Commercial Integrator August 2021 - 28

INDUSTRY Anniversary
split the company based on workload. The
replacement parts business became the
dealer business, while the industrial business
became Almo Industrial Electornics, Inc. The
latter went public the following year.
" At that point we had two corporations,
one selling dealers replacement parts and
the other selling OEMS like Honeywell,
RCA, General Electric, etc., " says Gene
Chaiken, Chairman of the Board at Almo
and son-in-law to Morris Green. " It worked
well for a while. I joined the company in
1963. By 1967 we realized it was very difficult
running a public and private company. "
In July of 1968 both divisions were sold
to Sterling Electronics in Houston, Texas.
The move wouldn't last long, and in 1970
Morris Green bought both companies back
and unified them under the name Almo
Electronics Corporation.
" At that point the family owned the entire
business, and we've been private since
1970, " says Gene Chaiken.
Morris Green passed in 1973, leaving
Gene Chaiken as the President and CEO
of Almo Electronics Corporation. " At that
point, being a second generation, you
have to start making changes, " says Gene
Chaiken. " We started focusing on different
areas. We went into major appliances and
consumer electronics businesses. "
In 1980, Almo sold off the balance of its
parts business to focus on industrial electronics,
major appliances, and consumer
electronics. Throughout the early 1980s
JULY 2009
Almo Pro A/V
officially opens
for business,
hires East and
West Coast
sales teams
JUNE
2009
Formation of
Almo Pro A/V
announced at
InfoComm
SEPT. 2009
Introduction of
partnership with
InfoComm/AVIXA
for E4 traveling
distributor events
with sessions worth
CTS Renewal Units
28
Commercial Integrator AUGUST 2021
commercialintegrator.com
DEC. 2009
FINANCIAL:
Broke even
after six
months and
became
profitable
DEC. 2010
FINANCIAL:
Broke $100M
in sales
OCT. 2014
Launch of
Installation
Services
DEC. 2014
FINANCIAL:
Broke $200M
in sales
SEPT. 2016
Launch of
Control
Systems
Programming
Services
OCT. 2009
Hires/trains
25 employees,
launched
website, full
sales team
DSCE-certified
Morrie Green making a telephone call at Almo Radio Corporation.
Almo acquired a number of distributors in
these areas, and in 1989 again decided to
pivot when it sold the industrial electronics
business to focus on computer products.
" When we sold industrial electronics,
we had a focus of, basically, computer
products, major appliances, and consumer
electronics, " says Gene Chaiken.
In 1994 Warren Chaiken, Gene's son,
joined the company and made Almo a true
third-generation organization. In 1998
Almo sold the computer parts business and
focused back on consumer electronics.
" We continued the acquisitions, we
continued to grow, and in 2004 Warren
became the President and COO of the
company, " says Gene Chaiken. " In 2014
Warren then became the CEO of the
MARCH 2010
Creation of
specialized Business
Development
Manager positions
that changed the role
of the distributor from
just selling boxes
MARCH
2014
Launch of
Content
Creation
Services
company while I remained the Chairman. In
2016 we bought IAVI (International Audio
Visual, Inc.) which made Almo a billion-dollar
company. "
Today, Almo is a $1.37 billion company
with 2.5 million square feet of warehousing
space in nine facilities, with four sales
offices and over 650 employees.
" We didn't get there by ourselves. We
got there because of people, " says Gene
Chaiken. " We have people working for the
company that are second generation and
third generation working for the family,
besides our family. We have mothers and
fathers in the company, and they have
children in the company. We have married
couples in the company. We have one
family which the mother and all four of her
NOV. 2014
Hit mark
of issuing
1,000 CTS
RUs at E4s
APRIL 2016
Acquisition
of IAVI
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Commercial Integrator August 2021

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