Stillwater Designs, the supplier of Kicker and SoundGate electronics, said its SoundGate brand will be discontinued and SoundGate products will soon fall under the Kicker brand.
The SoundGate division will be integrated into Kicker by the beginning of 2010. Until then, SoundGate products will transition into the Kicker Auto Accessories line of products.
Stillwater purchased SoundGate in September 2006 and retained the brand, treating it as a separate business unit with its own research group, technical support, Web site, packaging, literature and sales management, which will all be absorbed by the Kicker brand.
“The Kicker brand is well established and has a high recognition among our dealers and their customers,” said Steve Irby, Stillwater founder and CEO. “We think it’s time to fold SoundGate and its product offering into the Kicker division.”
SoundGate’s founder Rob Putnam retired in 2008.
