Via International Breaks Purchasing Ties with Azione Unlimited Buying Group

Via International didn’t respond Tuesday to a press release sent out by Azione Unlimited buying group President Richard Glikes informing journalists that the newly formed Via consortium of luxury custom electronics integration companies had severed ties with the Azione and Home Technology Specialists of America (HTSA) buying groups as of Oct. 1. In his “breaking news,” Glikes said all of Via’s purchases and programs with vendors will be “outside of any relations with HTSA or Azione Unlimited.” That would deliver a hit of $15 million to Azione’s buying power and make a $55 million dent in HTSA’s combined dealer sales, said Glikes, former executive director of HTSA, who left to form Azione two years ago after a dispute over a contract renewal. Via CEO Randy Stearns told us last summer that combined revenue for the six Via founding companies would be $72 million-$73 million this year (CED Aug 28 p1).

Stearns didn’t respond to our calls to confirm or deny the Glikes report. When Via announced its plan to form a consortium of dealer companies last summer, Stearns told us that Via was “talking to buying groups, but we haven’t made a decision on what direction to go in.” He said there was no deadline for choosing one buying group over another or whether Via would be part of an outside buying group at all. While immediate plans didn’t call for Via to “go out and acquire companies,” he also told us last summer that Via hoped to be in 50 U.S. hubs with combined revenue of $200 million within five years.

An HTSA spokeswoman responding to our call to HTSA managing director Bob Hana encouraged us to verify the information with Via. Glikes’ information “is not confirmed by the HTSA,” she said. “Another buying group should not be speaking on behalf of all of them,” she said. Information in Glikes’ statement was “absolute conjecture,” and HTSA couldn’t confirm nor deny Via’s plans regarding HTSA, she said. HTSA expects to issue a formal response Wednesday, she said.

Two of Azione’s dealer members which became part of Via -- Forefront Innovation and DSI Entertainment Systems -- had been Azione members until Tuesday, said Glikes, who was informed by phone by “one of my previous members” of the change. From a purchasing standpoint the dealers “have negotiated with vendors at CEDIA [Expo], and before, and set up their own programs,” Glikes said. He said Via “wants to divorce itself from groups from a purchasing standpoint.”

Glikes encouraged Via dealers to maintain “friendly relations” with buying groups for networking and “idea sharing.” He acknowledged that since five Via dealers are HTSA members, it’s likely that Via would maintain a relationship with HTSA versus Azione if it had to choose one.