B&J Pro
SUPPLIER SPOTLIGHT
By Andrew King
W
hen Harman Professional
announced a change to
its Canadian distribution
structure for its subsidiary
audio brands, the Canadian
MI and pro audio retail markets were
introduced to a new business entity: B&J Pro.
Of course, B&J Music is well known to
MI retailers across the country as one of the
oldest companies serving their market and
the longtime home to major brands like
Takamine, Ovation, and Gretsch Drums. In
2015, it became a division of MI juggernaut
JAM Industries following JAM’s purchase of
B&J’s parent company, Kaman Music, from
Fender.
B&J Pro represents the latest evolution
of this long-running institution. While
Harman Professional’s longtime Canadian
distributor, SC Media Canada, will continue
to represent brands like AKG, JBL Professional,
and Soundcraft in the enterprise and rental
markets, B&J Pro is now bringing Harman’s
heralded lines to MI and pro audio retailers
across the country. The new company
appointed pro retail veteran Mark Finn as its
GM to lead the charge, and as Finn reports,
they’ve already made some impressive
inroads since the official announcement in
April 2017.
“Our offerings are so unique that we can
appeal to both traditional MI retailers, but also
pro audio retail stores,” Finn offers. “That’s the
distinction between B&J Music and B&J Pro.
There are a lot of retailers specifically geared
towards selling PA and recording equipment.
These are accounts that I know and that our
sales force knows well.”
Finn comes to B&J Pro after eight years
serving the pro retail sector with SFM, and
prior to that was running a pro-focused
division of Black + Decker industrial tools.
“So this kind of retail is really my strength,” he
says, “and we’ve developed a great team to
support our goals.”
Currently, those goals are to slowly and
steadily scale up in terms of inventory and
staff while also spurring market growth
for each of their brands, which for the
foreseeable future will be limited to AKG,
Crown, dbx, JBL, Lexicon, and Soundcraft.
“We know that the Harman Pro
brands demand a pretty large segment
of the market, and that’s going to require
a knowledgeable and dedicated staff,” he
says. “So far, we’re really excited about how
everything’s progressing. The growth has
18
CANADIAN MUSIC TRADE
(L-R) B&J PRO’S FRANK DIFRUSCIA, JENNIFER KASZEL, MARK FINN, RENE SITA & KATHLEEN LAMB
been exactly what we thought it would be.”
One of the ways they’re working
towards those goals is leveraging the known
strengths of B&J Music, including a big focus
on simplicity and transparency. “Operations-
wise, B&J Music and B&J Pro don’t differ that
much,” Finn points out. “We want to make it
simple and straightforward for the retailer,
so it’s as easy to get a JBL speaker as it is to
get a Kyser capo, and we have a firm plan in
place to get there. There’s a lot of work to do,
but the whole thing has been working really
smoothly so far.”
Finn believes his team will be running
at full capacity within the next few months,
admitting they have something of a head
start considering Harman Professional’s
reputation.
“They’re an industry leader,” he enthuses,
“and many dealers choose Harman as a one-
stop shop for complementing pro audio
brands. We’re targeting retailers that are going
to maintain these brands’ reputation in the
market. It’s exciting for us and exciting for our
dealer partners – like, let’s work as a team and
bring this thing to the limit.”
Finn is happy to report that the transition
has been relatively seamless thus far, largely
owing to the expertise of both Harman
Professional and JAM Industries. “We really did
our homework before getting started and
worked closely with the people at Harman
to get things going,” he shares. “We’ve had
nothing but a great response. Our fill rate is
very high, and I’m excited to see where we’re
going to be in six months. I think the sky is
really the limit as far as what we can grab in
terms of market share.”
Asked about current trends in the MI and
audio markets that they can capitalize on,
Finn offers something of an inversion of the
question. “Harman is always on the cutting
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