Strategy in TECH...
HTSA, the Home Technology Specialists of America buying group, announced today that Jon Robbins, its current Executive Director, is leaving the organization. Robbins has held this role since he first assumed it in December of 2015.
Azione Unlimited, a leading North American buying group of upscale custom integrators, announced on Wednesday that it has formed the Azione Collective, a group of women drawn from all walks of the greater Azione ecosystem who have come together to “empower connection, mentorship, and growth.”
Premium Audio Company (PAC), a subsidiary of Voxx International Corporation (Nasdaq: VOXX) and soon to be a subsidiary of Gentex Corp. (Nasdaq: GNTX), announced that it is entering into a “strategic partnership” with the National Alliance of Trade Merchants (NATM). PAC calls NATM “a leading national buying co-op of top independent retailers in the United States.” The move appears to be a pretty transparent effort to replace sales volume lost when major buying group ProSource dropped all PAC brands from its list of supported products.
Is this new partnership a good alternative? Read on…
On Wednesday, ProSource CEO Jim Pearse notified members of one of the industry’s largest dealer buying groups that Premium Audio Company – a subsidiary of Voxx International Corporation that oversees its audio brands Onkyo, Integra, and Klipsch – is being dropped from its assortment. This is big news and comes at a difficult time for Voxx which is in deep due diligence for its acquisition by Gentex Corp.
Note to Reader: This post is the second part of a two-part series. In Part One, each of the directors of the three operating buying groups in Nationwide’s CI Division shared the details of their individual and group progress in 2024. You will want to read – or reread – that post first, as it helps Part Two make more sense.
Nationwide Marketing Group’s Custom Integration (CI) division made serious progress in 2024 as part of the organization’s ambitious Drive to 1,000 plan – seeking to build a collective CI membership of 1,000 dealers strong. In my previous post, the executives instrumental in achieving that progress – Andy Orozco (Nationwide’s Senior Vice President of Custom Integration), Patrick McCarthy (Executive Director, Azione Unlimited), Hank Alexander (Executive Director, Oasys Residential Technology Group), and Chris Whitley (Executive Director, Ellipsys Commercial Technology Group) – shared the highs and lows of building a business the likes of which we’ve never before seen. Now they share their plans for 2025…
It was March of 2023 when I began picking up on the buzz that something big was in the works in the buying group world. At the Spring members conference of Azione Unlimited, which had been acquired by and was now part of Nationwide Marketing Group, President and founder Richard Glikes introduced Azione members to a new initiative called the “Drive to 1,000.” Although not a lot of details were discussed at this event, clearly something big was in the works.
Now, a little over a year later, I met with the entire management team of Nationwide’s Custom Integration Group, including Andy Orozco (Nationwide Senior Vice President of Custom Integration), Patrick McCarthy (Executive Director of Azione Unlimited), Hank Alexander (Executive Director of Oasys Residential Technology Group) and Chris Whitley (Executive Director of Ellipsys Commercial Technology Group) to take stock of just what has transpired over the last year or so with the new, expanded family of groups that are all under the Nationwide Marketing Group umbrella.
Azione Unlimited, a buying group of predominantly custom integration dealers that is part of the Nationwide Marketing Group family of dealer buying organizations, announced recently that it is adding Mike Cleary, Sonance Senior Director of Strategic Accounts, to its Board of Advisors. Unique to Azione, for years it has maintained an advisory board consisting of five dealer members and five vendor members to operate as its “strategic think tank.” The board’s role is to assist group management in fostering innovation, enhancing business success, and strengthening connections within the smart home industry.
Nationwide Marketing Group, owner of a stable of high-performance dealer buying groups like Oasys, Ellipsys, and Azione Unlimited, announced this week that it has appointed Patrick McCarthy as the new Executive Director of Azione Unlimited. As you most likely know, McCarthy has been a long-time member of the group’s management since 2019 and has served as the Interim Director since June in the wake of Richard Glikes departing the group back in February.
Patrick’s new appointment is effective immediately, which is a good thing as the group is about to launch its Fall Conference, taking place this year in San Diego, CA from October 21st – 23rd.
Oasys Residential Technology Group, a division of Nationwide Marketing Group, announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with Sonos, a leading wireless audio brand popular with consumers. The announcement comes on the eve of today’s opening of CEDIA Expo 2024, taking place in Denver, CO from September 5-7, 2024.
Oasys group managers say that this is a significant deal with “a massive brand.”
Azione Unlimited, part of the Nationwide Marketing Group family of dealer buying groups, announced this week that Brad Camp has been elected to the organization’s Board of Advisors. Unique to the world of buying groups, Azione not only places executives from the dealers who are members of the organization on their Board, but also seats executives from vendors and supporting service organizations.
