In the 1960s, Dick Scott owned a TV repair and rental shop at Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base. His bowling buddy Gene DeRousie was an Olympia phone company technician. Dick began asking Gene for help repairing audio equipment for his customers, so Gene set up a little shop behind his house. The early beginnings of Desco Audio & Video began to form, and the two friends officially went into business together in the summer of 1969 by opening Desco on Olympia’s west side.
Named after a combination of the two men’s’ last names, Desco has always provided Thurston County residential and commercial customers with unparalleled expertise and customer service for every electronics need, from sound systems and home theaters, to home automation, video surveillance, intrusion alarms, and more.
Jeffrey Scott – son of Dick Scott and now the company’s co-owner and vice president – began working at Desco when he was just 15.
“I first started cleaning the bathrooms and doing deliveries, and then worked all through high school and community college,” says Jeffrey. He then went to the University of Washington and worked at Magnolia Hi-Fi for two years before returning to Olympia to finish school at St. Martins University – and Desco.
“When I was going to college, I didn’t think I’d follow in my dad’s footsteps,” Jeffrey says with a laugh. “But I liked the electronics business and I loved music. For me, it’s all about hi-fi – though I do have a passion for movies, too.”
Desco specializes in system design and installation, creating fantastic high-performance audio/video systems that are easy to use.
With 14 employees, Desco has licensed low-voltage electricians, a friendly set-up and delivery crew, experienced system designers, a service manager and a full support staff.
Everyone at Desco is committed to the highest level of customer service.
“We specialize in having extreme depth of knowledge about our product,” says Jeffrey. “You can pick up the phone and call us, describe the problem with your system, and we can walk you through it and help you fix it – usually over the phone. Because we understand A/V systems so well and any problems that might come up.”
Over the years, Desco moved into a lot more than just audio and video. “Now it’s whole-home electronics,” explains Jeffrey.
“In a home, you have lighting, heating, TVs, music, an alarm system and video cameras for video surveillance,” he continues. “We have ways of tying those all into one control interface, where you can have touch-panel or iPad to control it all.”
Desco also designs systems for networking, network storage, and file storage. “We do a lot of movie servers and music servers,” Jeffrey says. “If you want to build a file server and centralize your data, we do all that, as well.”
But Desco concentrates on more than just superior home electronics.
“We do a lot of commercial work, too,” says Jeffrey. Desco has installed music and entertainment systems in the medical field (ex.: Fisher Jones Family Dentistry), conference room meeting and communication systems (ex.: AWB, City of Olympia), and many sports bar systems (ex.: O’Blarney’s Irish Pub, River’s Edge Bar & Grill, Native New Yorker and The Red Wind Casino).
Desco has successfully competed for years with the big box stores, and they’ve done it with superior customer service, competitive prices, and a level of electronics knowledge that simply can’t be found in a chain store.
But thanks to a new trend, dubbed “showrooming,” Desco and the big guys are both fighting to garner new customers.
“The Big Box stores are struggling because of showrooming” says Jeffrey, “which means going into a store with your iPhone and looking at a product, seeing how it works and how you like it, and then getting on the Internet, finding it cheaper, and buying it online.”
“It’s not just the local guys anymore,” Jeffrey says of this new challenge to traditional bricks-and-mortar storefronts. “The whole retail world is reeling from this phenomenon.”
Jeffrey thinks people need to be increasingly aware of the implications of not supporting businesses that has a presence in the community. A viable community is one where the residents support each other and keep the money local.
After 43 years in West Olympia, Desco has amassed thousands of loyal customers. “We have great customers who are awesome,” Jeffrey says. “They really value what we do.”
So if you’re looking for quality electronics for your home or business at exceptional prices along with highly knowledgeable service, contact or visit Desco AV for a free consultation.
Visit the Desco website and Facebook page to learn more.
Desco Audio and Video
2306 Harrison Ave NW
Olympia, WA 98502
360.943.1393
