High-tech company finds home in Vegas

Monday, Jan. 10, 2005 | 10:57 a.m.

Dennis Gentles knew when his company made its International Consumer Electronics Show debut in 2004 that there was something special about Las Vegas.

With its exploding housing market and a customer base that enjoys entertaining and having plenty of expendable income to do it right, Gentles found a new North American home for Klegg Dynamic Fidelity Systems, a high-end home-entertainment system provider.

Gentles moved the distributorship for the London-based company to Las Vegas from New York and has an office, warehouse and showroom at the Park 2000 complex off McCarran International Airport.

Today, the 18-month-old company has 12 employees that handle sales and back-office responsibilities as well as a network of 20 independent contractors that represent the company to Southern Nevada's residential community.

The company's second CES appearance, which began Thursday at the Alexis Park Resort, was much easier to stage.

"We knew that Las Vegas would be something special for us after that first CES show," Gentles said. "This year, it was a lot easier because we're just a couple of miles away and we were able to come over the measure everything out a lot earlier."

Klegg offers flat-panel plasma televisions, DVD players, egg-shaped speakers and other home-theater accessories for home offices, living rooms, bedrooms and dining rooms. The Consumer Electronics Show's Alexis Park venue is specially designed to enable comfortable viewing of high-end audio and video products in a suite environment.

On the first day of exhibiting, business was brisk for Gentles, who sold 15 systems in the first month of operation in Las Vegas and has added in-home custom installation services to the menu of what Klegg offers.

Gentles said he considered locating the company in Dallas, but said he was impressed with the Southern Nevada real estate sales and the area's labor market. He also enjoys the state's tax benefits as well as his ability to entertain clients who can fly in from virtually any location to McCarran International Airport.

Klegg's CES display included a 50-inch plasma television with speakers and convergence products. The TV retails for $5,300 and the speaker package brings the total to $6,500.

Gentles' operation services North and South America, with the company offering a global reach on some products.