McClelland Sound builds on long tradition of customer service

McClelland Sound can be heard in a lot of places around Wichita, across Kansas and even in Oklahoma.

Century II Convention Center, Wichita State University’s Koch Arena, Hartman Arena and Kansas Star Casino are some of the more higher-profile local sites where the 87-year-old company’s work can be found.

Herbert “Mac” McClelland opened McClelland Sound in 1928. In the early years, the business provided portable sound systems at public events, including baseball games, political campaign speeches and rodeos.

Today the company has evolved into video and audio company that serves a wide variety of clients. It’s owned and operated by president Matt Wunderlich and chief financial officer Janice McClelland Wunderlich, Mac’s granddaughter.

The company, at 345 Ohio near downtown, employs 16. It designs, installs and services sound and video systems for business offices, churches, schools, stadiums, arenas, government buildings, hotels and quick-service restaurant drive-throughs.

Wunderlich said the value of the projects it works on range from $1,000 to $2 million.

“We’ve got a good mix (of business), but we do a lot of corporate and houses of worship,” he said.

“And we do a lot of schools,” McClelland Wunderlich said, adding they are mostly paging systems and gymnasium sound systems in elementary through high school buildings.

Wunderlich said the company does business in Kansas and Oklahoma.

It recently wrapped up a what Wunderlich called a small project at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City. There, it installed a control system for lighting, video and audio in a lounge for the families of the Oklahoma City Thunder basketball team. The company also is getting ready to start a large church project in Claremore, Okla., he said.

McClelland Wunderlich thinks the company’s longevity can largely be attributed to providing “great customer service” and maintaining long-term relationships with customers, such as servicing systems McClelland Sound installed 20 years ago.

“I think my family has always based its business on integrity, honesty and doing what’s right,” she added.

The company also kept pace with the advancements in technology, Wunderlich said, such as the integration of video and sound.

“Eighty-seven years ago there was no video and now everybody wants it,” he said. “We do as much video integration as sound integration — actually more.”

This story was originally published April 15, 2015 at 11:34 AM with the headline "McClelland Sound builds on long tradition of customer service."