Follow up: GE/UTC reassure residential dealers
By L. Samuel Pfeifle
Updated Fri November 13, 2009
FREEHOLD, N.J.—Not long after Norman Adelman, president of GE Security Pro dealer Alarm King, based in New Jersey and a recipient of a Security Pro Award from GE Security in 2007, spoke with Security Systems News yesterday about the announced acquisition of GE Security by UTC, he and the rest of the GE dealers received a memo about the sale.
“After reading it, I felt quite positive with the demeanor and content,” Adelman said. “Basically, management on each side felt very positive about this sale in terms of making the transition as painless and easy for its dealers as possible. It seems that there was considerable planning that had been taking place prior to this announcement, considering the existing dealers and making them stronger with brand recognition and advertising to capture major market share through significant growth.”
Essentially, GE dealers are wary, if only because they've been through this before.
“So much has changed,” Adelman said, referring to the original GE acquisition of ITI, “and now that we're finally settled in, we're being pushed off again ... I can tell you that we have a network of dealers that talk on the Internet. There's great concern and nobody's being spectacularly positive.”
However, the memo and communication the dealers received yesterday has helped. “This was the reassurance that many of the dedicated GE Security Pro dealers seek to hear.”
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