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Bill Pollock

Is the Shake-Up at Core Brands Really About Retirement?

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Photo of Bill Pollock
Bill Pollock

 

Over the last few days, management of Core Brands has gone out of their way to reach out to several members of the media to talk about last week’s announcement of the retirement of President Bill Pollock, the exit of Senior VP of Sales Dave Keller, and of the layoff of “a small number of full-time positions.” The announcement suggests a lot of turmoil at Core Brands…a company that seems to have “turmoil” as its middle name.

But is this turmoil really about retirement? Or is something else going on at Core Brands?…

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Big Changes at Core Brands: Pollock Retires & Keller is Out

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BREAKING NEWS

Nortek's Core Brands LogoWe received word late today of big changes taking place at Core Brands as the company announced that President Bill Pollock will retire “after 27-years leading Panamax-Furman” and Core Brands. Pollock’s retirement becomes effective at the end of the year and he will be replaced by Joe Roberts, currently Core Brands Vice President of Products and Marketing.

The company also announced that Senior Vice President of Sales Dave Keller will be also leaving the company “before the end of the year.” Interestingly, there was no reason given for Keller’s departure.

See more on these dramatic developments… [Read more…] about Big Changes at Core Brands: Pollock Retires & Keller is Out

New Marketing VP for Core Brands Zeros in on a Key Problem

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Photo of Joe Roberts of Core Brands

Core Brands continues to rejigger its team as we mentioned in our Breaking News SYNCH earlier this week. And one major step in this process took place in September 2013 when Core Brands surprised many by announcing the appointment of Joe Roberts as its new head of marketing, replacing Paul Starkey. Two weeks later, Roberts headed to his first CEDIA ready to jump in feet first and reassure dealers of the company’s direction…and learn all about any concerns that they felt the company needed to address.

Boy…did he get an earful… [Read more…] about New Marketing VP for Core Brands Zeros in on a Key Problem

Core Brands Hires New Marketing VP to Replace Starkey

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Nortek's Core Brands LogoIn an announcement considered a surprise by most in the industry – Core Brands announced that it has named Joe Roberts as VP of products and marketing. Roberts will replace Paul Starkey, the former President of Core Brands’ Elan division and, most recently, Senior VP of Marketing for the company.

See more on this surprising announcement, including comments from Starkey… [Read more…] about Core Brands Hires New Marketing VP to Replace Starkey

EXCLUSIVE: Nortek’s Core Brands Clears the Air with strata-GEE.com in Exclusive EXPO Interview

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Nortek's Core Brands LogoThe 2012 CEDIA Expo launched with a bang for me as I previously reported when, upon entering the convention center, I was collared by a PR person who quickly walked me (without explanation) to a high-level executive for a Nortek company who felt the need to tell me – in compelling and direct terms – what he thought of strata-GEE.com’s coverage of the Core Brands consolidation. (Hint: he didn’t like it.) After a few minutes of somewhat hot-under-the-collar conversation, things cooled off a bit and he offered to get me together with the Core Brands management to clarify the situation.

Now we’re getting somewhere… [Read more…] about EXCLUSIVE: Nortek’s Core Brands Clears the Air with strata-GEE.com in Exclusive EXPO Interview

Seeing CEDIA Expo in a Whole New Light

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Keynote speaker Dr. Michio KakuWednesday, the day before the 2012 CEDIA Expo opens its show floor, is both the day many integrators come to the convention center to take educational classes – and also the press comes for a day full of press conferences.

I approached the event this year with a high level of anticipation, as our strata-GEE.com CEDIA survey suggested that attendance might be better than originally anticipated. As I approached the convention center, I was surprised by the lack of activity around the outside of the hall. Then a CEDIA hotel shuttle bus showed up and – suddenly – we had a fair amount of activity.

Little did I know that when I entered the hall, I had a rather intense surprise waiting… [Read more…] about Seeing CEDIA Expo in a Whole New Light

Nortek Noise Continues – Xantech President Hallett Leaves Company

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Photo of Graham HallettBREAKING NEWS
Multiple industry sources have confirmed that Xantech President Graham Hallett has resigned his position with the company, effective September 1st. Xantech is one of ten Nortek, Inc. brands being consolidated under the new “Core Brands” umbrella company, the formation of which we recently reported.

Since the consolidation of the various Nortek brands began back in 2010, there have been many employees leaving the company – mostly at lower- and mid-level positions. Recently, however, some of the top-level executives of the various Nortek brands have joined the exodus.

List of Nortek’s ex-execs continues to grow…

[Read more…] about Nortek Noise Continues – Xantech President Hallett Leaves Company

Here We Go Again – Nortek Reorganizes Its Reorganized Reorganization

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Nortek's Core Brands LogoThis Monday, Nortek, Inc. announced yet another reorganization, their third major structural change since the company decided to group its A/V assets under one roof back in April 2010. The company has created yet another new company called Core Brands which will further consolidate and control a total of ten of the company’s A/V brands in their Technology Solutions Segment (TECH).

The brands affected by this consolidation include Aton, BlueBOLT, Elan, Furman, Niles, Panamax, Proficient, SpeakerCraft, Sunfire, and Xantech. Core Brands will be based at offices in Petaluma, CA; Calrsbad, CA; Riverside, CA; and Marblehead, MA.

Aren’t 10 brands under one roof really just a new conglomerate?…

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BREAKING NEWS: Nortek Reorganizes Its Reorganization

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AVC GroupToday, just a short time ago, Nortek Inc.’s AVC Group released an announcement that a major new phase of their reorganization is in the works. Specifically, the AVC Group which currently is the merged brands of Niles Audio, Elan, and Xantech, will be expanded to include SpeakerCraft, Proficient, Panamax/Furman all under the same roof. Furthermore, Nortek’s former reorganizer – Mark Terry – has been reorganized out of the newly restructured company.

[Read more…] about BREAKING NEWS: Nortek Reorganizes Its Reorganization