NW Audio Visual moving downtown
TONY BROWN/STAFF PHOTO
Northwest Audio Visual owner Brett McLain sits atop a large subwoofer in the midst of a rear-screen projection rig available for lease through his business. The formerly home-based business will officially move downtown this summer to a two-story building McLain has purchased at 202 E. Third St. on the southeast corner of the courthouse square.
A new business will soon be welcoming customers in downtown Maryville.
The doors won’t be officially open until renovations are complete this summer, but Northwest Audio Visual owner Brett McLain said he’s already had a few walk-ins at the business’ new location at 202 E. Third St. on the southeast corner of the courthouse square.
For more than six years, McLain has been running his operation — which has installed everything from storefront security cameras to the giant sound system incorporated into the new scoreboard and video screen at Bearcat Stadium — out of a van and his home just outside Maryville.
But the 1996 Maryville High School alumnus said Monday he’s been looking for a bricks-and-mortar commercial location almost from the beginning.
The opportunity arrived when the Student Body, a branded clothing store specializing in Bearcat and Spoofhound gear, moved to its new location on West Fourth Street.
Actually, McLain said he had his eye on the same former convenience store purchased and remodeled by Student Body owners Jim and Amy Goecken back in 2013, but the couple acted too quickly.
“Jim and Amy bought it before I could get a bid in,” McLain said. “But then they said, ‘Well, our building is for sale.’”
So the deal was done.
And as things have worked out, McLain said he thinks he’s found an ideal headquarters for his business, which has been expanding into such areas as custom car stereos and home theaters in addition to commercial audio-visual installations, teleconferencing facilities and equipment rentals.
In addition to 2,000 square feet of retail space, which McLain is reconfiguring into a soundproof car stereo demonstration room, home theater demonstration area and merchandise displays, the building also contains a basement accessible through an overhead door that is large enough to house a three-car automotive installation area.
In addition, McLain plans on setting up a conference room where commercial customers can try out the latest e-conferencing, public address, background music and security gear.
As a secondary business, McLain is also renovating the building’s four second-story residential apartments, which he hopes to offer for rent later this year.
“I’ve been wanting to do this for quite a few years,” McLain said of acquiring a building downtown. “It’s just better for customer relations. Even though we’re not officially open yet, we’ve already had customers walking in.”
He added that locating his business in Maryville’s traditional retail district has been a long-held ambition.
“I wanted either to be on (the downtown portion of) Main Street or somewhere on the square,” McLain said. “I believe it’s better for business, better for visibility.”
Now that he’s bought the building and begun renovations, McLain said he is eager to take an active role as a member of a downtown business community that appears to be in resurgence with the success of such enterprises as Carson’s Sports Grille, Simply Siam and Rapid Refill.
He’s one of the organizers of this year’s Greater Maryville Chamber of Commerce Northwest Missouri Home and Better Living Show, set for March 22, and plans on participating in ongoing development initiatives through the newly formed Maryville Downtown Improvement Organization.
“I think downtown is coming back,” McLain said.
McLain gained his audio-visual expertise working for CTI Audio in Kansas City before deciding to return to his hometown and go into business for himself.
At CTI, he helped design and install multi-million-dollar boardrooms for major corporations like Boeing, Cessna and Budweiser.
The combination of big-time corporate experience and small-town entrepreneurial spirit has paid off, said McLain, who maintains a staff of three full-time employees.
He said his growing business has served customers across an area extending south to north from Overland Park, Kansas, well into Iowa and east to west from Bethany to Rock Port.
For more information about services and merchandise available from Northwest Audio Visual, call 660.853.2319, go to nw-av.com or email [email protected].
