A fixture at consumer electronics shows for more than a half century, trade editor, publisher and market analyst Aaron Neretin has been and remains an integral member of the consumer electronics community.
Born in Manhattan, NY on May 30, 1928, the son of Minnie and Hillel, a stationer and glazier, Neretin was raised primarily in the Crotona Park section of the Bronx. Attending Bronx High School of Science, he showed an early interest in becoming a doctor. But while growing up, he also dabbled in creative writing, composing short stories about neighborhood life that drew praise and encouragement from his parents.
After a three-year stint in the Army, serving in Japan during the U.S. occupation from 1945 to 1948 and then graduating from New York University on the GI Bill, Neretin decided to pursue a career in writing.
Neretin started by applying first at The New York Times. After being turned down, Neretin applied at a number of newspaper publishers. At Fairchild Publications in 1950, Neretin took what job he was offered - copy boy for all the company's trade publications.
After spending a year or so as a copy boy, a position opened up on the copy desk at Retailing Daily. Neretin advanced quickly, moving from the copy desk to reporter to major appliances section editor to city editor for the publication, which first morphed into Home Furnishings Daily, then simply to HFD in 1952.
In 1965, Neretin was recruited by Billboard Publications to become editor and publisher of Merchandising Magazine.
Neretin remained editor and publisher after Gralla Publications bought Merchandising Magazine in 1973, and left the publication five years later when it was sold to NAPCO.
After leaving Merchandising in 1978, Neretin formed his own company, Neretin Associates, which provides retail market intelligence to industry executives via interviews with key electronics retailers and marketplace research. The firm remains active today as a major source of CE retail research at the retail level.
Neretin has received numerous industry awards, such as the NAME from the UJA and from the Consumer Electronics Association.