Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM JULY 2019 62 And while the group is always looking ahead, Ristow thought it appropriate on this occasion for the assemblage to look back and share some stories from the past. He began by offering his own tale, that of a then unafilliated "28-year-old kid with three stereo stores in Nowhere, Wisconsin" who wanted to join AVB. "It was prestigious to be allowed to join the group, but they said 'no' three times," before he would become a member. Ristow's takeaway: "Don't take no for an answer!" Also on hand for the reminiscences was former AVB administrator turned comptroller and CFO Kathy Maloney, who joined the group in 1990. Over the course of her 26-year tenure Maloney helped AVB grow from a 490-member group under then-Executive Director Joe Anlauf into a sprawling merchandising, marketing and financing organization with multiple divisions and affiliates. At the time though, Anlauf's focus was on securing merchandising deals, bringing regional groups into the fold, and getting manufacturers to treat AVB as a singular entity. "We were mainly looking for the deals and trying to grow the organization," Maloney recalled. By the time Anlauf's successor, former Maytag Manager Bob Lawrence, joined AVB in 1994, the group had grown to some 700 members. His first order of business was to build and improve the group's vendor programs to make AVB more competitive with the big- box stores. "You had Sears and Montgomery Ward at the time, and Lowe's and Home Depot were coming on strong," Maloney said. "They were taking market share while the independents were shrinking. We had to grow the group." To that end, AVB upped the ante on its member services by launching its first trade shows, which were initially more educational than product focused. "We spent a lot of time and energy getting speakers to address marketing, dealer financing and consumer financing," she said. By the 1990s, AVB members also began to benefit from vendor rebates, which manufacturers created to ensure a healthy independent channel and a counterbalance to their big-box customers. AVB then went on to develop the group's own financing, marketing and consumer credit arms, so that members "would no longer be at the mercy of large corporations," Maloney said. "We wanted to be truly independent." Perhaps the greatest challenge came with the housing market crash and Great Recession of 2008. But AVB emerged from the downturn even stronger by bringing in larger regional dealers and adding specialty divisions and affiliates like The TRIB Group and ProSource forerunner the PRO Group. Today, CEO Ristow shares the same forward-looking qualities as his predecessors, Maloney said, combined with a greater attention to detail. "Jim is a visionary. He's always looking ahead, thinking of how to keep the members profitable and in business, and he doesn't shy away from what's coming next." Also sharing memories was director Malcolm Williams of Greenville TV & Appliance. "I've seen a lot of changes over the years," Williams reflected, "and we're going in the right direction. The management team is so forward thinking, our financials are strong, and digital marketing makes the difference. We've come a long way, and I feel like now we are the premier buying group. It worked out well." Musing later aboard the charter boat, Director Ron Bemis of Bemis Appliance shared that, "As an independent dealer we only survive by being in AVB. You've got to have the financing and the marketing. All these things come into play to be successful." To underscore the point, Bemis, a 39-year member, noted that his company's growth has rocketed five-fold over the last three years, and that he is "doing more business today than ever." "We're just getting started," added Ristow. "Now we'll look to the next 50 years." RO BRANDSOURCE BOARD MARKS 50 TH ANNIVERSARY Members of Board of Directors along with the AVB executive staff in the harbor in Long Beach.

• Cover