Vetting a new vendor for your portfolio can be a daunting process, but that’s where your industry networking comes in handy. Down in Florida, Anthony Petrone, founder and CEO of Wellington-based Petrone Technology Group, was seeking an outdoor audio solution and his dealer friends kept pushing him toward Coastal Source.
Hear how the match was an immediate success and why Coastal Source CEO Franco D’Ascanio is expecting big things from 2024, all in this latest CE Pro Podcast episode. Editor’s note, we recorded the conversation in late 2023, so the references to “next year” in it refer to 2024.
D’Ascanio has every reason to be happy and confident about where Coastal Source stands as we begin this year, as he outlines early in the podcast. The team is coming off a fantastic CEDIA Expo 2023 in Denver last fall in which dealers saw Coastal Source products in action at the Destination Outdoors pavilion.
And that was just the start of what was a whirlwind of activity to close out 2023 for the Moorestown, N.J., and Marathon, Fla., based outdoor lighting and outdoor audio specialist.
In November, Coastal Source announced its Ketra Ready Modulus Bullet Light, bringing the Lutron-owned lighting fixture brand’s acclaimed color-changing capabilities outdoors. Also in November, Coastal hired industry veteran Jeff Poggi as its new president, moving D’Ascanio into the CEO role as the company forges ahead with its innovation for the channel.
The company followed those big announcements in December with news that its versatile Razor hardscape and mountable speaker was now shipping, as well as the introduction of its Contour loudspeaker.
“We brought in Jeff because the company has substantially from our start in 2009, and what we really want to do is create a world-class company,” D’Ascanio states.
“In most cases, we have best-in-class products – people know that, and we believe that’s about half the journey, the adventure, and the challenge. … But there’s a lot into taking the company to the next level. So I think all the foundational things were put in … We’ve grown up in this industry, but when it really comes to building a larger, better [company] Jeff has a background through Harman, through Bose, through McIntosh, so there’s a real history there and success in taking brands and bringing them to the next level.”
Coastal Source Fulfills Florida Dealer’s Audio Needs & More
Meanwhile, Petrone wanted to take his integration firm’s projects and profitability to the next level too.
The company was exploring options last year in the rapidly growing outdoor technology space and more specifically, outdoor audio that would impress his clientele in its expansive coverage and performance. As part of a pretty tight-knit group of dealers serving the various Florida markets – Petrone Technology Group caters to high-end residential as well as the state’s sprawling horse ownership properties – Petrone was consistently being pointed to Coastal Source to try out.
The company’s performance, ease of install, and versatility wowed Petrone right away, and he’s been doing his own evangelizing of Coastal Source ever since.
“One of the things down in Wellington is we have a large equestrian community – we have covered arenas, arenas, massive farms and things like that, and that’s where the Line Array in particular has really benefitted us,” Petrone explains.
“It’s a really exciting line, I’m happy to see the growth. The Razors – amazing speakers, we put those up right away. They mount pretty easy, the sound quality is awesome. It’s just everything about [Coastal Source] right now has been superb, so as a new dealer [to the brand], I think we made the right choice in signing on.”
Hear much more from D’Ascanio and Petrone about outdoor audio applications, new dealer onboarding, training and demo assistance, where Coastal is heading in 2024, and more by watching or listening to the podcast above. Find past episodes of the CE Pro Podcastby subscribing to the CE Pro YouTube channel or our Apple and Spotify podcast feeds.