PLAINFIELD, ILL. — Longtime retailer, buying group executive and dealer advocate Ed Knodle died last week from illness. He was 62.
Knodle spent his career as a CE/ appliance dealer and advisor, having worked at Aronson’s, Standard TV & Appliance and the MARTA and Nationwide buying groups.
He also served as executive director of the North American Retail Dealers Association (NARDA), an educational and advocacy trade group for independent retailers.
Knodle was born into the business, starting out in the family CE dealership, Knodle’s Electric, in Sycamore, Ill.
He later went to work for the MARTA Cooperative of America, Aronson Furniture in Chicago and Standard TV & Appliance in Portland, Ore.
He would go on to lead NARDA as executive director and most recently served as member development VP at the Nationwide Marketing Group.
Nationwide co-CEO Robert Weisner said Knodle loved the group and his job, and that his friends and former colleagues there “all pray for his family.”
He is survived by Susan, his wife of 40 years, and two sons and a grandson.
