FOLIO
Folio Weekly: Tell me a little about what you do.
Lee McNulty: Car audio, lighting, video and window tint. Been at it 22 years.
How did you get into this?
Started at the house taking apart stuff. Twelve years old, toasters, microwaves, blowing up things. And I could put it back together. It progressed, it was a passion, and I just went for it.
If a 22-year-old kid comes in with his first car that’s 10 or 15 years old and asks for a basic sound upgrade, what do you tell him?
Well, it all depends on his budget, what he wants and what he requires. But people know what they want when they come in because their buddies have it, and the Internet is useful [for research].
What can you do with a $200 budget?
A radio with Bluetooth and USB. A car that old wouldn’t come with that technology. You feel like you’re driving a new car ’cause you got new stuff in it.
A $500 budget?
You can get a new radio and new speakers.
A $1,000 budget?
Pretty much the works, if you want to look at it like a carwash thing. New radio, speakers, amp and subwoofer.
What’s the most common sound upgrade you’re asked to do?
Adding bass to it. Not a ridiculous amount, just a little bit to fill in the sound.
What’s the most common subwoofer size you install?
Twelve [inches]. Jacksonville is a 12 city. You go to Miami and everyone wants 15s, Jacksonville’s 12s, lots of people in Georgia like 10s. It’s just the way it rolls. It’s demographic. I dunno.
How long have backup video cameras been popular?
I got my first one in store around 2000. Mercedes and BMW drivers would get them. Now everybody gets them.
Do you have a slow period? A busy period?
Slow time is usually August. I don’t know why. Never figured it out. But tax time, Christmastime, you stay real busy then. Graduation, too — kids getting their first cars.
What do you think about today’s stock systems?
It varies [depending] on the manufacturer. If we’re talking about a base Honda Civic or a BMW 735, a BMW like that sounds great, why touch it?
Is that to say you can’t make a BMW 735 sound any better?
I can always do something better. Depends on what they want me to do, either make it sound better or do something they want it to do.
How old, on average, are your customers’ cars?
The average, I’d say six years.
Is there a real difference between generic brands and name brands?
Oh, yeah. Reliability, touch, feel. You can just hold a good one and a bad one and tell.
Is there ever a time you recommend the generic brand over the name brand?
I sell very few generic brands of anything. If that’s all they want, if they want to take care of the warranty themselves, then go ahead. But I try to steer them away from it. If they have a long-lasting experience and not a 30-day experience, I won’t look like the bad guy even though I already informed them of the risks in the beginning.
What are your most popular brands?
Pioneer and Rockford Fosgate. There are so many, but those are the ones that come
straight to mind.
What’s been the biggest change in the business since you started?
Flash drives, Bluetooth, iPods. It was tape decks with Dolby when I started, you know? It was a big thing to have Dolby and auto-reverse. It was awesome.
Which technology has gone obsolete the fastest?
CD changers, probably. They had a good 10 years, but CDs are on their way out.
How long do you work on each car?
With a big custom job, we’ll keep a car here for a week and a half or two weeks. But on average maybe an hour, hour and a half.
Were you stable during the economic downturn?
We took a dip; we’re still not back where we’d like to be. It hasn’t rebounded, but it’ll never get back to the ’90s anyway. The passion’s not there anymore. If you sat out on Blanding during the ’90s, you’d hear nothing but music all day long. Fast-forward to now, maybe one or two cars you’d hear music.
What technology is there out there that surprises people the most?
The older crowd is amazed with Bluetooth. They come with their flip phone [insisting they] don’t have it, but once they’re [connected], they’re totally amazed. It’s a pretty cool feeling.
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