Dealer Profile
ListenUp
Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs and Albuquerque
| Key Information & Statistics | |
| Founders | Walt Stinson, Mary Kay Stinson and Steven Weiner |
| Opened | 1972 |
| HARMAN Brands Supported |
ARCAM, JBL Synthesis, |
The HARMAN Luxury Audio Group is proud to have some of the best high-end consumer electronics partners across the globe. Each month, we have the pleasure of learning a little bit more about one of our partners. This time we spoke with Phil Murray, Vice President of Marketing and eCommerce at ListenUp in Denver.
How long have you been in business?
We are celebrating our 50th year in business. We began operations in October, 1972.
How many locations do you have?
We have four showrooms in Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs and Albuquerque.
How did ListenUp get its start?
The company was started in 1972 by Co-Founders Walt Stinson and Steve Weiner. The complete history of ListenUp, 50 years in the making, can be found here.
How many people are on the ListenUp team?
We have approximately 120 employees.
Thoughts on the importance of training?
Training is critical to having an effective sales staff. We recently hired a Training Coordinator who coordinates our vendor and general sales trainings.
What do you like most about HARMAN Luxury Audio products and which lines do you feature?
We sell JBL, Synthesis, Mark Levinson, Revel and ARCAM. We have been a Levinson dealer since the late ‘70s, so appreciate the heritage of the company, and our customers and sales staff love it. We’ve seen a nice uptick in Levinson sales driven by the 5000 Series. We’ve also seen growth in Synthesis and home theater, with more customers willing to invest in their home systems. We have JBL Synthesis Systems on display in our Denver showroom and recently put a new one in our Colorado Springs store where we’ve had customers hear it and say, “That’s what I want!” We’re excited about the new range of JBL speakers where we can design a Synthesis System at a lower price point. We also have a Commercial Division, so JBL Pro and Crown are go-to vendors for us.
JBL SYNTHESIS THEATER AT LISTENUP'S COLORADO SPRINGS SHOWROOM.
How do you think the luxury audio industry is currently doing?
We’ve seen growth in the luxury side of our business over the last couple of years. With customers spending more time at home, they’re willing to spend more money to get great audio and theater systems.
What is ListenUp’s mission?
ListenUp transforms spaces into playgrounds for the senses. We turn homes into sanctuaries, offices into competitive advantages and retail and hospitality concepts into signature concepts that your guests won’t soon forget.
LISTENUP CO-FOUNDERS STEVEN WEINER, MARY KAY STINSON AND WALT STINSON.
You have the floor. Anything else you want to share with us about ListenUp that you would like the world to know?
We have recently started to offer window coverings, lighting fixtures, security systems and even high voltage electrical so that we can offer a complete turn-key solution to our customers and builder partners. We recently rented out part of our space in our Colorado Springs store to a lighting fixture store, Urban Lights, which has turned into a great partnership.
We are also seeing a change in management with one of our founders, Walt Stinson stepping back and Ben Larkin, who’s been with the company for 15 years, assuming the role of President.
We will be starting a new construction project in our Denver store which will add over 2,000 square feet and allow us to properly merchandise our Smart Home offerings.
We have also recently launched a new website, which has dramatically increased our e-commerce business.
Through our 50-year history we have grown by being a step ahead of the latest technology trends. We were a big proponent of CDs, selling more Sony CD players than any other retailer in the country when the format was first introduced. We even started our own CD store when record stores were not supporting the format. We have been doing customer installation since the early ‘70s – before there even was a custom installation business. We expanded into video and home theater in the late eighties. And we have been selling streaming music devices for over 20 years.
Our Commercial Division has recorded and provided sound for hundreds of artists including Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, Willie Nelson, Little Feat to name just a few.