Retailing Briefs

By TWICE Staff On Mar 21 2011 - 4:01am

HTSA Launches Consumer Site

CHESTER SPRINGS, PA. — Home Technology Specialists of America (HTSA), the $400 million buying group for dealers, installers and system integrators, has launched a new online magazine for consumers. Dubbed HDLiving.com, the technology and entertainment site “provides discerning consumers with high-definition technology news, music and product reviews, media, insider information and more,” explained HTSA executive director Richard Glikes. “Consumers will learn from industry leaders how to creatively enjoy entertainment and take control of their lifestyles, while feeling more comfortable and secure in their homes.”

Topics will include the ubiquity of iPods, distributed audio, green home theaters and essential kitchen technology.

“HDLiving.com will also show consumers how to benefit from modern innovations, and embrace all that home technology can bring to their lives,” Glikes said. “In high-definition living, audio, video, lighting, security, comfort and control, all play a role in the home, yacht, vehicle, and beyond. HDLiving.com will show readers what’s truly possible today.” Readers can also access HDLiving.com on Twitter and Facebook.

Sound Advice Re-Opens First Showroom

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. — Sound Advice, once Florida’s premier A/V specialty chain, opened its first showroom this month since shutting in 2008 with corporate parent Tweeter.

The new showroom, located here in a former Sound Advice location, offered buy-one, get one at half-off deals on speakers and headphones, and “deep discounts” on TVs, as part of a grandopening sale.

Sound Advice operated 33 stores throughout the Sunshine State in 2002, when it was acquired by Tweeter in a stock deal valued at over $100 million. The chain initially continued as a wholly owned subsidiary but was later integrated into Tweeter’s operations. Tweeter filed for bankruptcy and shuttered in 2008. The company was resurrected online last year by former chairman/CEO Peter Beshouri, who reacquired the brand, mailing lists and other intellectual properties in Tweeter’s bankruptcy sale.

To help fill what he perceives as an A/V void while adapting to new economic and marketplace realities, Beshouri said he planned to leverage the Internet, limit showroom size and expansion, and keep a tight rein on costs. The company would continue to offer the best in A/V hardware while focusing on service, upgrades, connectivity and solution-oriented selling, he said, and would bank on the 35-year-old brand’s sterling reputation and thousands of former customers.

R’Shack Offers Smartphone Incentives

FORT WORTH, TEXAS — RadioShack offered discounts on iPhones and other mobile products through a combination of trade-ins and third-party promotions this month.

Under the chain’s Trade & Save program, customers were given $75 toward a new iPhone 4 or 3G S with the trade-in of their current 3G or 3G S models and a two-year subscription and data plan. The offer, which ran through March 19, reduced the price of a 32GB iPhone 4 to $$225 and the 16GB version to $125. Participants could also select an 8GB 3G S at no cost, and receive a $25 RadioShack gift card.

Elsewhere, RadioShack is offering Android users m-commerce discounts of 10 percent to 20 percent through the Foursquare and Google Places apps (not applicable to iPhone), and will offer the Samsung Epic 4G for $100, a $100 savings.