Home entertainment has changed a lot in the past 10-20 years. But, it's changed enormously since Joseph Flanner, a successful New Orleans music retailer, moved to Milwaukee in 1891 to open his own store.
Today, John Flanner, Joseph's greatgrandson, owns and operates Flanner's Home Entertainment in Brookfield. Over the years, Flanner's has had to alter its product mix and displays to meet the changing needs Milwaukee's home entertainment consumers.
Flanner sat down with OMC's Jeff Sherman recently to talk about his family, his business, consumer electronics, a possible Downtown location and more. It's all in this latest edition of "Milwaukee Talks."
OMC: Please give us the brief "John Flanner story."
John Flanner: I grew up in the western side of Milwaukee in Wauwatosa and Elm Grove. So, I was born in raised in the Milwaukee area because of the family business being here. I'm actually the fourth generation of Flanner to be involved with the company. So, we have roots here. Went to Brookfield East and then off to the University of Wisconsin, studied marketing there.
In the '70s (1975), I had an opportunity to come back and get involved in the family business. I wasn't exactly sure it was what I wanted to do, but thought I would try for a year and here we are 31 years later I guess. So, obviously it worked and I was interested in it. I found the industry really interesting and enjoyable.
OMC : Was the first store Downtown?
JF: The very first store was Downtown, yes. My great-grandfather started the business in 1891. He worked for a music store, a retail music store, in New Orleans and he and his wife used to take the train up from New Orleans to the Waukesha area.
There were a lot of large hotels out there then. It was famous for its waters and it was an opportunity to get away from the heat of New Orleans summers. And, they liked it a lot and found Milwaukee interesting; had some German background in his life. So, they decided to open a store here and did in 1891. It was on what was then called Grand Avenue, and now is Wisconsin Avenue.
So, I like to say we were always in the home entertainment business because in 1891 if you wanted home entertainment you had to kind of supply it yourself or hire someone. So, they sold musical instruments and pianos and he was a publisher of sheet music -- relatively small-time publisher of sheet music.
Eventually, they moved the store from Grand Avenue to Broadway just north of Wisconsin Avenue and we were there -- well, then I guess just to continue the story -- around 1915 he merged his business with another music retailer Downtown called Eric Hafsoos. He had a piano business and was actually I think on the same street. Broadway used to be called Music Row. I guess because of a lot of music retailers back then. There were, at that time, a lot of people playing instruments and things, as I said, because that was a major form of home entertainment. They merged together, created Flanner and Hafsoos and that was the company's name until 1994.
In 1960 my dad opened a second store in what was then the new Mayfair Mall; and they quickly found that was the future of retailing at that point in time. A lot of people were not shopping in the downtown areas in the 1960s. The store in Mayfair became the primary store and they eventually let go of the Downtown store (in 1963).
OMC: When did you move to Brookfield?
JF: We had a store in Mayfair until 1994 when we moved out to Brookfield because we needed more space to accommodate what was then the new world of home theater technology.
In 1994 we changed the name to Flanner's Audio and Video. A little over a year ago we moved to this new larger store because, once again, it seemed the industry and the market we were in had evolved quite a bit. We were seeing the convergence of computer in audio/video technology and felt the need to re-merchandise and show what we do and the products we carry in a different light. And so, we moved over to this new space that we're in now. And, at that point, we decided it might be appropriate to further evolve our name to Flanner's Home Entertainment.
OMC: Almost back to your roots?
JF: Yeah. It's kind of a history. But, as I said, we've always been in home entertainment.
We have musical instruments back then, phonographs; wind up phonographs, and then electric radios, and consoles, and eventually component audio and video, and now the world that we're in today.
OMC: What have been the biggest three changes in the last five years?
JF: Well, one certainly has to be the explosion of new product ideas based on the fact that we're in a digital world today. Like I said, there's just an immense amount of creative work going on in laboratories around the world because so many -- there's so many ways you can do things in terms of transporting and showcasing audio and video technology.
Probably the biggest one in the last several years has been the price of digital television becoming more affordable; flat-screen digital television, and high-definition television really coming of age and becoming a mainstream product.
Especially in the last year, year and a half. You just kind of see that we hit the tipping point and that's really driving the industry right now is video technology. That's what's bringing people out to shop the most. And, I guess just from a retailing standpoint, another big change that we've seen is, with all this new technology which can be intimidating to people to understand and incorporate into their home and their lifestyle, is the need for us to provide more services.
We've always been a place that's known to give good service and support the products that we sell. That just seems to be an ever growing, ever more important part of what we're doing. And, a very high percentage of what we sell today we get involved with in the home in some fashion. Either helping get it there and then wiring it and setting it up, programming it, so hoping people integrate it into their home.
OMC: With a lot of low cost leaders out there and so many more choices to buy electronics, how do you compete?
JF: Every company has to find its niche, and find some way of approaching the business they're in, and do it better than any of their local competitors. That's been the thing that we've held onto I think most intently over the years. First of all, we want to have staff that's trained and knowledgeable and can help people. And secondly, we want to provide whatever level of service they need in order to make it easy for them to buy and use the products that we carry.
OMC: I'm one of those consumers that haven't upgraded my TV mainly because the information out there is so overwhelming. What are some easy steps?
JF: Well, there's of course a lot of information on the Internet, but it requires time and effort to sit through it all and you're never quite sure what you can trust. One easy step that we've provided for people here at Flanner's are our technology seminar series. We probably have about a dozen seminars every month. And, the most popular of which is one on how to buy a TV today, what you need to know. And in that, we explain the different technologies and what advantages and disadvantages they each have and just lay out the information. It's a completely non-threatening, non-intimidating, no expectations, free seminar. And, anyone's invited.
Podcast: John Flanner talks about a possible downtown Milwaukee location
