Audio Visual Electronics yesterday unveiled its newly-expanded showroom in the heart of Hamilton.The Washington Street store, which had less than 500 square feet of floor space, only had room to sell and service cell phones and small electronics. But now that it’s expanded into the space next door, the company has more than 1,600 square feet of room to showcase flat screen TVs, home theatre systems, Blu Ray and DVD players, audio systems, tablets, smartphones, accessories and more.The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the expansion took place almost 15 years to the day since the company incorporated. Owner Kevin Davies said it was a labour of love — with he and his six staff members doing all the renovations — everything from tearing down walls to laying carpet and painting.“This was all done by staff and we remained open during the whole thing,” Mr Davies said.“We were always eyeing space and trying to find ways to expand, but never wanting to move because people know where we are. And then this space right next to us became available and we jumped right on it.”Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Patrice Minors attended the ribbon-cutting and praised businesses like Audio Visual who are customer-focused, successful and expanding despite the sluggish economy.“To open up or even expand a business during this particular economy is a difficult decision to make but one that will reap rewards in the long term,” she said. “If someone is able, as an entrepreneur, to open up a business or expand the business during this particular economy, they will surely flourish once the time turns around.”Ms Minors said she was particularly impressed by the fact that the store’s renovations were a team effort.“What also struck me as being quite impressive is their commitment to the training of their staff,” she said. “Recognising that your customer service is important and having a skilled staff makes for a happy customer, makes for improved business.”Mr Davies takes great pride in his company’s customer service.“We have a pretty dedicated core of staff,” he said. “They know their stuff and really take it very seriously and very personally and I think that’s why the customer service is good.“It’s not always perfect we make mistakes — everybody makes mistakes. But we do the best we can and we look out for our customers.”The store’s expansion and the company’s success hasn’t been without obstacles, challenges and setbacks. The company opened its first store in Somerset in 1997. A month later, someone broke into the store, stole some items, set a fire and burned the place to the ground. A month after that, they were back up and running.The company opened its Hamilton store on September 1, 2001 — just days before the 9/11 tragedy.“We may be removed from the States, but at that point in time people were really nervous,” Mr Davies said. “There was a real uncertainty in the world. People didn’t know how it was going to affect the markets and the global economy — not to mention the local economy so there was a lot of uncertainty. But again, we persevered.“As recently as the spring, we had a bus roll back and go through the front window of our store. So we’ve always had obstacles, but I think it’s all in the way you handle those obstacles — if you keep trying and you don’t give up, there are rewards to be had.”Mr Davies said the economy, what many see as one of the greatest obstacles for business in Bermuda today, could be seen as an opportunity for entrepreneurs.“I think it is an obstacle for businesses but you have to base your business model on knowing what your customer needs. You can’t just bring in products and hope everyone’s going to buy them. You need to know what your customer wants,” he said.“That really is the barometer of what you need to bring in. Listen to your customers. When they request stuff, we try our hardest to bring it in because if one person’s asking for it, other people are going to want it as well.“If there’s an entrepreneur out there, now is the best time to start a business. I mean, most people think the exact opposite — they think the economy’s uncertain, I’m not going to risk it, but rents are now at a ten-year low. Landlords are really flexible — they’re really willing to work with people and to get them in and get their spaces occupied.“So, for any entrepreneur out there that’s looking to start a business, now is the perfect time. There’s the payroll tax relief that’s been in place for a year and a half which really helps out businesses — it’s helped us out a lot. It’s quite a lot of money every quarter so that really helps out a lot. It also puts more money into the economy because our staff has more disposable income. So that’s a trickle-down effect you can see in the local economy.”The secret to Audio Visual’s success, Mr Davies says, is staying on top of the trends.“Retail has got to be a dynamic process,” he said. “You have to always know what your customer wants and adjust your product offerings accordingly or else you’re not going to keep up with the times.“The other part of it is having revenue streams from different areas. We do retail — we sell cell phones, we sell TVs we sell cell phone and audio-visual accessories. We also service phones so there’s always traffic, and I think the key to it — having multiple revenue streams so you’ve always got traffic coming through.”Mr Davies is optimistic about the future and says it’s an exciting time to be in the electronics business.“We have a convergence of three technologies that were always very independent — computers, televisions and cell phones. They were always three separate things and now, the lines between those three technologies are really blurry and it’s all converging into one technology. I think that we are well place to take advantage of that.“We have a Samsung smartphone — you can view content from that smartphone on your Samsung TV. You can even use the phone as a remote control for your Samsung TV. You can share content even if you’re not in the same house. If I were on vacation, I could show you content from my phone on your TV. It’s really a neat time.”The hottest product in-store now?“The iPad Mini. We got them in yesterday. Right now, you can’t even buy these things in the States.”In celebration of the store’s expansion, Audio Visual is taking ten percent off everything in the store (except for the iPhone 5s) now through Saturday.