Charles Avnet (1888–1979) was an American businessman who founded electronics parts distributor

Avnet Avnet, Inc. is a distributor of electronic components headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, named after Charles Avnet, who founded the company in 1921. After its start on Manhattan's Radio Row, the company became incorporated in 1955 and began t ...

Biography

Avnet was born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in 1888 in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

.New York Times: "AVNET‐Charles‐Beloved husband of Celia. Devoted father of Lillian Marks, Dr. Norman Avnet and the late Lester and Robert Avnet"
December 26, 1979 In 1921, Avnet began buying surplus

ham radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communica ...

parts and selling them to the public on

Radio Row Radio Row is a nickname for an urban street or district specializing in the sale of radio and electronic equipment and parts. Radio Rows arose in many cities with the 1920s rise of broadcasting and declined after the middle of the 20th century ...

in the lower

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

capitalizing on the end of the World War I era ban on the trade of radio parts in 1918. He had $85,000 in sales in his first year. With the advent of commercial radio broadcasting and factory-made radios (which did not require parts), he adjusted his distribution pipeline and began selling parts to manufacturers and dealers. In 1929, he diversified by branching out into car antenna kits and automobile assembly kits. During the Great Depression, he shifted the focus from retailing to wholesaling. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, sales to the private sector were banned, so Avnet shifted to government sales with an emphasis on connectors. After the war, the market was flooded with war surplus components and Avnet flourished incorporating as Avnet Electronics Supply Co Inc in 1955 reaching $1 million in sales. In 1959, the company went public as Avnet Electronics Corporation.

Personal life

He was married to Celia Avnet. They had four children: Lester Francis Avnet (1913–1970), Robert H. Avnet (1919–1964), Lillian Avnet Marks, and Dr. Norman Avnet (1928–2017). He died in 1979; services were held at Congregation Beth Sholom in

Long Beach, New York Long Beach is an oceanfront city in Nassau County in New York, United States. It takes up a central section of the Long Beach Barrier Island, which is the westernmost of the outer barrier islands off Long Island's South Shore. As of the 2020 ...

. His grandson (son of Lester) is director, writer and producer Jon Avnet.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avnet, Charles 1888 births 1979 deaths American Jews Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States 20th-century American businesspeople Businesspeople from New York City American company founders