Las Vegas –
AVB/BrandSource announced its Dealers of the Year here on the eve of the buying
group’s fall convention and buy fair.
The 16 members,
selected by their peers, “best exemplify what it means to be a BrandSource
dealer,” the group said. (See list of award recipients, below). BrandSource noted
that many of the winners co-brand their stores with the BrandSource logo, which
helps provide their businesses a higher profile through the group’s national
advertising and sponsorships.
In addition, Kevin Werner was named BrandSource regional manager of the year.
Yesterday’s award presentations
were followed by the show’s traditional 90-minute “Stampede,” where members
took advantage of special convention buys, and the annual BrandSource private
concert, headlined this year by singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins.
The convention, which
runs through Wednesday at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel, kicks into high gear this
morning with a welcome address by AVB/BrandSource CEO Bob Lawrence, an industry
town hall discussion with GE Appliance CEO Jim Campbell, and the opening of the
buy fair floor.
The 2010 BrandSource
Dealers of the Years are:
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Paul Gwilliam and
Chris Wilhelmsen, Asien’s Appliance, Santa Rosa, Calif. Opened in 1948, the
company passed through three generations of the Asien family until Paul
Gwilliam and Chris Wilhelmsen partnered with Larry Asien in 2004.
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Bobby Dollar, Bobby
Dollar Appliance and Bedding Showroom, Thomasville, Ga. Dollar started the
business in 1983 with $3,700 cash and a $12,000 loan. It went on to become one
of the largest independent dealers in northern Florida and southern Georgia.
-
Jerry Caston, Caston’s
TV & Appliance, Newhall, Calif. Four years after retiring, Jerry and son
Rick returned to the business with a fresh remodel, expanded product offerings,
an outside-sales staff, and seven-day-a-week delivery.
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Darryl Belval, Central
Appliance, Greenfield, Mass. Said Belval, “We have customers that look for the
BrandSource brand. We couldn’t do what
we do today without it.”
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Dan and Ann
Terfehr, Dan’s Appliance, Fairmont, Minn.
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Rick Denning, Denning’s
Showkase, Idaho Falls, Idaho.
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Chris Geis, Geis
Electronics and Appliances, Batesville, Ind. Geis started the business in 1961
as a radio shop with money borrowed from a family member, and has grown it into
a full-line electronics, appliance and mattress dealer.
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Tom Jessup, Jessup’s
Major Appliance Centers, Venice, Fla. Said Jessup, “We’re not really that
unique or different from what others do, but we’re better at what we do than
others are at what they do.”
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Jerry Blanchard, Miller’s
of Mill Hall, Mill Hall, Pa. Every Miller’s customer receives a box of homemade
candy packaged in a hand-crafted box following the sale.
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Jerry Blanchard, Murdale
True Value, Carbondale, Ill.
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Shawn and Teresa
Driscoll, Nodak Supply, Fargo, N.D
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Steve and Elaine
Patterson, Pattersons Home Appliance Center, Kingston, Tenn. Pattersons was
selected as the Roane County Small Business of the Year in 2009 and Best
Appliance Store of Roane County for 12 years consecutive years.
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Jeff Griffith, Radio
Lab Brand Source, Lubbock, Texas. Griffith’s
father and uncle started the business in 1946 when radios were big business and
TV was virtually unknown.
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Robin Richards, Richards
Brand Source, Charlotte, Mich. Quoting biblical proverb, Richards said, “A good
name is worth more than great riches.”
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Tom and Carol
Vincent, Walt’s Sherwood Appliance, Sherwood, Ore. Said Carol, “We love our
customers and treat them in such a way that they hesitate to walk out our door
and face the harsher world.”
For more
information about BrandSource, email
or phone
(800) 430-0282.
