Mobile Electronics Announces The 2010 Retailer Of The Year Finalists And Installer Of The Year Finalists

Tuesday, April 20, 2010 -- The industry has spoken and we are proud to announce the Retailer of the Year Finalists in the Single Store, Small Chain and Medium/Large Chain categories and the Finalists for Installer of the Year. The industry submitted more than 4,000 votes for candidates from the Top 100. Mobile Electronics would again like to thank Sony for sponsoring the Top 100 Retailers and MECP for sponsoring the Top 100 Installers.

Mobile Electronics’ Publisher Joni Owens commented on the voting process, saying, “We ended up with a good geographical list of states being represented. It looks like there will be a lot of pressure on the installers from Arizona and Illinois when assembling their final submissions for the coveted Installer of the Year award. Missouri has representation in nearly every category, so we’re looking forward to seeing how these finalists score at the end of the process.”

Mobile Electronics will send each Finalist a list of instructions by the end of April 2010 for submitting documents and information pertinent to their business so each can be judged in their respective category for the three Retailer of the Year awards and the single Installer of the Year award. We will ask each Finalist to submit a binder with all required information and samples for Mobile Electronics’ staff and judges to review. Finalists will have approximately 60 days to assemble their submissions. If any Installer of the Year Finalists are disqualified for any reason, we will judge submissions from the alternates (listed below).

During the judging process we will use a points-based system to evaluate the criteria listed in the instructions we send to Finalists. Those with the highest scores in each of the award categories will be the winners. We will announce the winners at an awards ceremony held during MERA in October.

Mobile Electronics will be sending a certificate in May to nominees who made the Top 100 list noting their selection by the industry to that list. Following is the list of Finalists, in alphabetical order.

2010 Retailer of the Year Finalists – Single Store
- Abt Electronics, Glenview, Ill.
- Audio Specialists, Hopkinsville, Ky.
- Car Concepts, Salt Lake City, Utah
- Certified Sounds, LLC, Wailuku, Hawaii
- Distinctive Car Toyz, Pleasantville, N.J.
- House of Sound, St. Joseph, Mo.
- Independence Audio-Video, Independence, Mo.
- Mobile Edge, Lehighton, Pa.
- Soundcrafters, Mobile & Home Electronics, South Daytona Beach, Fla.
2010 Retailer of the Year Finalists – Small Chain
- Audio Excellence, Orlando, Fla.
- Car-Fi, Springfield, Mo.
- Creative Car Audio, Springfield, Mo.
- Drive In Autosound, Colorado Springs, Colo.
- Sounds of Tri-State, Claymont, Del.
2010 Retailer of the Year Finalists – Med/Large Chain
- Al & Ed’s Autosound, Van Nuys, Calif.
- Car Toys, Seattle, Wash.
- Freeman’s Car Stereo, Charlotte, N.C.
2010 Top 12 Installer of the Year Finalists
- Anthony Bonanno, Independence Audio, Independence, Mo.
- Chad Bray, House of Sound, St. Joseph, Mo.
- Derek Pace, Certified Sounds, Wailuku, Hawaii
- Eric Bronke, Auto Werks of Northbrook, Northbrook, Ill.
- Jeff Meece, California Soundworks, Lancaster, Calif.
- Jeremy Clanton, No Limitz Built, Mesa, Ariz.
- John Samp, Abt Electronics, Glenview, Ill.
- Jon Kowanetz, Handcrafted Car Audio, Mesa, Ariz.
- Michael Hughes, Speed of Sound, Lake Havasu City, Ariz.
- Robert Bess, Audio Specialists, Hopkinsville, Ky.
- Robert Davidoski, Mobile One Autosound, LaPorte, Texas
- Steve Ledford, Soundcrafters, South Daytona Beach, Fla.
Alternates – Installer of the Year 2010 Finalists
- Juan Torres, Al & Ed’s Autosound, Huntington Beach, Calif.
- Louis Gonzales, Bay Area Audio Visions, Corpus Christi, Texas