A HISTORY OF SUCCESS

Paul & Tony first met at Ohio University in Athens Ohio in 1968. They opened Paul and Tony’s TV & Stereo Warehouse in 1977 at 21 North Court Street, and have remained friends in business together to this day. Their first store was 11ft wide, 120ft long and located in the downtown business area, not far from the OU campus. In the day, music lovers on and off campus used turntables, stereo AM/FM receivers, cassette decks and open reel players and recorders. Car stereo was evolving from 8 track players to in-dash AM/FM cassette decks. America fell in love recording music onto cassette tapes.

Paul & Tony’s Stereo opened in State College at 315 ½ West Beaver Ave in 1981 among eight stereo stores competing for Centre County’s audio/video business. During the years that followed, Paul & Tony’s Stereo competed against and outlived competitors including Hi-Fi House, WES the Stereo Store, Campus Stereo, University Electronics, Electronics Unlimited, T&R Electronics, Wall to Wall Sound, Stereo Warehouse, Circuit City and others.

The Ohio store was lost in a block fire during the winter of 1983, leaving State College as the new and permanent home for Paul & Tony’s Stereo. Soon after, Charles Rider of Rider Auto presented Paul & Tony with a golden opportunity which resulted in the store moving to 121 South Burrowes Street. This retail location remained for over 20 years. This downtown facility allowed for Paul & Tony’s Stereo to expand its core business and provide car stereo installation year round. The business completed over 20,000 car stereo installations during this period.

New technology introductions had a tremendous impact on consumer buying decisions. The purchase of traditional stereo equipment slowed while the sales of personal computers, cell phones and Ipods exploded. Faced with these changes, Paul & Tony’s Stereo evolved and embraced the new world of Home Theatre and High Definition TV technologies.

To better meet the needs of our customers Paul & Tony’s Stereo purchased a building and moved to 1321 S. Atherton Street in 2005. The new location was very visible to the public, had easy access, more parking and was situated in the State College Borough community where Paul & Tony lived. The business focused on home owners interested in Home Theater and HDTV, with a special emphasis on installation.

For over 8 years, Paul & Tony’s Stereo designed and installed Home Theatre systems with a staff of trained installation technicians. The company provided a better home entertainment experience than our competitors with a serious emphasis on spectacular high definition pictures and high quality sound.

Due to the economy and marketplace changes Paul & Tony sold their building and reluctantly closed their car stereo installation business after 37 years. The downturn of the aftermarket car stereo business was driven by consumers accepting improved factory sound systems never before offered by car manufacturers. Additionally, the demand for car stereo subwoofers and amplifiers by young consumers declined dramatically.                        

In 2013, Paul and Tony’s Stereo moved next door to 1341 S. Atherton Street, Unit 1. Paul & Tony expanded their Sony Ultra High Definition 4K TV presentation and installation services to include wireless audio. New technology introductions evolved our showroom to include larger LED panels, Atmos Home Theatre and upscale speaker solutions.

In addition, the recent revival of vinyl records has created an increase in consumer demand for used and vintage audio equipment. Consistent with Paul & Tony’s history of change and proactive conduct a used and vintage audio department was opened. It has grown at retail and on-line in the form of an E-bay store with Power Seller status.

At the end of June 2018 and after 41 years in the consumer electronics business, Paul and Tony retired and closed their store.