Hello.
The crisis is no reason to be discouraged, which is proved by the opening of the Dr.Head store at 59 Liteiny Prospekt. The three-story retail space can be safely called one of the best themed stores in the world. Almost on the corner with Nevsky Prospekt, there is a constant stream of passers-by, a crowd. Narrow pavement, you can see the sign, but it seems to hang over the sidewalk, which, however, is good. Bright inscriptions on the shop windows, open doors in summer, which invite you to go inside.
It so happened that for me this section of Liteiny is familiar, I walk to my favorite bookstore “Subscribed editions” or go back, most likely with Kirochnaya, taxiing to the bookstore, and from there to Nevsky. And if I haven’t been to Kirochnaya, then I’m going to Rubik’s to have a bite somewhere and go on regarding my business. The fussiness of the center scares off Petersburgers, in the season they try to avoid these streets, there are too many visitors here, sometimes they turn into clouds waiting for a green traffic light and spreading along the edge of the entire street.
The transformation of the space into a store happened somehow imperceptibly, a little more than a month ago it appeared, and I had just left the city. It seems that there was an exhibition hall, and a coffee shop was located a little higher up the stairs. The visit was not planned, somehow I missed the fact that Dr.Head moved his store from Zagorodny to a new location and made it completely different, the guys here turned around in full. Three floors, separate studios and showrooms. I’m telling it like everyone knows what Dr. Head are stores dedicated to sound. Once upon a time, it was impossible to say that they were networked, now there are three of them in Moscow, the main one is on Novy Arbat. There is only one store in St. Petersburg, but it turned out to be a center of attraction for those who are fond of music, good sound and everything connected with it.
Business in our time proves that effective, faceless forms win, a kind of manufacturability in which even emotions are clearly calibrated, the main thing in them is not to overdo it. Designers create spaces that are comfortable, but they don’t care what you want to do, today they design a furniture store, the next day they will design a plumbing store, and then they will move on to electronics. The problem is that it is difficult to find those who are on fire with the idea, who are worried regarding their work from the bottom of their hearts. It was not in vain that I spoke regarding Subscription Editions, for me this is a familiar format in a number of countries, if I may say so, because the store is piecemeal. And it was created for those who are in love with books and the worlds that they reveal to us.
We can safely say that Dr.Head is a business created by sound fans for the same lovers of beauty. When addicted people come into business, they do everything completely wrong and prove by their example that it is important to speak the same language with those who go shopping to you.
The difficulty of selling the same headphones is that often you cannot listen to them, you have to trust some texts on the Internet, eloquent interpretations and then be disappointed, because it does not suit you, we are all individual in personal experience, ours are too different hearing. The fact that Dr.Head initially broke the usual rules seemed abnormal to many, I remember how the director of one of the large retail chains told me: “They will quickly stop letting you listen to headphones, these are such expenses, you will never sell them to anyone later.” In the usual logic of business, when efficiency is squeezed out of every square centimeter of space, he was undoubtedly right. His trading network declared regarding loyalty, regarding some high matters, but all this was synthetic love, an imitation of feeling. Dr.Head, on the other hand, recruits its visitors, introduces them to high-quality sound and how it can be achieved. The task seems to be the same – to sell pieces of iron, music and all related products, but the mission is not just to make money, but to convert as many people as possible, to acquaint them with sound. And this approach captivates me, in many ways these are idealistic ideas, which, oddly enough, pay off a hundredfold. A business built by people who have bright eyes and who know that it is important that every person working in the store understands exactly what he is doing and why. I understood the issue not at the level of an ordinary electronics store, where sellers can read the description of the product in your presence and nothing more, namely, to know the product, understand it and, most importantly, feel it.
The first floor is a kind of business card, you enter and see a small table with branded fabric bags, records and a turntable. A sort of mini-showcase, behind which there is a counter with high bar stools, here you can sit down and twist the selected product or listen to headphones. A guard walks at the entrance, it differs in shape – black bottom, white top. It somehow reminded me of the Apple Store in other countries, where security and sellers are separated, they are easy to distinguish. The need for security is beyond doubt, there is an open layout, you can run out of the store and look for the wind in the field.
