Anaheim, Calif. – ProSource, the specialty CE division of the BrandSource buying group, said it has successfully concluded a series of meetings in Asia with leading audio manufacturers.
The sit-downs, with D&M, Harmon/Kardon, Onkyo/Integra and Yamaha, were arranged to help the $3.1 billion, 500-dealer group work closely with vendors to pinpoint trends and growth opportunities in audio, and to review line transitions for 2013.
“Audio is an extremely important category for our group,” said ProSource president/CEO Dave Workman, who also heads the Progressive Retailers Organization (PRO Group). Workman noted that Asian excursions are common for video, but that few buying groups make the trip for the audio category.
“We recognize the tremendous value for both our dealers and manufacturers in these types of collaborative discussions,” he said.
Workman described the sessions as “powerful, in-person meetings [that] allowed us to share views and find subsets in the audio category that are expected to grow.”
Jim Ristow, executive VP of sister group Home Entertainment Source (HES), added that “We always come away from these trips with a better understanding of how to better sell audio and where our dealers can excel. We will now work closely with our members to develop these growth areas into a plan of action and begin to build new initiatives in the audio category that will benefit both members and manufacturers alike.”
Others ProSource emissaries included ListenUp’s Steve Weiner, David Glassman of IQ Home Entertainment, Bob Cole of World Wide Stereo, and Crutchfield’s Tim Freeman.
Founded in 2011, ProSource leverages the assets of HES, PRO Group and their buying group parent BrandSource to offer enhanced benefits to member dealers. While PRO and HES maintain separate identities, ProSource brings them together before the vendor community as a single, focused business, the group said.
