Azione Adds Vendor Members

By Alan Wolf -- TWICE, 1/31/2012

West Chester, Pa. - Startup buying group Azione Unlimited has added new vendors to its member roster, bringing the vendor total to 20.

An additional five video manufacturers (Sharp, Panasonic, Samsung, LG, and Panasonic Professional) are available to member dealers through distribution partnerships, founder Richard Glikes noted.

Brands include Sonance, Revel, Canton, Monitor Audio, JL Audio, Integra, Stewart, Epson, Digital Projection, IC Realtime, Lexicon, SurgeX, Perfect Path, Salamander Designs, Certified Cyber Solutions, Liberty Wire & Cable and JBL Synthesis.

Glikes, the longtime executive director of the Home Technology Specialists of America buying group (HTSA), said "more programs are in discussion and will be solidified prior to the beginning of the Japanese fiscal year," on April 1.

Unlike other buying groups, vendors are invited to join Azione as members, and both vendors and dealers will serve on the group's advisory board.  Three vendor executives and two dealer principals have already been chosen as board "founders," and two remaining vendor board positions and four dealer founders are expected to be announced mid-February.

 "It is an honor to have vendor members join a group that stands for something more than ‘a deal.' We will be as much an ‘education group' as we are a buying group," Glikes said, citing Azione's best-practices sharing and free member meetings, as well as marketing support and enhanced vendor relationships.

He added that the group's recruitment goal is 150 members by year's end.

To introduce the new vendor members, Azione posted a video on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6wqqa2wzgc, and is providing membership applications at its website at www.azioneunlimited.com.