Laguna Niguel, Calif. – The fledgling Mobile Electronics Distributor (MED) merchandising alliance will hold its charter meeting with 12-volt distributors on May 7 and expects to hold a meeting with vendors in late summer.
During the May 7 event, member distributors will approve the MED mission statement, bylaws, strategy for inviting vendors to join, a code of conduct, immediate action priorities, and mid-term priorities, said Ray Windsor, a 12-volt veteran who founded the group.
A “significant portion” of U.S. distributor territories “have been filled and will be represented at the MED charter meeting,” he said, but a few territories remain open. Interested distributors can contact Windsor for information on available territories, membership guidelines, and other participation details at [email protected] or 949-228-2153.
The charter meeting will be held at the DFW DoubleTree Irving North.
Windsor founded the group in December 2014 to bring more predictable business practices to the 12-volt distributor channel to “build an environment where there are fewer surprises between distributor and supplier,” he previously told TWICE. More predictable distribution, price, territory, purchasing-commitment, return and other policies could be adopted by distributors and suppliers who participate, he said.
Suppliers’ differing distributor-channel business policies, he previously explained, create unintended consequences for retailers and suppliers. For example, retailers “keep several distributors on the speed dial for the same brand” because “many distributors are regularly out of stock on popular models.” The situation arises because “supplier programs for distributors are so restrictive regarding purchase-volume discount that the distributor waits until his order is big enough to get the best deal,” Windsor said. A supplier waiting for those orders, meantime, “feels compelled to dump inventory to the opportunity buyers who might not always follow the suppliers’ distribution policies.”
Windsor, the principal of Leadership Systems Consulting, previously was president of German Maestro USA until mid 2014. Before that he worked at car audio supplier Eclipse.
