3-15-2017, Mobile Electronics Magazine -- After 45 years of service to the mobile electronics industry, having held positions at the retail and manufacturer level, Glenn Ihrke has officially retired. In 1972, Ihrke began working at a retail store as a salesman after attaining an anthropology degree in college. Working at several retail stores, Ihrke developed his skills in the business, enough to become a manager.

His next career move would take him from the retail level to manufacturer level when he joined Alpine Electronics in 1983. He would work for the company for 26 years, moving through the roles of regional manager, up to vice president of sales for North America. Ihrke then moved on to Harman, where he spent the next five years developing and refreshing the company's car audio division.

Today, Ihrke stands atop the hill of retirement, overlooking the valley that is his career, with the outlook of a man who has seen many changes in 12-volt during his tenure. He sat down recently with Mobile Electronics to discuss his perspective on the industry.

Q: What was the industry like when you got started?

A: The cassette was just being introduced in head units. Subwoofers didn't exist yet. Amplifiers were a rarity in itself. They were called EQ boosters back then. Then amps and subs came in and the transition to CD players took place. Back then, people didn't want to let go of their cassettes yet. So the transition became CD changers, controlled by in-dash cassettes. Then in-dash CDs came in, where changers became less important. Then iPod controllers came. I remembering we the first to introduce Alpine iPod controllers. It was called the CDA9827. You plugged the white cable into it and the controls showed up on the in-dash readout. You couldn't sell anything without it within a year.

From there, Alpine got to be a huge player, but like everyone else went through huge struggles as market crashed in 2008. At that point in time, Alpine had to make changes in the aftermarket management, which left me out looking for jobs. That brought me to Harman and I was left to run car audio in the Americas. I really was the car audio sales guy; setting strategy, working with product guys to develop product. Car audio had been ignored as they reworked the consumer division. I was brought into to do the same for car audio. So what we really had to do was lay out a strategy on where we wanted to go with the brand and how we wanted to go to market.

We were seeing double digit growth for at least three years. We completely redid the Infinity line, and a new high-end component line called Kappa Perfect. We came out with Bluetooth streaming amplifiers without having to replace the factory head unit. We also reinvested into the marine category, which is just starting to come to market now. If you look at the Infinity brand, our oldest product is a year old. It's the same with JBL. The objective with Infinity was to gear it to the specialist channel and gear JBL toward a broader-based market. We were very happy to come up with that kind of growth.

Q: Just like retail, you as a manufacturer have lived through the transition of leading the technology race to now having to cater to the whims of Smartphone developers quickly advancing OEM systems. Can you give us some insight on how these changes impact our industry at the manufacturer level? What are some of the tough decisions you've had to make?

A: If you take a look at what's going on starting at the head unit side of it, everything is in decline except for devices with Android Auto and CarPlay built into them. When I started in this industry, the sources were stationery. Whether it was albums or 8-tracks, whatever it was, you didn't take it with you. Now, everything has to be able to control what comes around with you in your pocket. That puts incredible opportunity out there for the aftermarket to interface with the dashboard. We've got to find a way to interface and continually update that dashboard. One of the problems the carmakers are going to run into is that it takes several years to develop a new product line, then it takes years to update. The opportunity of the aftermarket is to update the manufacturer's system on a continual basis and be able to upgrade that sound system with new technology. It requires a specialist to do. You can't buy it online or at big box stores. 

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3-22-2017 -- Habits are funny things. They are created through a fixed way of thinking, willing or feeling acquired through previous repetition of mental experiences, according to the American Journal of Psychology. Replacing old habits with new ones takes twice the effort considering each comes with its own set of routines.

Greg Tackett, owner of Greg's Custom Audio, Video and Car Stereo in Pikeville, Ky. had to learn this the hard way when he took over his family's 40-year car stereo store to finally realize his dream of entrepreneurship. After having worked his way up the ladder from novice to expert, Tackett made a point of creating his own shop style and culture, despite the old habits he and others became accustomed to at the company.

Tackett had been involved with automotive work from a young age, working part-time during high school at Mayo Tire, a general automotive and tire shop owned by his father and uncle. After graduating, he continued at the shop while also attending the nearby Mayo Technical School, with the goal of becoming a TV and radio repairman. "It helped me to learn the basics of electronics and we were able to use it in our home and car audio business. I learned the different circuits, how they worked, how we could use them for the electrical part of the car, the grounding," Tackett said. "I finished school in two years. After I graduated, I went to work full-time with my dad and was there for 35 years. We built car and home audio installations."

In 2007, long after Tackett's father passed away, the family soon decided it was time to do separate things. Tackett and his wife saw an opportunity to take over the business and rebrand it into something new. "At that time, all our manufacturers stuck with us and kind of helped us along and gave us their lines," he said. "We looked all over to find this location. It's across from a Walmart and a shopping center. At the time, the economy was doing super and there was hardly a place available to rent. We had a lady who had a space, a warehouse that looked hopeless and my wife has vision and said, 'We can make this work.' We did some remodeling and moved our stuff in."

Tackett had little money to purchase displays for the new shop, but his daughter informed him of a CompUSA that was closing in Lexington, Ky. He spoke to the manager, who turned out to be a former customer of Tackett's, and was able to purchase several displays cheaply. Patrons from the local church also chipped in by making a display for the shop, including a high quality paint job that received many compliments from customers.

The first year of business proved to be successful, as business rolled in steadily. Then the recession hit and gave the shop its first true test. "We're in the coal fields in Eastern Kentucky. The coal was basically taken away from us," Tackett said. "In those first two years of '08 and '09, we were doing super good. Then they took the coal away and it was worrisome in this area. Thousands of men lost their jobs. A lot of people were moving out because they didn't have any work to do. We stayed here and were kind of rebounding."

Standing up to the challenge, Tackett developed the strategy of maximizing return customers by treating them like family. "That's one of the things we've built our business on. We go above and beyond what we've needed to do. We're in a small town and word gets out quick if you're not doing what you're supposed to do," Tackett said. "The first thing we do when someone comes through the door is we try to get to know them, then let them get to know us, find out what they need, make friends and let them become part of our family. We try to give them what they need and sell what they need, instead of just selling a bunch of boxes and seeing how much money we can get out of them."

A Fresh Approach

With a population under 10,000, it might be considered difficult to maintain a steady flow of customers at a 12-volt shop. Not for Greg's Custom AVC, which has become a staple of the local community. "We've come back slowly but surely," Tackett said.

Primary work, due to the mountain region, includes off-road vehicles like pickup trucks, side-by-sides and four-wheelers. Products and services have diversified beyond car and home audio to include truck accessories due to the shop's demographic. Approximately 25 percent of the business involves selling and installing truck accessories, with around 50 percent in car audio, backup cameras, video and other 12-volt standards.

"It's mostly older customers coming out to buy things to dress up their trucks. They buy things like step bars on Ford F-150, bed covers, bent visors, floor liners and bug visors. That's been a tremendous business," Tackett said. "Car audio is more flat. The accessory business has been very good for us."