The “ultimate” car audio retailer, Barry Vogel, has swung over to the manufacturing side of the car electronics industry, joining Mitek as consumer brands manager, effective June 1.
Vogel has been a retail store owner for 35 years and is a former president of MERA (Mobile Enhancement Retailers Assn.).
His aim is to bring a retail perspective to Mitek brands MTX Audio, Coustic and StreetWires, he said.
Vogel’s nephew will continue to run his store, The Ultimate Edge in Oswego, NY, and Vogel remains owner. “I still get to keep my retail roots and stay in touch, and do something positive on the manufacturing side,” he said.
He aims to improve communication between Mitek and its retailers. “Communication in our industry is dysfunctional. There’s a lack of trust between retailers and manufacturers, although there are notable exceptions….My goal is to meld the wants and needs of both sides,” he said. “One of my experiences from MERA was that I got to see the manufacturer’s perspective that many retailers don’t get to see and I realized that the two sides aren’t that far apart, but the communication isn’t there,” he added.
Vogel will also focus on retailer education.
The retail veteran has also been pushing a car stereo promotional campaign called True North, which will continue. (More on that this week).
Source: Mitek, CEoutlook
“Welcome Barry to the Dark Side”
Bring back the older Coustic. ex. BP1044, XM5e Those were the BEST entry subs on the market. I sold tons of them. I had a pair on display in 2002 and sold them to a friend, he still has them to this day. He beats the crap out of them on a daily basis. As for the XM5e, If you don’t know. You missed out!
Nice! Kick some butt Barry!