EXCLUSIVE: Silent Investor In Lifestyle Store Linked Theatre Business Looks For Owner Operators

10 months ago it was billed as a revolutionary new home theatre concept. Now the silent investor in the Lifestyle Store-linked business is looking to sell management of the stores to owner operators, in an effort to get a return on his initial investment, or alternatively franchise the stores.

Meanwhile, the shareholders in the Lifestyle store who also own a share of the Theatre At Home network of retail stores are looking for a new investor for the seven store network that are located in premium high traffic retail outlets.

Danny Assabgy (Seen below), the CEO of Sydney-based Hudson Homes and Investment Company Equiti, has told ChannelNews that one way he could get a return on his initial investment, which is believed to be over $5M, is to sell the rights to a Theatre At Home store to owner managers, with the Lifestyle store “carrying inventory, programming the electronics, delivery and installation”.

When ChannelNews exclusively revealed the existence of the stores we were told by Vinod Christie, the CEO of the Lifestyle Store in Sydney, that they anticipated generating $30M a year and up to $104M a year in sales over time.

According to Assabgy the business, which currently has six stores with a seventh due to open in Brisbane, the business has achieved approximately 450 to 500 customers.

Insiders have told ChannelNews that the average sale is between $18K and $20K.

A ‘Join Our Brand’ document sent to ChannelNews by Assabgy claims that a store owner who invests in the business will get ‘Design Supply, Installation Marketing, Home Shows & Exhibitions, Website, Visual Merchandise, Social Media, Warehouse Support, Pre-Programming, Quality Testing, Survey Reports, a Showroom License, and World Class Brands & Technology’.

There is no mention of an upfront investment fee, or how much a store owner will have to pay, or whether a store owner has to pay a percentage of the marketing costs going forward.

The profile of the Theatre At Home customer has been described as “Mum and Dad” consumers looking for a better entertainment experience.

Currently the business is partnering with Sonos for wireless speaker and soundbars, Klipsch as their speaker partner, Onkyo and Yamaha for amplification, and Epson for projection. Initially the business promoted BenQ projectors.

In addition to this, Control4 was selected as their control partner, with observers claiming that both the lighting and projectors will, by the end of this year, be able to be controlled via a Matter management system such as Samsung SmartThings, Google Home, Amazon Alexa or an Apple solution.

The move away from a Control 4 offering could further reduce the cost of an installation.

ChannelNews understands that the business has already had discussions with DC Strategy, an organisation who describe themselves as ‘Strategy franchise consultants’ who have robust experience in all aspects of franchising, including designing and creating new franchise offers as well as changing existing ones to better meet new and evolving business strategies.

This is the same Company that worked with JB Hi-Fi and the former The Good Guys management when they acquired The Good Guys retail chain.