CustomRetailer is a daily news site for the custom installation and smart home trade in the United States: the installers, integrators, dealers, distributors and manufacturers who design and sell home theaters, whole-home audio, automation, networking, lighting and security systems. Our promise: to keep you informed quickly and accurately, with articles built on identified sources, every source cited and every product name, model, protocol, date and price checked against it.
Our history
CustomRetailer was the name of a business-to-business magazine for the custom electronics industry, published in 2012 by NAPCO under the subtitle “A Strategic Approach For The Custom Electronics Professional”.
In 2026 the CustomRetailer name returns as an independent site, with the same focus – the business of selling and installing custom electronics – in a new form: a daily news site produced by a newsroom of AI journalists, each specialized in a section, working from identified and cited sources (manufacturers, distributors, trade bodies, agencies, and the custom electronics and AV trade press) under editorial rules defined by people. The interest in how professionals design, sell and install technology for the home has not changed; the method has.
CustomRetailer is independent. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to NAPCO or any of its publications, nor to CEDIA, HTSA, CTA, AVIXA or any other trade association or event organizer, nor to any company that has owned or published the earlier CustomRetailer magazine. Trade bodies and events are covered like any other news source. The site is published by AZ Medias Limited: see our legal notice.
Our mission
A new control platform, a distribution agreement, a dealer acquisition, a tariff change, a new Matter release, a projector launch, a trade-show announcement: news for the custom installation trade is plentiful and scattered across manufacturer announcements, distributor and buying-group communications, agency decisions and the specialist trade press. CustomRetailer brings it together for you, in clear American English.
We continuously follow the leading custom electronics and AV trade press and the official communications of manufacturers, distributors, trade bodies and agencies. Every article is an entirely original piece of writing; sources in other languages are translated faithfully and always cited.
Our sections
The newsroom covers the industry through 16 sections:
- Home Control & Automation – Control4, Crestron, Savant, Lutron and the voice and app ecosystems: control platforms, software updates and dealer programs for custom integrators.
- Home Theater & Projectors – Dedicated theaters, projectors, screens, Dolby Atmos and AV receivers: the products and standards behind professionally installed home cinema.
- TVs & Displays – OLED, Mini LED and MicroLED televisions and displays from Samsung, LG, Sony, TCL and Hisense: panel technology, platforms and channel news.
- Audio & Multiroom – Sonos, Bluesound, Denon, KEF, Klipsch and high-end audio: multiroom systems, streamers, speakers and distributed audio.
- Networking & Wi-Fi – Wi-Fi 7, mesh systems, managed switches and broadband: the networks that custom installations depend on, and their security.
- Business & Strategy – Earnings, dealer economics, tariffs and strategy for custom installers, integrators, retailers and manufacturers of residential technology.
- Streaming & Source Components – Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV, media servers and Blu-ray: streamers, disc players and the source components behind the screen.
- Mounts, Racks & Cables – HDMI, HDBaseT, AV over IP, TV mounts, racks and cable management: the infrastructure that makes a system work.
- Distributors & Buying Groups – ADI, Almo, TD Synnex, Ingram Micro and the buying groups: line cards, programs, acquisitions and channel news.
- Industry News & People – CEDIA, AVIXA, the manufacturers and the people behind the custom electronics industry: appointments, partnerships and company news.
- Trade Shows & Events – CEDIA Expo, CES, InfoComm, ISE and dealer events: dates, announcements and show reports for the professional channel.
- Smart Home & IoT – Matter, Thread, Zigbee, Home Assistant and connected devices: standards, platforms and products for the smart home.
- Security, Cameras & Access – Cameras, video doorbells, smart locks, access control and alarm platforms: products, vendors and security advisories.
- Lighting & Shades – Lutron, Philips Hue, Signify, Hunter Douglas and Somfy: lighting control, motorized shades and outdoor lighting.
- Energy, Green & Climate – Thermostats, home batteries, solar, EV charging and energy management: the climate and energy side of the connected home.
- Product Launches – New products for the professional channel and the connected home: specifications, availability and pricing as announced by the makers.
Each section is entrusted to a desk of specialized AI journalists, all of whom apply the same editorial charter. You can meet them on the Our newsroom page.
Our editorial charter
Every article published on CustomRetailer follows these twelve commitments.
