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Is the Residential Wellness Segment About to Explode?

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PureTech Alliance logo, a new group promoting residential wellness or healthy home

A New National Rep Group is Counting On It

A national network of sales representatives have formed a group to promote and sell products supporting the residential wellness segment – sometimes known as the “healthy home” segment. Called the PureTech Alliance, the organization was conceived and formed by two former founding members of another national group – this one of regional specialty A/V distributors – known as the Alliance of Value Added Distributors (AVAD).

AVAD went on to become a successful $200 million national distributor that helped drive the growth of the custom installation channel and was ultimately acquired by Ingram Micro. Will lightening strike twice?

See more on PureTech Alliance and residential wellness…

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Why Don’t You ‘Like’ Me

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photo of girl on laptop, needs to add Strata-gee's trial 'Like' button

No…that headline is not a question. It is a suggestion. So let me explain what I’m talking about. There are many ways I try to determine which stories that Strata-gee readers like. One tool, widely used in social media, as well as on other digital properties, is the ‘like’ button. So let me tell you about Strata-gee’s trial ‘Like’ button.

Why am I talking about likes? Read more on Strata-gee’s trial ‘Like’ button…

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Sonos Slashes Headcount by 12%, Closes NY Store, and Cuts CEO Spence’s Pay 20%

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Blow-up photo of Sonos One

In a new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Sonos, Inc. [SONO:NASDAQ] announced a series of measures to try and get company costs under control in the wake of the COVID-19 impacted economy. More drastic than previous announcements, Sonos said it will cut its global headcount, close its New York retail store, close six satellite offices, cut the CEO pay, and further cut the executive team’s pay.

See more on these serious Sonos cutbacks…

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B&W Offers New Products & Old Friends as Sign of Strategy Change

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B&W 702 Signature Series speakers
702 Signature [Click to enlarge]

Intros 700 Series Signature Models & Rehires Past PR Agency

Bowers & Wilkins (B&W), a leading high-end specialty loudspeaker brand for 54 years, that recently zigged and zagged when it was acquired by EVA Automation and launched a whole new line of wireless multi-room audio systems, has taken steps to demonstrate its re-focus on their high-end, high-performance roots. These moves include re-hiring the company’s long time PR company and now launching new products that are true to its heritage as an undisputed leading premium brand.

Learn more about B&W’s latest moves…

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In Global Supercomputer War – Land of the Rising Sun Rises to Eclipse American Technology

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Supercomputer - Japan's new Fugaku supercomputer is the fastest in the world

On Monday morning, during my usual morning health walk, I listened to a podcast where the host proclaimed – quite proudly – that nobody is better at technology than the U.S. Just a couple of hours later, the Nikkei reported that Japan had bested both the U.S. and China with an all new and mightily powerful supercomputer. Step aside America!

Japan’s new supercomputer is 3 times faster than America’s IBM powerhouse…

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Bryston Launches Innovative ‘Trade-Up’ Program on Famous 4B Amplifier

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Bryston 4B Cubed amplifier

Here’s a dilemma…imagine you make a product that is so good that it may be your peak achievement. It’s built solidly with great technology, sounds great, and works today…and for many years of tomorrows-to-come. Your engineers forgot to build in “planned obsolescence” where the product will “automatically” require upgrading a few years down the road. In fact, it’s built so well, you put an industry-leading 20-year warranty on it!

How do you get owners – who are, for the most part, blissfully enjoying this product for years and years – to upgrade to the latest version with even newer and better technology? It is a conundrum that Bryston faced…and has now solved…by offering an easy upgrade program for owners of their famous 4B amplifiers.

Learn all about Bryston’s 4B trade-in upgrade program…

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KKR Exits Sonos Investment, Divests Its Last 14M Shares for $180M

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Sonos soundbar and subwoofer

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, KKR Stream Holdings LLC reported that it sold nearly 14 million shares of Sonos, Inc. stock (SONO:NASDAQ). The sale took place on Wednesday (June 17, 2020) and, according to their disclosure filed with the SEC, this sale takes them completely out of Sonos ownership, with zero shares remaining in its portfolio.

Learn more about KKR selling their Sonos stock…

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Housing Starts Struggle to Regain Their Footing in May

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new home under construction, a housing start

Last month, Strata-gee reported on a shocking 30+% drop in residential housing construction, with starts dropping an eye-popping 30.2% in April. That was ultimately revised to a decline of “only” 26.4%…still a massive one month decline. Now in May, we see starts attempting to rebound from those unprecedented drops.

See more on May’s housing starts data…

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Facing COVID-19 Fears: Eight Out of Ten Americans Fear a Second Wave

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Axios logo

A new survey from Ipsos/Axios had lots of interesting details about how Americans are feeling at this unique juncture in time, as states begin to reopen their economy, with a commensurate rise in cases of coronavirus. As many readers may know, this is an area…consumer sentiment…that I try to keep tabs on, as 70% of the U.S. economy is based on consumer sentiment.

And one piece of this research jumped off the page and grabbed me by my throat – 8 out of every 10 Americans worry about a second wave of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

See how consumers feel about COVID-19 now

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