Authentic barbeque was served as over 150 dealers talked to 12 different AVAD exhibitors in the San Fernando Valley sunshine and then took tours of the immense new facility. Some of AVAD’s vendor partners on hand were Niles, Lutron, RTI, Rhino, NetStreams, Panamax/Furman, Universal Remote, Polk, ProFlex/ProConnect and JDSU (tools).
President Bob Gartland showed our sister magazine, CustomRetailer, around the 40,000 sq-foot facility, starting in the showroom where dealers can come for a real hands on experience and see some of the newest components on the market. The space also incorporates the order desk and an impressive theater where “Guitar Hero” demos amplified the excitement of the Grand Opening and were a clear indication of what dealers can expect to experience at the new location.
Gartland commented on the first folks dealers see when they walk into the facility. “The guys at the order desk in the main showroom are more than order takers, they are actually dealer consultants who are technically knowledgeable and provide solutions to the dealers.”
A key focus of the Van Nuys showroom is “the stud wall” in the main showroom, Gartland said, “what we are promoting to our dealers is that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel for every job. We are also eliminating the need for AVAD dealers to have on staff a 100K a year programmer. We are the distributor whose vendors work together to create integrated systems that are plug and play.”
“For example,” he added, “RTI, Polk, Escient, Lutron, Aprilaire and Panasonic all work seamlessly with the ControLinX Netstream’s product without needing 20 hours of programming.”
Located just off the main showroom of the building is warehousing, corporate offices and more, perhaps most impressive is an extensive training facility where up to to 75 people at a time can be trained in one single space. AVAD’s University Training Program covers training on everything from Lutron B.U.R.S.T. (Basic Undergraduate Residential Systems Training ) to setting up the InFocus IN83 for 2:35 anamorphic projections.
AVAD’s customer service guarantee is extensive and includes a 30-day exchange for initial failures on any current model product that fails within the first 30-days after purchase from AVAD, it will be exchanged for the same model. There is also the 90-day “Good As New” guarantee that on any current, unopened product purchased from AVAD may be returned for full credit, no questions asked.
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