CES 2009: HTSA Recognizes Vendor Partners

By Colleen Bohen -- TWICE, January 8, 2009

Las Vegas — In spite of the challenging year it has faced, the Home Theater Specialists of America found cause for celebration during its sixth annual Vendor Awards ceremony, held this week here at Caesar’s Palace.

During the reception, Richard Glikes, the group’s executive director, told TWICE that the association finished 2008 “down somewhere between 15 and 20 percent.”

Glikes said that while it already felt like a tough year in June, “from September forward it got worse.”

“The flat-panel business was particularly hard hit,” he added. He said the majority of the struggle in the category

The HTSA’s Vendor Award winners pose with the group’s executive director Richard Glikes.

stemmed from consumers looking for televisions at prices between $599 and $999. “That’s not our business.”

Looking ahead, Glikes said, the two key ideas his organization should cling to are “diversification,” continuing the group’s strategy to incorporate newer product categories like lighting into its business, and “focus,” which he said referred to its vendor partners. According to Glikes, the group could “possibly eliminate vendors,” adding  that, in business, occasionally “tough decisions” have to be made. “It’s not pleasant.”

Despite the potential for continued rockiness ahead, Glikes was still optimistic for the group in the long-term. “When we come out the other side, I think we’ll be very strong … It’s a good exercise.”

As for the awards themselves, HTSA said its winners are first nominated by the organization’s board of directors and then voted on by the association’s members.

The winners are:

·         Vendor of the Year — Integra;

·         Man of the Year — Jay Vandenbree, Sony’s president of consumer sales;

·         Most Profitable Vendor —Universal Remote Control;

·         Most Supportive Vendor of the Year — Integra;

·         Best Vendor Training — Speakercraft;

·         Custom Product of the Year — Kaleidescape K Server;

·         Product of the Year — Sony KDL55 XBR8 55-inch LED LCD TV.