DataVision Reinvents Itself As Smaller Store in Manhattan’s ‘Thriving Tech Scene’

New York-based CE retailer DataVision re-launched in a downsized location in Manhattan’s trendy Flatiron district, “the epicenter of New York City’s thriving tech scene,” the retailer said in a Wednesday news release. DataVision had operated for 21 years at 5th Avenue and 39th St., five blocks up from the Empire State Building, in a massive three-story showroom in a commercial area selling everything from camera lenses to home theater seating.

DataVision’s new 50 W. 23rd St. location, less than a mile away, is in a more residential neighborhood, next to a Home Depot, across the street from a P.C. Richard store and a few doors down from Best Buy in what has quickly become a shopping hub for consumer electronics. On what precipitated the move, DataVision CEO Jimmy Garson told Consumer Electronics Daily at the store’s grand opening Wednesday night that the midtown store’s lease was up and that forced a re-evaluation of the business. The former location was “good for us for the timeframe,” Garson said, “but we didn’t feel it was on an upswing.”

The new location, by contrast, is in an area where people shop after business hours -- the store will be open seven days a week until 9 p.m. At the old midtown location, foot traffic evaporated at 6 p.m. when people went home from work, he said. Garson hopes to ride the busy traffic of the Flatiron District, which boasts tech startups and -- in addition to the other CE stores -- is home to destination retail experience locations including an upscale culinary marketplace called Eataly and a LEGO event store, now under construction, that will be Lego’s flagship Manhattan location.

DataVision’s new one-floor space comprises roughly 5,500 square feet, Garson said. On what the retailer eliminated to fit into the new space, Garson said, “We just cut the mix down.” The store still offers the same categories it sold before but whittled down the number of vendors for each, he said. For instance, DataVision slashed the number of vendors supplying accessories for iOS devices from 16 to six, he said. Some decisions were made by the state of the market and vendor moves, Garson noted. “Part of the business cut itself, like with Sony going out of the notebook business,” he said. “A lot of vendors are not even there anymore so we picked the cream of the crop, and that’s who we're supporting,” he said.

"The business has changed,” Garson said, citing DataVision’s one-time focus on PCs and “10,000 square feet of software.” TVs and audio equipment took up more display area in the days of CRT TVs and floor standing speakers. “You needed more space then,” Garson said. TVs don’t take up as much room as they used to -- the store displayed 14 models on Wednesday, primarily from Samsung, on the back wall of the store -- and home theater audio has transitioned from a five-speaker-plus subwoofer concept to a slim soundbar. The store is pushing Sonos for multi-room audio and will have it playing “all around the store,” he said.

Music is a big part of DataVision’s focus, but the home theater market has waned, Garson said. “The home theater business is gone,” he said. “People are not putting in home theaters. They're putting in couches and a projector or beanbag chairs. They're making it more casual” than the formal home theater seating that was popular in dedicated theaters prior to the recession, he said.

At the same time DataVision has scaled back on its showroom space, it’s beefing up its e-commerce efforts, Garson said. The company is launching www.datavision.com at the end of August with a free shipping lure on products over $100, he said. “Anything purchased over $100 in our bin by 2 p.m. [Eastern], you're getting it free, same day,” he said of New York City residents. Items are shipped from the store’s warehouse in Long Island City, New York, that stocks some 40,000 products, he said. Customers will be able to search for items according to what they can get through same-day delivery, Garson said, and Manhattan and some Brooklyn customers will be eligible for what Garson called “instant” delivery. “Inventory that’s in the New York store you can order up to 5 p.m. that night and get it by instant delivery,” he said.

On why DataVision has managed to survive as an independent in a tough electronics retail environment that has claimed the retail lives of local CE stores including J&R, Harvey Electronics and Sixth Avenue Electronics, Garson said, “I'm a very hands-on owner. We watch our bottom line and we watch our overhead,” he said, saying DataVision has a “tremendous customer base in New York” supporting the business. Citing his 30 years’ experience in CE retailing, Garson said, “When you lose touch with the business, you're done. I buy a lot of the product lines myself,” he said. “There’s a lot I do on a day-to-day basis that keeps me in touch with the floor,” he said.

Key categories for the near term at DataVision include tablets, notebook PCs, Macs, 4K TV, home audio and “anything to do with networking,” he said. DataVision has an installation business that serves residential and business customers with products ranging from Sonos music systems at the entry level to Crestron home control at the high end. Most of the homeowners DataVision caters to now in its custom business are choosing wireless Sonos systems for multi-room music and affordable Lutron lighting products, he said. “The guys who want to control stuff will buy Lutron,” he said. “Other than that, it’s all about sound.”

In the news release, DataVision called out features of the new store, including New York City’s “largest headphone listening station,” with brands including Beats by Dre, House of Marley and Sennheiser; “the country’s first Intel 2-in-1 Zone,” where customers can learn about convertible tablets and Ultrabooks; a free phone charging station supplied by Griffin; and a calling station from IP voice company Ooma, where customers can call “anywhere in the world for free.” DataVision said it will display more than 100 notebooks, 36 TVs, and 60 tablets for customers to test drive, with PC and tablets from brands including HP, Lenovo, Asus, and Acer.

In our quick survey of the crowded store Wednesday night, we saw state-of-the art TVs from Samsung and Sony, including three curved-screen models, and 4K UHD models ranging from a 32-inch Samsung model, marked down by $150 to $379, according to a price tag, up to a Samsung UN65HU9000 4K Ultra HD TV, listed for $4,499 ($1,500 off, according to a sign). Sony’s 65-inch XBR65X900A, a 1080p TV, was priced at $3,799, with savings of $2,000, according to a sign. Customers doing a neighborhood online price check for the 65-inch Samsung 4K TV Thursday found matching prices at Best Buy and DataVision, with P.C. Richard underpricing the others by a buck, we found.

In addition to some of the usual suspects in CE -- in categories and brands -- DataVision is selling small upscale appliances well-suited to an urban clientele including Dyson vacuum cleaners and fans, the Roomba robot vacuum cleaner and Cuisinart food processors and blenders, we found. In total, DataVision plans to sell more than 150,000 products. For those not shown in store, customers will be able to browse and buy via in-store touchscreens, it said.