SEAL Solutions to Carry Samsung 3D TVs at Its First Showroom

The first 3D TVs that SEAL Solutions will carry in its first showroom, in Islandia, N.Y., are from Samsung, CEO Christopher Wyllie told Consumer Electronics Daily Thursday at the showroom’s grand opening. A 55-inch Samsung 3D TV will replace the 55-inch Samsung set that is now in the showroom, he said.

Wyllie, a former Navy SEAL, will consider adding other screen sizes from Samsung, as well as models from other manufacturers, he said, telling us he selected Samsung to start, largely because of the few problems he’s had with sets from that manufacturer to date. He tried to have a 3D setup in place for the grand opening, but not all the components he needed -- such as a Blu-ray player -- were available in time, Wyllie told us.

The showroom also features an Apple TV demonstration, and Wyllie told us he will probably add the iPad “in the next month or two.” That’s “what the big buzz is right now,” he said, noting the iPad can provide an economical home electronics automation system. Pretty much any device you can already control with an iPhone can also be controlled with an iPad, as long as the user has a suitable processor and Wi-Fi system, he said. The added benefit of using an iPad for this application is its much larger screen size compared to an iPhone. Wyllie said he wasn’t sure yet where SEAL would buy iPads. The company was “looking into that,” he said, telling us it would opt for the most “cost-effective” solution. One possibility could be Savant, an Apple product reseller, which struck a deal in 2008 ensuring that Lutron’s lighting and other products are compatible with Savant’s Rosie home automation system. SEAL features products in its showroom from Lutron, along with Crestron, Paradigm, Runco and Sonance. Recent additions included PS Audio last year and eSommelier and Stewart Filmscreen early this year, Wyllie said.

The custom installer plans to expand with locations in Los Angeles and “a few other places,” Wyllie also said. It’s “trying to secure” a Los Angeles spot “prior to CEDIA,” in September, he said, telling us SEAL has celebrity clients who live there. Other unspecified locations would follow Los Angeles, he said, telling us he had potential clients in Miami and Hawaii. The company would start with simple offices in Los Angeles and the other cities, then once it gains “momentum” add a showroom, he said, telling us “it would be about $250,000 to outfit a showroom similar to” the Islandia location.

Asked why SEAL decided to open its first showroom now, amid a still relatively weak economy, Wyllie said his company started attracting “the clientele where I believe I needed to show them the high-end products so they could quantify the purchase” before agreeing to buy products. Also, it needed a warehouse and the economic crisis “gave us the ability to acquire a lease” for property “at a better rate than normal,” he said. “I was very nervous taking on the extra overhead, but I believe” that when the products are displayed in a showroom, consumers “will understand, appreciate and want them.” Also, “if you don’t take advantage -- if you don’t take a leap of faith to get to the next level -- you're never going to be at that level,” he said. SEAL will be well positioned when the economy improves and consumers are ready to buy again, he said. It “will continue to grow,” but Wyllie will keep the operation “personal,” so he can still interact with customers, he said.

The economic crisis “definitely slowed us down a little bit,” Wyllie said, telling us sales were down about 15-20 percent in 2009 from 2008. But he said the company has become more “efficient” and “not one of my guys were laid off, nor did they have any time off during the whole of 2009.” SEAL had five installers before opening the showroom and Wyllie said he expected to hire more now, in addition to a part-time secretary and a marketing/development employee. By the end of the year, he hoped to have “another three or four” installers, and “I'd like to get up to 10 or 11,” he said. There is already a lot of installation work for them, he said, calling the start of 2010 “very promising.” SEAL installations tend to start at about $5,000, but the average high-end job is about $250,000-$300,000 and could go well above that, he said.

SEAL “does a lot of work in Manhattan” and in the Hamptons, but also all across the metro New York area, even “three-four hours out of our territory,” Wyllie said. When seeking a showroom location, he said, “We looked around and found someplace where I thought we'd be centrally located, close to” the Long Island Expressway. Many of the clients are celebrities who have primary homes in Manhattan and secondary residences on Long Island that serve as their “retreat,” he said. Clients in Manhattan can take the Long Island Rail Road to the showroom and SEAL will pick them up at the train station, and “if I have to drive in and get them, I will,” he said. SEAL’s staff also lives on Long Island, he said.

The Islandia space was also more affordable than similar space would have been in Manhattan, Wyllie said. It was also preferable to space that might have been closer to the North Shore of Long Island, where some of his clients are, because it wouldn’t have been nearly as easy for other clients to drive to a location north of the Long Island Expressway, he said. Clients who live in Manhattan can also stop at the showroom on the way to second houses they own in the Hamptons, he said. The office space it bought was preferable to a retail space that would have attracted “a lot of window shoppers” -- not SEAL’s target customer base, he said. The Islandia showroom takes up 1,875 square feet, including a 240-square-foot home theater room.