Oh... It's not a craving. I do not crave. I
binge. I can go months without and I feel fine. Not the same as being a alcoholic. I still binge although it happens rarely as compared to when I was younger it was every week or multiple times a week. I was a party hardy kind of person. Guzzling competitions and shooter races etc where sometimes everyday. Like a university party with extreme levels of consumption using as many fun methods of drinking as they can dream up and getting staggering impaired. That was me.
I never worked on commission which arguably saved me to be honest... The small business I worked in had us demming, selling, light servicing, installing and making up dedicated cabling etc. Simply being on a commission based selling situation would have been too limiting and aggressive I think.
You know the best way to deal with a possible alcoholic drink issue? Not having enough money to furnish the bingeing!!! I look back in abject horror at my life forty years ago and how I 'dealt' with depression with more booze than ideal.
Three things weaned me off - The first was having a chunky mortgage limiting my finances and limiting my binges. The second was my mother's passing and having to drive 'home' in the early hours in a state of shock, grief and numbness (I'd had a pal round for a meal and music session and bloody good job I'd not drunk much as happened when he'd visited before and I can't remember him leaving!). Third occasion was the removal of the need to get myself drunk once I met my better half and she agreed to marry me (silly lady
) back in the mid 90's. I still have a can or two, also maybe a pint when out, but I don't feel the *need* now - music deals with the highs rather than drugs/smokes etc...
Back to the OP and apologies again for the UK stance. Apart from a small handful of reasonably sized specialists who sell a small portfolio (such as the trio of Linn, Naim and Rega plus maybe a couple of others to sell up from), B&O franchises who don't know anything about the industry outside of the core product - intentionally I was told, the rest is basically chain stores I believe (from the top of my head, Audio T, Sevenoaks and Richer Sounds, the latter seemingly moving more upmarket). Maybe one or two small independents survive, but I'd suggest they're few and far between.