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Moving Goods in Garden Grove

Nick Seedorf saw an opportunity five years ago to fuse consulting services with standard logistics in the emerging business of mobile device accessories.

Apple Inc.’s had just debuted the iPhone, and he set out to strike deals with as many of the 150 authorized Apple retailers in the U.S. as possible.

Inking deals with the group, which now is closer to 200, “was the real first step distributing into retail,” said Seedorf, cofounder and president of Garden Grove-based nuCourse Distribution Inc.

The company, established in 2008 and backed by family and friends in typical boot-strap fashion, now has more than 25 retail customers, including the likes of Best Buy, Office Depot and Fry’s Electronics, all of which have helped the company post record sales of $120.6 million in the 12 months through June.

The 501.5% jump from June 2011 put nuCourse in the No. 15 spot on this year’s list of fastest-growing private companies with headquarters in Orange County (see related stories throughout issue, list starting on page 50).

“A lot of companies focus on moving boxes and being the middleman,” Seedorf said. “We position ourselves as more of the matchmaker.”

That strategy to link brands with retailers helped nuCourse secure a recent partnership with Meijer Inc.; the distributor will take over its “planogram” at more than 200 locations throughout the Midwest for the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer.

Planogram is industry speak for stocking shelves and laying out a marketing plan for the retailer, as it aims to differentiate itself from a crowded field of competitors during the fall rollout, highlighted by last week’s release of the iPhone 5s.

“We do a lot of homework before we even get there,” said Martin Avila, director of sales for nuCourse.

That includes scouring data on consumer buying habits, product market share, regional and national retail competitors, and dozens of other aspects. NuCourse helps some vendors with product design, color schemes, packaging and fashion sense.

“It’s not just about getting product on the shelf, it’s about getting the right product on the shelf,” said Seedorf, who cut his teeth in the industry as an undergraduate at Long Beach State University when he launched MyGearStore, an online reseller of consumer electronics products that still exists today.

NuCourse’s timely entrance into mobile accessories and devices—smartphones, tablets, media players and other gadgets—has helped the company grow along with its base of some 90 vendors.

Colorado-based OtterBox, the top seller of iPhone cases in the U.S. with $573 million in annual revenue, and OrigAudio, a Costa Mesa-based company that boomed onto the scene in 2009 with its Fold n’ Play speaker, have become perennial fast-growers.

“They’ve all grown dramatically the last four years just as we have,” Seedorf said.

That has prompted plans to add a distribution plant next year in Nashville or Louis-ville, Ky., to serve the East Coast.

NuCourse ships more than 100,000 products a month from its 450,000-square-foot warehouse in Garden Grove and a 400,000-square-foot fulfillment center in Colorado.

The company employs about 80 people, with the majority at its 100,000-square-foot Garden Grove headquarters, which houses sales and marketing, accounting, finance and other corporate personnel.

NuCourse, unlike other competitors in the razor-thin-margin distribution industry, primarily handles business in the U.S.

The company, which utilizes some resellers, primarily distributes products through Apple specialists, college book stores, retailers, wireless outfits, e-commerce sites and business-to-business channels.

The recipe won’t change anytime soon, according to Seedorf.

“We’re not trying to go in and win the bid,” he said. “That’s not going to yield the best long-term relationship. There’s a ton of growth opportunities out there.”

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