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 sound ...

and

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

equipment for the

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

, along with

speakers Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Speaker (song), "Speaker" ( ...

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

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. 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 Virginia, United States. It is the seat of government of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Quee ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Company

Crutchfield reports on its website that it has over 600 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. Crutchfield has retail storefronts in

and

Harrisonburg, Virginia Harrisonburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Shenandoah Valley region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is also the county seat of the surrounding Rockingham Cou ...

. 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.

Awards and recognition

In 2007, Bill Crutchfield was inducted into the

Consumer Electronics Association The Consumer Technology Association (CTA)® is North America's largest standards and technology trade organization representing more than 1,200 technology companies. CTA is led by CEO and Vice Chair Gary J. Shapiro. Trade shows CES CE ...

Hall of Fame alongside

Paul Allen Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American businessman, computer programmer, and investor. He co-founded Microsoft, Microsoft Corporation with his childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which was followed by the ...

and Amar Bose. The company's website, Crutchfield.com, was the first vendor-authorized audio/video retailer on the Internet.

References

{{reflist Consumer electronics retailers of the United States Retail companies established in 1974 Companies based in Virginia Online retailers of the United States Mail-order retailers