Including Nortek's Aton, BlueBOLT, Elan, Furman, Niles, Panamax, Proficient, SpeakerCraft, Sunfire and Xantech brands, Core Brands has more than 190 years of combined experience in the residential, commercial and professional markets and over 4,300 direct customer accounts in multiple distribution channels in the US and worldwide.
Core Brands will be based in Petaluma, Calif., with offices in Carlsbad and Riverside, Calif., and Marblehead, Mass. Bill Pollock, who has served as president of Panamax, will lead Core Brands. Dave Keller, vice president of sales and marketing for Panamax/Furman, will handle worldwide sales. Keith Marshall, president of SpeakerCraft/Proficient, will be in charge of channel management, and Paul Starkey, president of Elan, will lead marketing for all brands.
"The formation of Core Brands reflects the strategic refocusing currently taking place as we pursue new markets and new opportunities to serve our dealers, channel partners and end users," said Nortek president and chief executive officer Michael J. Clarke. "We expect that combining the unique capabilities of each of these 10 formidable brands will deliver new and powerful benefits they can only achieve as a group."
"Operating as Core Brands will enable us to leverage economies of scale while strengthening our ability to invest in launching innovative technologies and a range of new marketing programs designed to increase the value, clarity and acceptance of each brand," said Sean Burke, group president of Nortek's Technology Solutions segment.
"In addition, combining these market leading brands will allow us to deliver more localized and responsive factory training and product support expertise. These initiatives should position the brands not only to improve their business performance, but also to increase their penetration of un-served and underserved market segments during a period of generally improving business conditions in their respective distribution channels."
(Jim Evans)
