BrandSource specialty division Home Entertainment Source (HES) added six...

BrandSource specialty division Home Entertainment Source (HES) added six members in January and February, the buying group said Monday. HES credited the signings to dealer support programs and “robust membership” that allows the group to offer “more and deeper member programs.” The new members are Sound Sensation, Marietta, Ga.; Matrix Installations, Chattanooga, Tenn.; Good Sounds, Boca Raton, Fla.; Bethesda Systems, Bethesda, Md.; Digitainment, San Carlos, Calif.; and Etech America, Englewood, N.J. The competitive AV buying group field expanded by one earlier this year with the formation of Azione Unlimited, started by Richard Glikes, who left Home Technology Specialists of America (HTSA) last summer. Glikes has said Azione will have 100 members by September and 150 members by the end of the year. HES and PRO Group members have been generally viewed as potential targets for the fledgling group, but Glikes said Monday that 75 percent of Azione members were not in a buying group prior to joining Azione. Questions to HES about any attrition in the group since the beginning of the year weren’t answered by our deadline. Sales at Azione have surpassed the $100 million volume mark in the group’s first 75 days, Glikes said Monday, the day before the spring HTSA meeting begins in San Diego. Azione will finalize plans with three additional vendor members this week, Glikes said, along with six more dealers, but he didn’t elaborate.