Narm Noms Announced

Many familiar names are among the finalists for this year's annual awards from the National Assn. of Recording Merchandisers.

Among those in the running are Minneapolis-based Electric Fetus, which will vie for the small wholesaler of the year award for the sixth year in a row. Twist & Shout of Denver hopes to bring home the small retailer of the year award for the fifth straight year, and Troy, Mich.-based Handleman is looking to scoop up the large wholesaler award for the fourth straight year.

Brighton, Mass.-based Newbury Comics (in the medium-sized retail division) and Redeye of Haw River, N.C. (in the small distributor division), are going for the trifecta in their categories. Additionally, Billboard will be going for its second straight award in the related products and service supplier category.

Winners will be determined in a vote by the NARM membership and announced at the close of the annual NARM convention, to be held Aug. 11-14 in San Diego.

Here is the full list of nominees:

Large retailer of the year: Best Buy Enterprise, Richfield, Minn.; the Borders Group, Ann Arbor, Mich.; Target Stores, Minneapolis; Tower Records, West Sacramento, Calif.; Trans World Entertainment, Albany, N.Y.; and Virgin Entertainment Group North America, Los Angeles.

Medium retailer of the year: Bull Moose Music, Portland, Maine; J&R Music World, New York; Music Millennium, Portland, Ore.; Waterloo Records & Video, Texas; and Newbury Comics, Brighton, Mass.

Small retailer of the year: Electric Fetus, Minneapolis; Ear X-tacy, Louisville, Ky.; and Twist & Shout, Denver.

Large wholesaler of the year: Handleman, Troy, Mich.; Anderson Merchandisers, Amarillo, Texas; and Alliance Enterainment Corp., Coral Springs, Fla.

Medium wholesaler of the year: Arrow Distributing, Streetsboro, Ohio; Baker & Taylor, Charlotte, N.C.; Galaxy Music Distributors, Pittsburgh; and Super D, Irvine, Calif.

Small wholesaler of the year: Scorpio Music, Trenton, N.J.; Urbanlife Music & Video Distribution, Alameda, Calif.; and Electric Fetus.

Large distributor of the year: EMI Music Marketing, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music & Video Distribution and WEA Corp.

Medium distributor of the year: Koch Entertainment Distribution, Port Washington, N.Y.; Navarre Entertainment Media, New Hope, Minn.; and ADA, RED and Ryko Distribution, all in New York.

Small distributor of the year: Big Daddy Music Distribution, Kenilworth, N.J.; Burnside Distribution, Portland, Ore.; and Redeye Distribution, Haw River, N.Y.

Large supplier of the year: EMI Jazz & Classics/Blue Note & Angel Records; Island Def Jam Music Group; Universal/Motown Records Group; Interscope Geffen A&M Records; Rhino/Warner Strategic Marketing; Warner Bros. Records.

Medium supplier of the year: Concord Records, Beverly Hills, Calif.; Curb Records, Nashville; Shout Factory, Los Angeles; and Sanctuary Records Group North America, Verve Music Group and TVT Records, all in New York.

Small supplier of the year: Collectables Records/Gotham Distributing, West Conschohocken, Pa.; Oh Boy/Blue Plate Music/Red Pajamas, Nashville; Rykodisc, New York; Sub Pop Records, Seattle; and Victory Records, Chicago.

Related products and services supplier of the year: Almighty Institute of Music Retail, Studio City, Calif.; Case Logic, Longmont, Colo.; ICE Magazine, Santa Monica, Calif.; the Synergy Media Group, Denver; and the Billboard Information Group, New York. ••••