A portion of ProAudioStar’s nearly 50-employee team gather at the company’s Brooklyn showroom.
And the numbers tell a wild story. Last year, ProAudioStar did 20% more business with under 50 employees than it did the previous year with 60. Incoming customer service calls decreased as improved work- flow allowed the staff to provide even more time and attention to each customer and each order, despite having a smaller team. And somehow, in an industry where giants like Guitar Center and Sweetwater duke it out with aggressive pricing and marketing, this relatively small operation keeps thriving by getting really good at the fundamentals. Humble Beginnings ProAudioStar’s start is rooted in hustle. In 2006, Wolf stumbled upon the oppor- tunity to help a friend who was closing his studio sell some gear. “As a favor, I listed a few items on eBay,” he said. “These were the early days of e-commerce, and it was a bit wild, but after a short time, I was committed.” With this early success, Wolf launched the business and reached out to Yorkville to place an order.
“I started out selling ART Tube MPs for $69,” Wolf said. “I took most of my savings — about $5,000 — and stocked up. I had gear under my bed and stacked in front of the door. I’d ride my bike to the post office in Chinatown with a few eBay orders under my arm. I spent the next few years doubling down every time I had the opportunity.” Wolf rented a 1,500-square-foot space in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and, when the 2008 the financial crisis hit, Wolf said he had nothing to lose. “I didn’t have much inventory, and I didn’t owe money. It created a big op- portunity,” he said. “Large retailers were concerned and pulling back.” In the first year and a half, ProAudioStar did about $100,000 in sales. The second year was $300,000. “In 2009, right after the market crash, sales blew up and we surpassed $4 million,” Wolf said. “I started hiring anyone who was a musician, and that didn’t always work out great. I was winging it, but by 2010, we were doing $8 million in sales. I was very aggressive and had my hands
in every department: sales, purchasing, shipping, accounting, marketing, the list goes on.” As the business grew and the online sales market became more crowded, Wolf realized he needed better technology to run the business. “It took years to implement the systems and processes we needed to get to the next level,” he said. “Even then, we realized we were already falling behind. We were grinding our wheels as the volume exceeded our capabilities. The 2015 holiday season was the tipping point. About a week after a huge Black Friday, we still hadn’t gotten the orders out. That’s when I decided to take on another big leap and outsource warehousing and shipping to a 3PL [third- party logistics provider].” Wolf found a 60,000-square-foot ware- house in Virginia and moved the inventory there. ProAudioStar still works with the warehouse today. “I realized I was better at running a business than running a warehouse,” Wolf said. “Moving to the 3PL gave me the time to focus on so many other important de-
36 I MUSIC INC. I SEPTEMBER 2025
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