Now for some good news...

Looks like demand has exceeded capacity & McIntosh is expanding in Binghamton...Great news!! :yes:

From WBNG.com

Binghamton, NY (WBNG Binghamton) McIntosh Laboratories is known worldwide for its hand-crafted, high quality audio equipment. According to the CEO, the company has run out of space.

"The company has grown to a point where we're out of space internally," said McIntosh CEO Charlie Randall. "We’re under the investigation phase as to expand the facility, or go to a second shift operation. It’s actually easier to expand the facility than to put on a second shift."

Randall said the company is going through the process of getting financial and city approvals to expand.

The addition would be put on the right side of the Chambers Street building.

Randall said the expansion would likely create 6-7 office jobs and 15-20 manufacturing jobs.

He said McIntosh hasn't felt the blow of the bad economy as much as other companies because of its high quality product that appeals to major clients.

"McIntosh has been very fortunate on its own to experience year over year growth of about 10 percent," said Randall. "So it's doubled its revenue within a 10 year period."

Randall estimates the expansion would cost more than $4 million, and hopes to start breaking ground as early as this spring.

"If we get all the approvals and the estimates come in to where we like them to be, it'll probably be some time in April or May," said Randall.

You only need year over year growth of 7%/year to get a compounded doubling of revenue in a 10 year period - so they've done even better. This is to be highly commended in today's market of iPhone's and bluetooth speakers.

And there's a thread going in the General forum about "the death of HIFI....."

Obviously not in Binghampton!!

I'm glad they're not going with a second shift. If something went wrong with my Mc gear I'd assume I got one made at 2am!

That's awesome! Its really great to hear that McIntosh is not simply surviving, but is actually thriving.

I'm sure having their products available at some best buy helps get the product to a lot more people.

Jerryfan said:

I'm sure having their products available at some best buy helps get the product to a lot more people.

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While I'm sure that this is great for marketing in terms of generating public awareness of the brand, I can't imagine ever buying a Mac from BB after only hearing it inside of such a horrible listening environment.

Magnolia HiFi used to be a chain of genuine audio stores, not just a sign in the corner of yet another big box store.

My local best buy does not have a Magnolia Hi-Fi section, but it does have a separate area at the back for higher end audio and HT stuff (why they haven't thrown up a Magnolia sign is beyond me). That area has several separate testing rooms, away from that "horrible listening environment."

Great to hear.

4-2-7 said:

We Did It​

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Sadly I didn't help any With my shallow pockets my Mac gear has to be used for me to be able to bring it home:sigh:.

This is excellent news - kudos to McIntosh! As a small business owner I've always admired McIntosh's philosophy. The McIntosh brand name has always meant the very same thing to its owners for some 65+ years - quality, performance, and pride of ownership being just a few of the brand's attributes. That is some feat. There are other brands that can also say this, but not electronics brands. Guinness (beer), Rolex, and Rolls Royce are three that come to mind.

I think one of the things I've admired most about McIntosh is that from the very beginning Mr. McIntosh recognized that the success of his company was due to the people he employed. When I read the Mc book, I'm simply fascinated by all of the personalities that together made up McIntosh at any given time.

<rant> Corporate America, shame on you. Stop studying cost cutting and start studying McIntosh. </rant>

Not sure I would include Rolls Royce but agree otherwise. I hope the company does something with the repair department as it seems to now have a terrible reputation. Also, bring back the long term parts support as it seems in some threads to have been changed to little better than many other decent companies.

This is what future CEOs are being taught these days. It is the new measuring stick. IMO however, there are a few who know in their gut (usually not those who went to those ivy league business places of learning) that know it is the people that make a great company. Look at all those formerly great companies and you will see they forgot about the people that got them there.

damacman said:

This is excellent news - kudos to McIntosh! ...



<rant> Corporate America, shame on you. Stop studying cost cutting and start studying McIntosh. </rant>

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Good news for qualified people looking for work in that type of industry.

As someone mentioned before, quality is the reason Mc gets my money. My only peeve is warranty. For a company that prides itself in quality and produces it, three years seems a little short and why can't you transfer a warranty to a new owner? Automobile manufactures can do it. It's as simple as registering.

Just like the American automobile industry. Other country's started offering longer warranty's, after awhile if the American manufactures wanted to compete they were forced to offer longer warranty's. Maybe this "niche" is so small it'll never happen.

I would also hope that Mc realizes that the Mc vintage community at large has helped spread the word and keep the passion alive in the ups and downs - so much so I would gather to say that Mc people in general are a very serious, educated, well-meaning, curious, get-it-done right, well-meaning, and helping bunch of people that I ever met. So much so I hope they go back to making so many of the vintage parts that are NLA, but I doubt this will happen. Good news though in this day and age.

CountD said:

I would also hope that Mc realizes that the Mc vintage community at large has helped spread the word and keep the passion alive in the ups and downs - so much so I would gather to say that Mc people in general are a very serious, educated, well-meaning, curious, get-it-done right, well-meaning, and helping bunch of people that I ever met. So much so I hope they go back to making so many of the vintage parts that are NLA, but I doubt this will happen. Good news though in this day and age.

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Word of Mouth is the best sales strategy.

Every happy customer gets you something like 5-7 new customers.

Every un happy customer costs you hundreds of sales.

Don't believe it, look at how fast Maytag vaporized with a dog product and support strategy with the Neptune.

When you sell a business, in most cases the biggest asset is "goodwill" aka the customer base.

OP:

Thanks for posting. That's good news for the Triple Cities (Binghamton, Johnson City, and Endicott - and you can throw in Vestal and all the other burbs). That area has seen a lot of bad news over the last 40 or so years, so some good news about a local company expanding is great.

Well, unfortunately I can't help immediately as I presently have all the McIntosh I need - at the moment. But in about 10 years, I'll be buying more!

Glad to hear that some companies can do something right! Companies that offer a high quality product deserve to survive.