- STEVENSVILLE, MD--Centronics is proud to announce it will celebrate its 50th anniversary in January 2009.
- “For a half century, Centronics has prided itself as being a leader in the distribution of AV, DBS, off-air, high definition, home theater speakers and accessories, and satellite and antenna products,” said Tony Pelura, Centronics general manager. “There are quite a few reasons Centronics has lasted so long. Providing customer service second-to-none, having the ability and desire to change with the times to meet the current market’s needs, and stocking inventory so we can, in nearly every instance (more than 97 percent of the time), ship same day has been a cause for our current customers stick with us. Also, new customers see us a fresh change of pace from larger, less customer-friendly distributors.”
- Centronics was born in 1959 by John Carbone in the Washington, D.C. area. At that time, Centronics was focused on the quickly emerging TV and radio parts and accessories business. Centronics continued to grow through the years. In 1989, Centronics was then taken over by John’s son, John Carbone Jr. It was then that Centronics moved into satellite TV accessories, which was the popular and growing market segment at that time. In 2000, Centronics made another move into HD accessories (HDMI, speakers, HDTV boxes and antennas). Centronics also increased its security line, created relationships with new vendors, increased its web presence, and set up free tech help. In 2006, Centronics was taken over by Pelura, a 10-year industry veteran, who had also worked for Centronics since 2000. To this day, Centronics continues to add more products and services for its customers as new market trends and technologies present themselves.
- “An example of our dedication to providing leading products is by listening to our customers’ needs, which has resulted in the development of our own line of branded products,” Pelura explained. “Because of our roots, we’ve always had our own brand of off-air antennas and amplifiers. But now, our Elite HD-branded line is a direct result of talking to installers and having them tell us what they need. Centronics was one of the first to come out with an HDMI cable tester as well as Cat5e to HDMI converters.”
- In addition to providing its own line of branded products, an example of how Centronics goes above and beyond for its clients is its free help desk service for design and implementation for small to large MDU satellite systems. This upgraded service is for both DirecTV (including the new HD Wide Band) and Dish Network.
- “For the past six years we have relied on Centronics’ free design and technical help on some of our most challenging MDU installations,” said Randy Allen, president of Allen Business Communications, Inc., a leading commercial DirecTV installer based in Richmond, Va. “In a business where technology is constantly changing, it’s nice to have a supplier that we can always count on.”
- Pelura continued, “Centronics prides itself on providing both the industry’s best products as well as the best customer service, and this is a main reason for our longevity. Our customer help desk has allowed our customers to not only get the best products available in the market today from Centronics, but they also receive, first hand, access to Centronics’ decades of experience and knowledge.”
- Centronics stocks products such as TV mounts by Video Mount Products, installation tools and accessories by Platinum Tools and BES, satellite distribution equipment by Satellite USA, antennas and off-air accessories by Winegard and AntennaCraft, home theater equipment…from HD cables to speakers…by EHD, Speco Technologies, and Universal Remote Control.
- “Today, as our industry evolves with the times, Centronics continues to meet these changes head on,” Pelura concluded. “What will never change is our commitment to providing quality products at reasonable prices. With Centronics, every customer can feel confident that we are not just their distributor, but their AV partner, as well. We look forward to providing exceptional service and products for another 50 years.”
Centronics...www.centronics.com