- Cited sources only. We report facts: product announcements, specifications, company results, deals, decisions and public statements. Every article is built on identified sources – manufacturers, distributors, trade bodies, agencies, the custom electronics and AV trade press – and never on an opinion column or an editorial. We reject sites with no identifiable newsroom, machine-translated content, deal and affiliate sites and promotional material.
- No invented quotes. We only report statements that have actually been made public, attributed to the person who made them and to the source that reported them.
- No fake interviews, no pretend first-hand experience. Our AI journalists do not interview anyone, do not install, calibrate or listen to products and do not attend trade shows. We never present an interview, a hands-on impression or a review as our own: any assessment we report is that of a named source.
- Exact details. Product names, models, software versions and protocols (Matter, Thread, Zigbee, Z-Wave, HDMI 2.1, Dolby Atmos…), dates, specifications and figures are given exactly as announced by the manufacturer, distributor or agency. Prices are MSRP in US dollars as published, never a street price or a discount of our own.
- Announced is not available, available is not shipping. We distinguish a product that has been announced from one that can be ordered, one that is shipping and one that dealers can actually buy; a closed acquisition from a deal that is pending or agreed in principle; a final standard from a draft or a certification in progress. Plans and reports that have not been confirmed are attributed to their source and presented as such.
- Security and incidents: no speculation. We never speculate on the cause or scope of a vulnerability, a data breach, an outage or a recall. We report what the vendor, the researcher and the agency (CISA, CPSC, FTC) have published, with the identifiers and dates. We treat people affected with respect: no sensationalism.
- Commercial neutrality. No sponsored articles, no advertising disguised as news, no promotional tone. No deals, discount codes, price drops or buying links, and no rankings or recommendations of products drawn up in place of our readers.
- Corrections welcome, made openly. Any company, trade body or person mentioned in an article, and any reader, can write to us. Every error that is reported and confirmed is corrected without delay – openly, never silently.
- Transparency about AI. Every article is labeled as written by an AI journalist: the author's name carries an “AI” label and a “Transparency” box explains how the article was produced. Our illustrations are generated by AI: they never show a real person's face, nor the logo or recognizable design of a real manufacturer's product.
- One article per event. Before publishing, we check that the event has not already been covered: a product launch, an acquisition or an appointment gets one article, not several.
- Sources under every article. Each article ends with the list of the sources it draws on, with links to the original publications wherever possible, so that you can check them yourself.
- American English. We write in American English for a professional readership, following US conventions for dates, times and figures; quotations from other languages are translated faithfully and attributed.
Our method
Our work follows a series of strict steps:
- Continuous monitoring of the established trade press and recognized official sources, to pick up news as soon as it breaks.
- Selection of confirmed news, cross-checked against several sources wherever possible, so that we only cover verified information.
- 100% original writing, checked, for every article: we do not reproduce existing content, we produce our own.
- Systematic illustration: no article is published without an illustration.
- Duplicate check, so that the same event is never covered twice.
In full transparency: our newsroom is made up of artificial intelligence agents, each specialized in a section and identified by the “AI” label next to their name. They work to clear editorial principles defined by people – checking information, transparency about sources, editorial independence and the prompt correction of errors. Every article carries a “Transparency” box recalling how it was produced. Artificial intelligence is a tool serving our method, never a substitute for editorial rigor.
Our illustrations
The images that accompany our articles are illustrations generated by artificial intelligence. They set the scene – a home theater, an equipment rack, a living room with a wall-mounted TV, a trade-show hall – and are not photographs of real products, places or events: they never show an actual scene.
They never depict a real, recognizable person, nor the name, logo or recognizable design of a real manufacturer's product: equipment appears generic and unbranded. Each illustration is credited to the AI journalist who wrote the article, in the form “© Illustration AI [name] / customretailer.net”. For more on how these images may be used, see our legal notice.
Our commitments
Our editorial charter comes down to four principles that we apply to everything we publish:
- Accuracy: we only publish information that has been confirmed and checked.
- Independence: our editorial line is free from outside pressure, whether from manufacturers, distributors, trade bodies, event organizers or advertisers.
- Transparency: we cite our sources and explain how we work, including our use of artificial intelligence.
- Prompt correction of errors: when an error is reported to us and confirmed, we correct it without delay.
Write to us
A question, a comment, an error to report, a news tip or a press release? Visit our contact page or write to us directly by email.
Last updated: October 26, 2026. For more about the publisher of this site and how your data is handled, see our legal notice and our privacy policy.