Season's Greetings from Toob/Metro

[Gitterbug]

Hiya all! My one-man workshop has produced a record 141 speaker cabs this past year, 27% unit growth and geographic expansion to 33 countries. USA and Germany tie for the top market spot. I owe a lot to this Forum, which luckily is not as paranoid about vested interest as some others. I also owe some Forum members for threads that have enhanced the role of speakers as the ultimate link in the signal chain. They have brought the conversation to sophisticated levels.

During the year, there's been numerous overseas inquiries. Many begin with the question: where can I buy your products in USA? Understandably, not everyone is comfortable dealing with a small, faraway party invoicing in a strange currency. I hope to break some good news on this score early in 2023. Until then, thanks for the support and happy holidays!

Best,

Markku

[Stringswinger]

Merry Christmas Markuu!

[NSJ]

I can say I got two TOOBs from Markuu, shipped with no issues whatsoever from Finland to Northern California, in a matter of days. Fantastic customer service.

These TOOBs are gonna come in really handy when playing around in very small places. Thank you and seasons greetings. I just learned about the 40below C temps in Lapland where the trees are so covered in snow, they look like something from outer space.

[Christian Miller]

Merry Christmas!

[Cunamara]

Merry Christmas, Markku, and congratulations on bringing something new and original to guitar speaker design.

[Spook410]

Hope you have a great holiday Markku. You are always so generous with your insights and experience. Knowledge is the best gift of all. So, thank you. And iloista joulua..

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I just fixd the wallpaper in the bathroom, put the snow tires on both cars, and added water to the humidifiers. I wish everything I owned was as fun, reliable and easy to care for as my Toobs

Here's to a great holiday season and a better year for all!

David

[guavajelly]

It's good to see a small business succeed with a very unique product. It's good to hear that guitarists in the USA are interested in your products. I think it's a blessing for small businesses like yours to have the EU as a market that can be catered without a big distribution organisation.
A couple of years ago I had contact to a similar small operation in the UK. I couldn't decide to buy before Brexit came and complicated things and íncreased prices a lot. The builder told me that Brexit would probably ruin his business. I hope he manages to stay afloat.
Having / having no access to a market like the EU can make or break a business – especially for a niche product.

All the best,

Stephan

[Gitterbug]

Thanks for all the encouraging comments! No EU, no social media, no Toob. Fortunately, the US customs practices are frictionless - the record from shipping in Helsinki to a doorstep in Brooklyn is 24 hours. Quite a few units went to the UK, Brexit notwithstanding. The local duties and service charges are actually less than the Finnish VAT of 24% which applied pre-Brexit, but delivery times got extended.