World Wide Stereo’s new home is a 5,000 sq. ft. ‘Experience Center’ at 218 E. Lancaster Ave. in Wayne. The circa-1964 building first housed J. P. Burke Tire Co., last housed a CBD/kratom shop, and for many years in between was home to Starbucks.
Prepare to scrape your jaws off the floor, folks – World Wide Stereo in Wayne is a WOW!!!
Newly opened in the old Starbucks, it’s a welcome 180 from that sketchy CBD/kratom shop that Radnor township wisely gave the boot after a hot minute. It’s also a snazzy upgrade over its former Main Line home in Ardmore.
Indeed, World Wide Stereo Wayne is way more than a store – it’s a show-and-tell emporium: a place – for homeowners, builders, architects and designers – to not just see the latest in smart tech and whiz-bang entertainment, but to experience it.
It’s sensory overload – in a good way.
Shop simply – for a classic vinyl album, a TV for your patio, or headphones for the deck. Or geek out on back-to-the-future turntables, whipsmart sound and video, and intuitive lighting, privacy and security solutions.
Covet those limited-edition Bowers & Wilkins “Abbey Road” speakers? Only 140 were produced worldwide but you can score one here for a cool $35K, $70K for the pair.
Fancy a retro flipboard like the one at 30th Street station? Well, clickety clack.
Carol Merrill, aka yours truly Caroline Mangan O’Halloran, at the retro flip-board above the classic vinyl collection at World Wide Stereo in Wayne. The changeable signs are controlled by iPad and have been popular sellers at World Wide Stereo.
“We like to say we have from mild to wild,” explains World Wide Stereo CEO Andrew Davis. “What that means is we really do have something for pretty much everyone, regardless of budget. While this showroom is designed to inspire and show what’s possible, World Wide Stereo has an incredible diversity of price points in products.”
WWS’s in-house design team divided the circular floor plan into “immersive zones.” Among them, a stylish living room, a sleek kitchen, an amped-up music room, two verdant patios, a cutting-edge home theater, and tricked-out bath and conference rooms.
World Wide Stereo/Gramophone Managing Partner Andrew Davis, Chief Marketing Officer Emily Cole (daughter of WWS founder Bob Cole), and Ryan Rumer, son of longtime sales director Ron Rumer in WWS’s new Experience Center in Wayne.
Each zone showcases tech – some sneakily hidden, some chicly in-your-face, most controlled unobtrusively by iPad or keypad. What you won’t find here: confusing banks of wall switches with dimmers. They’re so 2020.
Marvel at speakers suited to the pages of Architectural Digest, subwoofers that masquerade as garden décor, TVs as thin as wallpaper, flatscreens that dissolve into framed art when not in use, and clear glass that turns opaque with the push of a button.
Behold lighting that changes with your circadian rhythms, the seasons, or your desired vibe. Pro tip: Ask the team to turn a bowl of oranges on the kitchen island into a bowl of tomatoes. Mind, blown.
Take a peek:
“We can have a lot of fun with lighting to set the mood,” says Davis. “We see a lot of customers who’ve spent an incredible amount to remodel a kitchen or bathroom or build a new home but they didn’t match the lighting.”
Put your feet up in a soundproof cinematic home theater where dialogue emanates from the screen like a Broadway play, acoustically-treated walls magically transform voices, and music reverberate from 14 speakers hidden in the ceiling. This is one sound bath you’ll definitely want to soak in.
Admire any of the showroom’s furnishings or art? They’re all for sale.
Older Main Line estates, new construction and condo buildings each present their own wiring and Wi-Fi challenges, Davis tells SAVVY. Because installing home technology this advanced can get complicated, World Wide Stereo sends out its own trained electricians.
In 45 years, the company has a come a long way since those folksy “Bob and Ron” radio spots you may remember.
Founder Bob Cole opened his flagship in Montgomeryville in 1979 and expanded to Ardmore in 2000. Last year WWS partnered with Maryland-based Gramophone. Cole has retired but salesman extraordinaire Ron Rumer is still with WWS, as are his son, Ryan, and Bob’s daughter, Emily Cole, who directs marketing.
The company transplanted its flag to Wayne when its Ardmore lease expired and started a massive buildout last winter. Infrastructure was failing and the roof needed replacement, stretching construction – inside and out – to seven months.
With no 90-degree angles, the circular building was “an incredible design challenge,” Davis confides.
At first skeptical about a roundhouse that wasn’t turnkey, Davis quickly came around. “I fell in love with the town and its walkability,” Davis shares. “And with South Wayne Porch Fest, Wayne Music Festival, and 118 North, this is a community with a really strong music culture.”
He even began to embrace the building’s quirky curviness.
“The fact that it’s completely round works for a music-oriented company. From Google Earth, it looks like a vinyl album!” Davis enthuses.
He didn’t mention it but isn’t “theater in the round” is a thing, too?
World Wide Stereo Experience Center, 218 E. Lancaster Ave., Wayne, 610-557-8171, [email protected], is open Mon. to Thurs. 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Friday 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Closed Sundays. Cars and Coffee: Wayne Edition Saturday, Oct. 18. Additional in-store events TBA.
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