RE-TALES

Goodbye to gatekeeping

- JULIE MULLINS

Several traditional hi-fi dealerships have shuttered in recent years: NYC's Lyric Hi-Fi¹ and Chicago's Audio Consultants are prominent examples. A few new brick-andmortar shops have opened, but it's rare to see a next-generation owner breathe new life into a long-established dealership. Christopher Brewer is doing exactly that.

New England Hi-Fi was founded as the New England Music Company by Derek R. Burt,² in 1965-on the early side of hi-fi's heyday. Back then, the store carried the 1965 KLH line and other pioneering products, with a self-proclaimed emphasis on customer service. Founded in downtown Portland, Maine, the dealership moved to Scarborough in 1984 and then to South Portland, in a corner space across from the Maine Mall.

Before he became the owner, Brewer was an employee. Before he was an employee, he was a customer. While he was a customer, he worked at Circuit City, making, he says, $8/hour. Circuit City, which was located just down Maine Mall Road from New England Hi-Fi, is long gone: The chain went bankrupt in 2009. Good riddance, Brewer says. "I think I can safely confess that I spent a lot of my time in the audio department there advising customers to go to New England Hi-Fi."

Brewer, 41, took over New England Hi-Fi when Andy Keniston, the previous owner, retired. Brewer moved the store to a new location, in the Mill Creek area of South Portland. "I wanted to be in a busier, 'up and coming' area," Brewer said. "A total restart seemed like the best way to make the changes I wanted."