A number of specialized Focal branded home stores can be found around the country, But the first of these stores to include a car audio section will be offered by Texas retailer Mobile Toys Inc.
The stores are called “Focal Powered by Naim” shops, with Naim being a Focal home audio brand. Most of them use store-within-a-store layouts but some around the world are freestanding shops.
Mobile Toys Focal store will be a store within a store shop. It will cover about 1,500 square feet at one of the store’s two locations. It will include a separate area with two demo vehicles outfitted with Focal speakers, then a high end listening room for 2-channel home audio (including tower speakers) with a head phone bar to sample high end headphones. A third room will focus on in-wall speakers and custom installed products.
The target opening date is mid-summer, said Mobile Toys owner Chris Pate, but this remains an estimate.
Pate has owned Mobile Toys for the past 12 years and he has worked in car audio for 20 years. “Focal approached us. In the 20 or so odd years of doing this, I’ve been with Focal in one form or another. We currently produce their [speaker] enclosures for them, we work on a number of products for them. I’ve been one of their head tech support guys, so it was a natural thing to do together.”
Mobile Toys has two high end custom audio shops that carry brands (in addition to Focal, Mosconi, Illusion) including Pioneer, Alpine, Kenwood, JL Audio,Wet Sounds, Stinger, Oracle Lighting, Rigid Industries and more. Mobile Toys also operates an MTI Acoustics division that produces speaker enclosures and pods for other retailers and for consumers.
Regarding Focal Powered by Naim, while there are many store-within-a store audio shops around the country, the first and only standalone location in the US is through retailer Grid HiFi. This Focal Powered by Naim shop opened last year and is adjacent to Grid HiFi. Coincidentally it is run by manager Jeff Pate, no relation to Chris.
