"Nunsensations!" (Westwego)
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Sam Lusco, owner of Sam’s Audio in Houma, uses the slogan, “We’re the one-stop fun shop,” to describe his business.
And that’s exactly the atmosphere present when a customer walks into the store as music plays throughout the day through display speakers and employees greet shoppers as soon as they walk into the door.
“We’re here to provide entertainment. We’re here for the fun,” Lusco said. “This is not like a mechanic shop where you have to get a water pump replaced. We’re providing entertainment and fun.”
Among the many items inside the store are speaker displays, car audio equipment, security camera devices and even gadgets like remote-control cars that bring a festive feel to clients.
“A customer was in here the other day and I put on some music that sounded real good, and he looked at me and he said, ‘I hope when I get mine that it sounds that good,'” Lusco said. “That’s what it’s all about. Trying to create that atmosphere for our customers. We want to give them everything they expect, plus that something extra that exceeds their expectations.”
Lusco started the business in October 1989 after getting his start working in the 12-volt industry in 1986.
Mobile Electronics Magazine nominated the business owner as one of the Top 100 installers in America in both 1989 and 1990. The honor yielded him job offers in Dallas and Austin, but he decided to stay in the area and get his business started.
In its early days, Lusco said Sam’s Audio did not have the best brands and earned a reputation through other means.
“We started with little and worked things up,” he said. “We started with the most unknown brand names and sold ourselves based on installation quality and service.”
But now with more than 20 years under its belt, Sam’s Audio has the latest and the greatest of its trade.
“We now carry every major brand,” touted Lusco.
The business originally was at a location on Hollywood Road before moving inside Accessory World on Martin Luther King Boulevard in 1997.
Throughout the stay in Accessory World, Sam’s remained its own entity.
That marriage lasted for more than a decade before the business relocated again to its current location in January.
Lusco said one of the reasons for the move was the company wanted to get back to its original premise of customer service.
“We needed to get back to our roots of greeting the customer ourselves, making sure they’re treated nice, the little things,” he boasted.
Among the services provided by the company are home theater systems, car audio, marine audio, car and home security equipment and R/C Hobby equipment.
Lusco mentioned one of the challenges in his field is adjusting to the ever-changing demands customers have in his field.
“I can remember when we first started, we were installing a lot of cassette player decks,” he said. “Then we moved to CDs and CD player installation. And now, it’s all geared toward the iPod and everything like that, so we’re evolving and keeping up with the buying habits of customers.”
He also said with the Internet’s growing popularity, a challenge has also been to relay information to customers who are sometimes misled by what they read on the Web.
“Our customers are much more educated with the Internet, but they are also sometimes much more confused,” Lusco said. “They read stuff and believe it’s the absolute truth, but sometimes it’s a misnomer or misleading to them … we’ve just had to get smarter to integrate with their needs.”
The business celebrated its 20th anniversary in October of 2009 and the new location seems to be one that will allow the business to continue to thrive.
“Traffic here has been really brisk in this location,” Lusco said.
And with the two decades of service under his belt, the business is also heading toward its second generation of service.
“What feels good to me is people I did installations for back in 1986, I still provide service for now,” Lusco said. “I still have numerous customers that I worked for from before I was even open. That tells me we’re headed in the right direction.”
Sam Lusco of Sam’s Audio poses in front of a display of automobile audio equipment in his store. Stereo systems are one of the many services the store offers in its now 20 years of service. * Photo by CASEY GISCLAIR
