Velocity is a new Houston-based car audio distributor founded in January, which has already secured leading brands including Kenwood, eXcelon, Rockford (powersports and marine), and AudioControl.
It was launched by Gary Wermuth, the founder of WAVE Electronics, which claims to be the largest independent home electronics distributor in the country. Wermuth sold Wave last year to Kingswood Capital Management, parent of AVAD, for an undisclosed sum.
As the story goes, Wermuth then went looking for the next opportunity and was advised there was room for his distribution model in car audio. He got on a plane to CES in January without so much as a name for his new company, and returned with commitments from close to a couple dozen suppliers, said Velocity Distributing Director of Marketing Chris Greenfield.
WAVE rose to prominence by offering value-added services to custom integrators. It won 18 CE Pro Quest for Quality awards since its founding in 2002. It has 11 in-house training facilities around the country and an in-house marketing department to help dealers with everything from business cards to full design branding concepts, it said.
Velocity is now looking to do the same in car audio. It plans to offer training to smaller dealers, including social media training, extensive art/marketing services, SEO and website assistance, and account management aid.
It will also allow 24/7 ordering with real time inventory availability. Dealers will be able to view the actual amounts of stock in inventory as they place orders on its website. The website will become active shortly.
Velocity’s current brands include Advent, AudioControl, Axxess, Audiovox, Boss, Dyanmat, FlashLogic, Heise, iBeam, InstallBay, Kenwood/eXcelon, Metra, Maestro, Rockford, Rosen, Shuriken, T-Spec, Techflex, and Waylens. It’s territory extends from Texas, to Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
eXcelon is offered in TX, AR, LA and OK.
For starters, all new dealers get free shipping until June 30th. Velocity is offering a $100 credit on dealers’ first orders.
It provides limited same-day shipping in Houston and has a storefront where dealers may pick up orders.
Training will be offered via webcasts, and podcasts. Velocity may include features on how to capitalize on social media and stories of successful dealers. Podcasts will also include live training and installation instruction.
Eventually customers will be able to go onto the Velocity website to see past orders, trends and tracking tools including tracking by serial number for extended warranties and lost merchandise.
Velocity’s Facebook page may be seen here.
Congratulations and good Luck Gary and team. Gary Wermuth is one of the finest people I have met in this industry. I know he will do things the correct way to support his dealer and vendor partners.