Members of the Mobile Electronics Specialists of America (MESA) buying/marketing group were informed Thursday that JL Audio, an iconic car audio brand, will no longer be a vendor partner of the powerful buying group, effective January 1.
MESA vendor members sign contracts for two years at a time and JL chose not to renew, confirmed Ryan Gunter, Executive Director of MESA.
The news left some MESA retail members scratching their heads, as there will be less incentive for them to sell the brand, and as MESA members, they will be incentivized to sell other MESA vendor brands.
JL Audio was an original member of MESA, which formed in 2010. The buying/marketing group now has approximately 169 retail members, representing 200 store fronts with a collective $450 million in sales.
JL Audio was purchased by Garmin a year ago.
Corporate mergers and acquisitions happen for only one reason. Lou, Andy, Manville, et al, will always be my colleagues. AMI is one of the best rep firms in FL. JL ownership has passed, and all we can wait for is a sizeable F up. One of them can be replacing people that cared about their job and the clients they serviced. Every major brand, at one point in their history, have shot themselves in the foot. My hope is that they use an Airsoft.
I’ve been trying to get JL Audio in my store for the last 10 years and was turned down because of a local MESA location. I hope the MESA store drops it. I’ve got a 50k order ready if you’re the rep for my area. Austin TX
hahahahaha…….keep dreaming……he isn’t dropping JL
Anyone can purchase JL Audio Marine products through distribution now at sheet cost.
JL was always dealer direct, maybe this buyers group
Had less benefits to the JL brand then it helped JL
Lots of Boxes is not always the best business practice.
They might be less able to control the product from transshippers and the gry market.
Dealer direct tracks product movements.
A deal with mass purchasing negates that because
You have no idea who got what.
The last thing you want is a protected line to end up on amazon. Or in none authorized dealers.
The fight of online sales has been going on 25-30 years
Its a serious problem and in the long run hurts the consumer and brand and independent dealers.
The brand has to be profitable to keep in the store
A buying group gets discounts the independent stores do not get, if your not a member you do not get the benefits you could get from the group.
There are a lot of benefits, and cons to a buying group
At every aspect, who it helps and who it hurts.
If I was a dealer I’d be happy about this, no one should get an advantage over other dealers
Hi Robert. I have no dog in this fight, but something to ponder. If a retailer has a demo car, amazing showroom highlighting JL, up to date website full of great content, always promoting their products and installs on the socials, attends all industry trainings and events, etc…do they deserve a bigger discount (investment) than the other dealer in town who also sells JL but does none of the above? If I’m a vendor, I’m rewarding the dealer who is heavily invested in their store.
So few acquisitions don’t have the new owner messing it up completely. Sad.
If I was a JL dealer I would be nuking all the inventory I have and running from the brand at mach speed.
Bingo.
I’ve already done that as a consumer.