Meet Philippe Luder of Tivoli Hi-Fi & Home Cinema in Camberwell
Meet Philippe Luder of Tivoli Hi-Fi & Home Cinema in Camberwell.
The owners of Tivoli Hi-Fi & Home Cinema have built their success upon a solid foundation of exceptional customer service and technical expertise.
For more than 40 years, the store has been servicing the needs of music lovers in the Camberwell area and surrounds.
So, what is it about Tivoli Hi-Fi & Home Cinema that keeps generation after generation of loyal customers coming back?
Tivoli Hi-Fi & Home Cinema’s charismatic Swiss-born owner, Philippe Luder, has a theory.
“It’s probably not our good looks,” he said.
“I think it’s expertise coupled with honest value.
“We’re not about stacking ‘em high, selling ‘em low, and offering free steak knives to go with it.
“If you want value in terms of spend versus performance, I think that’s what gets people to keep coming back.”
From humble beginnings to success
Travel back in time several decades to the early 1970s, when Mr Luder was a young immigrant from Switzerland who was working as a technician for Philips.
Full of passion for the industry, Mr Luder and a friend decided to follow their dream and open a business of their own in 1973. They called it Tivoli Hi-Fi and Stereo Repairs and were initially based on Cotham Rd in Kew.
“It was fantastic,” Mr Luder said.
“All you had to do was pay $10, register a business and you were off and running.
“This was at the beginning of high fidelity in Australia.”
Soon after opening, the store began to sell quality hi-fi equipment in addition to providing repairs – a winning formula to this day.
In 1976, they incorporated and became Tivoli Hi-Fi & Home Cinema, and later moved from Kew to Glenferrie Rd in Hawthorn, and eventually into their current digs in Camberwell Rd in 1982.
“We’re very close to the Camberwell Junction, so it’s a good location,” Mr Luder said.
The move proved successful, and nowadays, they have nine dedicated listening rooms where customers can sample their hi-fi and stereo equipment.
The store stocks all of the latest brands and technologies and offers on-site audio and hi-fi assessments in customers’ homes.
Service with a smile
Over the years, Tivoli Hi-Fi & Home Cinema have strived to deliver outstanding customer service, always keeping abreast of the latest industry developments.
“Our referral business is really strong,” Mr Luder said.
“We welcome anybody and will give them all the time they need to get things right, we never rush anyone.”
Mr Luder runs the store with his wife, Erica, as well as their team of staff.
He rarely ventures on to the sales floor anymore, preferring to work his magic behind the scenes.
And despite being a few years shy of 70, Mr Luder has no plans of slowing down anytime soon.
“I’ve never done anything else,” he said.
“What got me into this from the word go is my love for music, I guess, and training technically in an area that deals with music in terms of its electronic amplification and reproduction.
“I’m not often on the floor anymore, it’s a bit of a young man’s game, but occasionally I go in and I meet some old-timers like myself and enjoy having a good old chat.”
Mr Luder said they had no plans to move to a bigger outlet, but would grow in other ways.
“One is always looking for ways of providing an even better service to the customer, and that’s the way I see us evolving,” he said.
Visit the store
155 Camberwell Rd, Hawthorn East
Phone: (03) 9813 3533 or 1800 848 654
Visit their website: https://www.tivolihifi.com
A music store in Camberwell, which has been independently owned and operated for almost 50 years, is still in fine tune.
Music Junction sells an extensive range of musical instruments and equipment including guitars and amps, pianos and keyboards, drums and percussion, brass and woodwind, as well as orchestral strings, recording equipment and print music.
Located on Camberwell Rd, near the historic Rivoli cinemas, the store also specialises in selling parts for musical instruments and offers repair services.
Store manager Tony Lugton has been working at Music Junction for 26 years and said everyone from students, including absolute beginners to young seasoned players, professional musicians and teachers were regular customers at the store.
Mr Lugton said the store originally started out as a Yamaha music shop before the current owner, Palmi Snorrason, took the reins.
Snorrason played vibraphone and accordion professionally in Tasmania before moving to Melbourne in 1967 and joining Academy Music in Camberwell as a teacher.
In June that year, Snorrason saw an opportunity within the business and opened what is now known as Music Junction.
Mr Lugton said in the decades the store has been operating, some of Melbourne’s best musicians have been through its doors.
“We are probably one of the oldest music stores around,” he said.
With its rich heritage and staff members that contribute years of knowledge and experience, Music Junction can share expertise on a range of areas including live performance, studio performance, home and studio recording, setups, repairs, buying and selling.
Mr Lugton said over the past 20 years there had been a shift in the way people liked to shop for musical instruments.
“We’re now seeing a lot more customers going online first to look at our product range. This is why it has been so important for us to have a good website that shows our complete range,” he said.
“Most people who visit us in store have found us online first.”
Part of the shift has also seen Music Junction refine their product range to give customers what they want, Mr Lugton said.
“We try to sell the lines that people are actually interested in,” he said.
“We’ve also brought some lines in ourselves that have been very successful, such as Chapman Guitars. We’re the only ones in Australia that sell Chapman Guitars.”
Chapman Guitars originated in the UK and was established by Rob Chapman. The company claims to be the first to design guitars with a collaborative approach – the designs, features and specs of the guitars are determined by the votes of Chapman’s YouTube subscribers and online polls on his website.
This means the guitars are made from materials and include features chosen by the very people interested in the product and likely to buy it.
“Stocking Chapman Guitars is just one example of how we’ve responded to what our customers want,” Mr Lugton said.
“We’ve found what brands work for us and we’ve kept it to that.”
Whether you’re in the market for a new musical instrument, need a current instrument repaired or simply want to check out one of Melbourne’s oldest music stores, give Music Junction in Camberwell a visit.
Want to know more? Be sure to visit the store
204 Camberwell Rd, Camberwell
Phone: (03) 9882 7331
Visit: musicjunction.com.au
Camberwell is a haven for those who value top quality music equipment. Enthusiasts will find an extensive range of high end equipment and servicing as well as fellow aficionados to learn from. We can even cater for those who prefer to make their own music.
Located in the heart of Camberwell Junction, Sight and Sound Galleria offers a range of electronic products that merge excellent performance with beautiful form. The store is Melbourne’s No.1 destination to choose from the world’s most desirable brands, including Bose.
For many years JB was located up on Burke Hill stretched across a number of small shops, but moved into the upper level of the new shopping plaza – The Well when it opened in 2010. It was established when their focus was on Hi Fi and recorded music but has grown to include other electronic equipment, music and games and boast that they offer ‘the best brands at the best prices’
Enthusiasts will find an extensive range of high end equipment and servicing as well as fellow aficionados to learn from.
Established and still owned by Swiss electronics technician Philippe Luder, this store has been in Camberwell for over 25 years and it success is as much about their staff and service as it is about their quality and range of products. When they recognised the growth of home cinema and multi-room systems they created nine demonstration rooms. The team have an almost encyclopaedic knowledge to assist you and can even arrange in-home demonstrations to make sure their recommendations work beyond your expectations. They also have a unique trade in service, to update and upgrade your existing equipment. The store also stocks Bang & Olufsen products.
You will find a range of musical instruments, particularly guitars as well as accessories, amps, mikes, stands. If you like to make your own music you probably already know about Music Junction, they have been selling instruments and accessories to local students, wannabe rock stars and actual rock stars for years. They also have an extensive range of sheet music and music books.