its professional installation. I am full of admiration for true hi-fi dealers.

Naim’s latest streaming system has to be seen and heard to be believed. No written details can truly describe this magnificent product. It is a beautiful piece of kit that retails for £3,000. Of course, Naim customers already know that they need to spend another four-figure sum for the matching power supply. And they will still need an amplifier and speakers. These really are golden decibels.