Moving pictures frame

June 18, 2009

Sean Thorp, left, and Howard Hochhalter founded HD Envy LLC in St. Petersburg and use a production facility in Largo to provide more choices for consumers looking for a frame for their flat-screen television.

Entrepreneurs Sean Thorp and Howard Hochhalter are seeing increased sales for the frames they build that wrap around flat-screen televisions.

Entrepreneur Sean Thorp learned a few things when he started building a frame for his flat-screen wall-mounted television.

It was hard, difficult to attach securely to the TV and time consuming.

But then he thought, if consumers buy a frame for their favorite artwork or photograph before hanging it, why wouldn’t they do it for their flat-screen television? This was when the prices of flat screens were beginning to come down, making them more available to more people.

“There are people out there trying to figure this out,” says Thorp, 39, a St. Petersburg native. “We are saying that we have a solution.”

So after a year of research and prototype building and with their own funds, Thorp and business partner Howard Hochhalter started a flat screen frame-building business called HD Envy LLC in St. Petersburg in 2007.

Hochhalter and Thorp, former U.S. Marines with interior design and frame building experience, had little money for advertising. Audio-visual installers sold some of HD Envy’s frames at first. They started a Web page and began social networking for the business on Twitter. Sales began to build. Interior designers began to call HD Envy, looking for frames to match furniture.

HD Envy operates with a staff of seven out of a production facility in Largo where it assembles and ships the frames in boxes. It has the raw materials made overseas.

The company makes TV frames out of wood, metal, plastic, ceramics, leather and other materials. It has a standard line of frames built and ready to go and also makes a variety of finishes and styles for custom designs for flat-panel LCD and plasma televisions. It has the production capability to produce 72 styles.

“If the customer wants stainless steel with African teak wood, we’re very good at that,” Hochhalter, 41, says.

The company goal is to make TV frames that are simple to install, securely fixed to the frame and relatively inexpensive. It’s average, non-custom, price ranges from $250 to $640. Competitor models can go up to $1,500 or higher.

And some of those frames use nylon straps, which are not as secure. HD Envy frames use metal brackets to attach to the TV.

While consumers make up most of its sales, HD Envy is also pursuing the commercial market. Advertisers might want their names on a TV frame inside a sports bar, restaurant or other business, Thorp, 39, says.

Currently, the company is celebrating its recent addition in 12 Tampa Bay area Best Buy locations and the move of the product to the core selling area.

“That will change things for us,” Thorp says.

The private company would not reveal revenues or profits, but said sales are growing and that it is still investing in the business.

Looking ahead, Thorp and Hochhalter want to expand throughout the United States.

They are working on getting licensing rights to add college logos to frames to tap the alumni and student market and sport league logos, such as Nascar, to ignite fan interest.

And they are exploring more lightweight plastic and fiberglass designs.

Despite the troubles retailers have had in the past year, HD Envy is confident about its partnership with Best Buy because its customers are likely to be HD Envy customers.

“They really have their finger on the pulse of home entertainment and TV,” Thorp says. “And we provide something that Best Buy doesn’t have.”