Rewarding Excellence
By Steve Smith -- TWICE, 8/23/2004
The selection and presentation of awards by publications have always been a dicey pursuit, at least in this columnist's opinion. The “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval” notwithstanding, there are also awards like Esquire's “Dubious Achievement Awards.” Publications try to select award winners with care, but at times their selections give the impressions that they were made in an ivory tower.
That being said, for several years we presented our own awards, the TWICE Retail Excellence Awards, during Winter CES and then International CES. The awards were selected by the editors of TWICE and were received well in most cases. The winners were well-known retailers, who performed the best in the previous calendar year. We didn't have strict categories for the retailers. Sometimes we presented a TWICE Lifetime Achievement Award or two, to salute a veteran executive, usually upon his or her retirement from the industry. (And hey, it was a great way to have a party during the middle of CES.)
Seriously, we felt it was important to salute retailers and executives who performed with distinction, either during the previous calendar year or for their entire career.
With International CES becoming more and more massive every year, and other priorities coming to the forefront, we quietly dropped out of the awards business.
Well, as you can see from the house ad on page 10, we are back in the awards game. We thought it was important to do so, with the many changes at retail and the way manufacturers have altered distribution of consumer electronics, major appliances and personal computers during the first half of this decade.
The TWICE Retail Excellence Awards are being revived, with one important twist in this election year: You are the judge. Thanks to the Internet, members of the industry who work for consumer electronics, computer or major appliance vendors, retailers, distributors, or manufacturer's reps can vote on our new Awards when you visit www.TWICE.com starting Monday, Aug. 30 through Monday, Sept. 20. The winners will be announced and profiled on our Web site on Oct. 11 and in our print edition of the same day.
Nominees will be revealed at www.TWICE.com next Monday, five nominees per category. They are as varied and different as the industries they serve. The categories are: Best National, Regional, Independent and Consumer Direct retailers, plus the Retailer of the Year.
Nominations are based on retail performance from Sept. 2003 until Aug. 2004. Criteria for being nominated and winning an award are the following: market share, customer service, product assortment, store/Web design and general innovation.
To enter, visit our Web site on Aug. 30, fill out the quick registration form and become part of the process as TWICE honors the best in consumer electronics, computer and major appliance retailing.
