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Ultimate Electronics Shutters Builder Business
In its heyday, Ultimate installed more than 17,000 structured wiring systems in a single year
Ultimate Electronics has closed its home builder business, a former employee told CE Pro.
It should come as little surprise that the CE retailer -- once a giant force in the new-construction market -- has ceased installing structured wiring systems and other builder amenities.
But the former employee was disappointed that CE Pro hadn't reported this happening, and wanted to make sure that the world knew. So now you know.
Ultimate reportedly shuttered its builder divisions one by one starting in 2007, and closed the last one in mid-December 2008.
In its heyday, Ultimate installed more than 17,000 structured wiring systems in a single year (2005), and the company has always topped the CE Pro 30 list of highest-volume integrators.
Ultimate's departure from the business is a blow to On-Q/Legrand, which purchased Ultimate's biggest structured wiring vendor, UStec. On-Q continued to supply Ultimate after the acquisition.
Ultimate is the last of the CE retailing giants to pull out of the new-home-construction market. And it was arguably the most successful. Tweeter fared OK, but CompUSA and Best Buy failed miserably.
2007: (#2) 8,500 installations
2006: (#1) 16,000 installations
2005: (#1) 17,300 installations
2004: (#1) 15,000 installations
NOTE: The installations occurred in the year noted; CE Pro's lists are published the subsequent year. So, for example, the October 2008 issue of CE Pro reported Ultimate installs of 8,500 for the 2007 calendar year.
It should come as little surprise that the CE retailer -- once a giant force in the new-construction market -- has ceased installing structured wiring systems and other builder amenities.
But the former employee was disappointed that CE Pro hadn't reported this happening, and wanted to make sure that the world knew. So now you know.
Ultimate reportedly shuttered its builder divisions one by one starting in 2007, and closed the last one in mid-December 2008.
In its heyday, Ultimate installed more than 17,000 structured wiring systems in a single year (2005), and the company has always topped the CE Pro 30 list of highest-volume integrators.
Ultimate's departure from the business is a blow to On-Q/Legrand, which purchased Ultimate's biggest structured wiring vendor, UStec. On-Q continued to supply Ultimate after the acquisition.
Ultimate is the last of the CE retailing giants to pull out of the new-home-construction market. And it was arguably the most successful. Tweeter fared OK, but CompUSA and Best Buy failed miserably.
Ultimate on the CE Pro Top 30 Structured Wiring Installers
2007: (#2) 8,500 installations
2006: (#1) 16,000 installations
2005: (#1) 17,300 installations
2004: (#1) 15,000 installations
NOTE: The installations occurred in the year noted; CE Pro's lists are published the subsequent year. So, for example, the October 2008 issue of CE Pro reported Ultimate installs of 8,500 for the 2007 calendar year.
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Article Topics
News · Wire and Cable · Builders · Hybrid Dealers · Wire And Cable · Builders ·About the Author
Julie Jacobson, Editor-at-large, CE Pro
Julie Jacobson is co-founder of EH Publishing and currently spends most of her time writing for CE Pro, mostly in the areas of home automation, networked A/V and the business of home systems integration. She majored in Economics at the University of Michigan, earned an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, and has never taken a journalism class in her life. Julie is a washed-up Ultimate Frisbee player with the scars to prove it. Follow her on Twitter @juliejacobson.
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