Mike Risko Music’s Miriam and Mike Risko
Hitting Holiday Harmonies At Mike Risko Music in Westchester County, New York, holiday shopping comes with a shopper spotlight. The retailer turns its store into a community stage, inviting customers to sing karaoke while testing pro-audio gear, mic stands and speakers — all part of an interactive tradition that keeps shoppers engaged and connected. A s the holiday season rolls around in Ossin- ing, New York, Mike Risko Music doesn’t
proach has been a top driver of sales. Ac- cording to Mike, the holiday karaoke event has become one of the store’s most successful promotions, prompting them to bring it back year after year. And with each season, the setup only grows. “What’s different about it now is, each year, as we move on, we either change or develop and increase our portfolio of prod- ucts and brands that we carry,” Mike said. “We have a lot more to offer now as far as stands and microphones and speakers that are equipped for this activity.” SPREADING MUSIC MAKING AROUND TOWN For Miriam, the promotion extends beyond the four walls of the shop. As performers themselves, the Riskos often bring their gear to local holiday tree lightings and other com- munity events, doubling the exposure. “We expand out into the community with things that we do,” Miriam said. “Because we are the main ambassadors for our company, and we are performers, we do a lot of tree lighting events where we also use the same equipment, and then those things turn into social posts where we can show how we’ve used the gear.”
Social media has become a powerful am- plifier of these events. Miriam leans into live video to capture the energy of the commu- nity gatherings while subtly spotlighting the products in action. “We show ourselves talking to people, and we do those videos live, and it gets us a lot of interaction, a lot of interest in what we’re doing,” Miriam explained. “Because we use the equipment ourselves, we’re able to advocate for quality and that we’re doing this event and using this type of equipment and then inviting them back to the brick- and-mortar. It’s a good ecosystem as far as getting people in the door. It also spans widely because of social media.” For Mike Risko Music, the blend of in- person interaction and digital engagement plays a big role through the holiday season. “I think people love the real-life aspect of it and us talking to them,” Mike said. “We modernized the way that we do retail. We have a big kiosk now in-store that’s a mirror image of our website, and we have a lot of products on there that are drop-shippable. So, while we might carry a half a dozen music stands and accessories in the store for people to try, we can give them access to so much more.” MI
just invite shoppers to browse the full-line dealership — it hands them the mic. Each year, the retailer transforms its showroom into a community stage, inviting customers to grab a mic, step into the spotlight and belt out a favorite karaoke tune. This showcases the store’s most popular categories for pro-audio gear and mic stands, while letting customers experience products firsthand. “We set up two performance stages and we set them up with gear that we believe in and that we sell that people might want to purchase,” said Mike Risko, who co-owns the business with his wife Miriam. “What we do is we set up a particular mic stand that we offer with a clip-on holder and pair it with Bluetooth to a portable battery-powered
speaker that also can use wireless mi- crophones. There’s about maybe a dozen different things to purchase,
so people get to come in and go on stage and have fun with this, but meanwhile, they’re using equipment that is for sale.” The hands-on ap-
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