On the right is a wall with various options for headphones, a little to the right are digital players for every taste. On the other hand, you can look at custom and order them, this is one of the most popular things in the store, when people want to treat themselves to something individual and create headphones for themselves and their anatomy. And here the choice of plastic, colors – the possibilities of customization are very wide.
The intermediate floor is filled with records, and they stand on boxes that are associated with musical tours, they carry the band’s musical equipment, the stylization is good – simple and tasteful.
There are golden discs on the walls, a small service area, there are benches where you can sit. In the recesses there are different techniques and the imperative is drawn in neon – “Listen!”
The service area is very ascetic, but it is not expected that there will be crowds of people here.
Navigating the store is straightforward, there are descriptions on the walls, you can always check the sign.
Of course, the most interesting and richest is the third floor: Hi-Fi, High End solutions. Already in the corridor on the stairs you will find a replica of the first gramophone.
Records are interspersed with books and technology, it creates a mood.
There are various equipment on the counter, headphones on the walls, you can listen to everything. The hall is large and spacious, there are comfortable chairs in which you can comfortably spread out to listen to the selected samples.
For those who prefer to listen in silence, there is a separate room where you will be shown acoustics, you can combine it with a home theater (there is a Panasonic projector).
The next room imitates a studio, there are dozens of microphones, a sound mixing console and many other bells and whistles.
A high-quality, beautifully designed store, created without regard to cost. There is no heavy luxury as such, the feeling of high cost is created by the technique that filled the shelves. A very good fit into the format, and there is no repulsive snobbery, democracy manifests itself in many ways. In my eyes, a guy who can be mistaken for a student is listening to headphones that he clearly cannot afford in the next few years, even if he sits on the same water. His eyes are burning, the goods are sold! And this guy will come back for these headphones in a few years, he had a dream. Many underestimate this moment, and it is the most important in life – when we want to get something like that. And a good sound is not regarding mass sales, but regarding such burning eyes, when you want something like this and you are ready to make repairs so that the room for the audio system has the right acoustics, to drag parts for the amp across half the world, since in your the country does not have them. For the sake of their passion, people are ready for a lot. And such a store is a place where they unwittingly recruit neophytes, show them that the world can be different, introduce them to the fact that people cannot try somewhere else. After all, how many Hi End systems have you heard in your lifetime? I have, if we count exhibitions, these are regarding a hundred auditions, if we take only personal experience, then a dozen different systems. For most people, the number looks pretty—absolute zero. There is no snobbery here, it’s just that such systems are not available due to the cost, prevalence, it’s hard to call this segment a mass language.
When sound fans create something like this store, they hire the same enthusiastic people to work. And this is felt inside from the first steps, you are offered to try different things, listen to the sound, and all this is unobtrusive, without annoying attention. You can also twitch the guys with questions yourself, which I shamelessly did and received detailed, interesting answers. The store staff is lively, which says a lot regarding the quality of these people as sellers. They don’t look like people who have a plan to sell a certain amount of goods today at any cost. And in this they are pleasantly different from the vast majority of sellers. Nearby on Nevsky there is a Yandex store, where the sellers are imposing, they represent a large company, immersed in their own affairs. Right there they work to some extent as educators, their eyes burn. And this brilliance cannot be imitated in any way, for some, sales are hard and unloved work, and someone at work continues to pursue their hobby. A sort of Willy Wonka factory, which they suddenly got to and can touch everything that is there.
I’ve always been amazed at how the store’s format can change if it’s run by fans in the best sense of the word. People turned on something, not making distinctions between brands and trying to understand the advantages of each. Collecting everything they can reach to try it out, hear the difference, get a new experience. I have before my eyes examples of many stores – in New York and London, Tokyo and Beijing. Dozens of stores scattered around the world. But I can say that it was in Dr.Head that I managed to do something special and unusual. This is not just a store, but a factory that gives young people dreams to grow into. Once such a role was played by glossy magazines, he himself is a sinner and dreamed regarding a Hi-Fi system while reading such publications. But those times are gone, today people want to try, get impressions, and this store can provide such an opportunity. In a word, I am glad that Dr.Head is doing well and continues to develop during the crisis. Well done.
