partments. We’re a thousand times more methodical and productive today than we used to be.” A Well-Oiled Retail Machine Since moving to a 3PL, Wolf said ProAudio- Star has continued growing sales and refining the brand, even as competition increased. Two years ago, the company opened a 2,000-square-foot showroom in Brooklyn. Still relatively new to the guitar business, its sales of gear outside of pro-audio and keyboards skyrocketed during the pandemic. “When the COVID pandemic hit, we were ready,” Wolf said. “Our volume ex- ploded again, and we were in a great posi- tion to handle all of it. The 3PL let us focus purely on sales, purchasing and marketing without having to worry about logistics.” Wolf said after COVID there was an inventory surplus, and ProAudioStar was able to manage that, too. “We’re good at recognizing opportunity, which isn’t free, and we’re also good at taking on and mitigating risk,” he said. “We have a great team that enables us to adapt, pivot and scale when needed.”
And scale it did. Before COVID, guitars, drums and music instruments weren’t a major part of the company’s inventory. Now, they make up close to half of Pro- AudioStar’s revenue. “It was a wild time,” Wolf said. “We then had to fine-tune our process again and figure out how to manage all the guitars, how to pack them, ship them and store that inventory. That was another learning curve, as well. What’s most in- teresting, though, is our employee count. As our processes have gotten better over the years, our employee count actually went down as our revenue went up. It’s not a big team but with a focus on hir- ing musicians, engineers and DJs from New York, the expertise [customers] get when they reach out to us is top-notch.” Wolf said he and his team’s focus over the last two years wasn’t growth, but fine-tuning its operations. That focus has made ProAudioStar so efficient that its customer service phone lines ring with far less issues, something Wolf considers a major success. “In the past, the phone would ring
constantly over the same logistical issues, which we’ve addressed and improved drastically,” Wolf said. “Our margins improved because we streamlined, and we’re getting more repeat business. When you integrate positive changes — whether they’re minor or major — your margins improve, customer service improves and customer retention improves.” Adapting & Overcoming Last year, ProAudioStar experienced double-digit revenue growth, rising from $50 million in 2023 to more than $60 million in 2024. One way ProAudioStar has maintained this growth is by focusing on its core business. An example of this was this past April’s tariff situation. “The tariff dilemma was a pretty scary moment for every industry, but we man- aged it very well,” Wolf explained. “We didn’t overreact, and we stayed focused. We didn’t panic and dump inventory. We didn’t panic and overbuy either. We kept to the game plan and while there wasn’t a lot of clarity, we said, ‘Let’s not do any-
SEPTEMBER 2025 I MUSIC INC. I 37
Powered by FlippingBook