After about 30 years in the business, Greg Nettles is calling it quits — kind of.

Nettles sold The Stereo Shoppe earlier this month to two longtime employees, Craig Adams and Raymond Verveckken, for an undisclosed amount. But Nettles will stay in the store as a salesperson through at least the end of the year.

Nettles said he decided to retire because he got tired. He spent the past few years working long hours, six days a week, to keep the independent business afloat through the economic crisis, while helping his wife battle cancer and raise five children.

"I've always said that when I start showing up to work, and I'm not looking forward to it, I'm not enjoying it, it's probably time for me to look at doing something else," Nettles said.

Nettles said that after he stops working as a salesperson in the store, on West Fairview Avenue near Maple Grove Road, he'll probably "end up back in this industry in some form, either [working] for a manufacturer or something else."

The store made its name by going farther than just selling a product, Nettles said.

The shop's product is "the whole experience," including designing media systems for customers' homes, he said. If a customer buys a television, someone from The Stereo Shoppe will come to the house, hang the TV, hide all the extraneous wires and components, and provide a remote control that's easy for the customer to use, he said.

Though new owners are taking over, customers should expect the same individualized service that has kept the business alive despite big-box competition and a long draught in consumer spending, Adams said.

"Do we want to change some things in the future? Sure," Adams said. He wouldn't go into detail, but he said the business is looking at expanding into "new avenues the electronics industry is going [down]."

Audrey Dutton: 377-6408