Crutchfield Corporation is a North American retailer specializing in a wide range of electronics, including mobile

audio Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound * Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound *Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum * Digital audio, representation of sou ...

and

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syst ...

equipment for the

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarde ...

, along with

speakers Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

televisions Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

, and other electronics for home or portable use, serving both the United States and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It was created in 1974 by William G. " Bill" Crutchfield, Jr., founder and CEO. It is based in

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

History

The company was created by Bill Crutchfield while he was in the process of restoring classic sports cars. While trying to upgrade the car stereo in a

Porsche 356 The Porsche 356 is a sports car that was first produced by Austrian company Porsche Salzburg, Porsche Konstruktionen GesmbH (1948–1949), and then by German company Porsche, Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche GmbH (1950–1965). It was Porsche's first ...

coupe he was preparing to sell, he was unable to find anyone willing or able to perform the work. This made him realize that there was an opportunity to offer car stereos to others interested in this type of

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...

project.

Company

Crutchfield reports on its website that it has over 500 employees. It is privately held by CEO Bill Crutchfield. The Charlottesville facilities include a headquarters, a main distribution center, and a secondary distribution and processing center. In addition, Crutchfield has a satellite facility in

Norton, Virginia Norton is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in the far western tip of the state in Wise County, Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,687, making it the least populous city in Virginia. The Bureau of E ...

. Crutchfield has retail storefronts in

and Harrisonburg, Virginia. Crutchfield has had a web presence since 1995. Their website's Outfit My Car tool makes use of in-house measurements of thousands of vehicles to verify fit for aftermarket speakers and car stereos. The website also features articles, videos, and reviews.

Business model

A key mission of the Crutchfield business early on was providing customers with information about audio gear and installation. As Crutchfield grew, it developed formal departments dedicated to Vehicle Research and Product Research. The company claims to have assembled the largest database of vehicle fit information. As of November 2017, they had vehicle fit information on over 25,000 vehicles. This information drives internal resources to support sales and tech support, and is also the basis of the database powering the online Outfit My Car tool. The Vehicle Research department also provides the information needed for Crutchfield to produce MasterSheets, which are instruction sheets for installing car stereo products in specific vehicles. The Product Research arm of Crutchfield verifies the data provided by manufacturers on each consumer electronics product, for car and for home or portable use, in addition to performing additional tests and measurements itself.

Awards and recognition

In 2007, Bill Crutchfield was inducted into the

Consumer Electronics Association The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) is a standard and trade organization representing 1,376 consumer technology companies in the United States. CTA works to influence public policy, holds events such as the Consumer Electronics Show (CE ...

Hall of Fame alongside

Paul Allen Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American business magnate, computer programmer, researcher, investor, and philanthropist. He co-founded Microsoft Corporation with childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which ...

and

Amar Bose Amar Gopal Bose (November 2, 1929 – July 12, 2013) was an American entrepreneur and academic. An electrical engineer and sound engineer, he was a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for over 45 years. He was also the found ...

. The company's website, Crutchfield.com, was the first vendor-authorized audio/video retailer on the Internet. As of April 2018, Crutchfield was the only internet retailer to have won BizRate Insight's Platinum Circle of Excellence Award eighteen years in a row. Crutchfield's call center has been certified by J. D. Power and Associates' Call Center Certification Program for "''meeting key expectations''" and "''outstanding customer service experience''."

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.crutchfield.com
Crutchfield Official Canadian website
Consumer electronics retailers in the United States Retail companies established in 1974 Companies based in Virginia Online retailers of the United States Mail-order retailers