HHGregg going out of business

[Deleted]

www.indystar.com/story/money/2017/03/31/hhgregg-nears-going-out--business-sale/99877748/

The Indianapolis based appliance & technology chain could shut down entirely next Friday.

Amazing how, just a decade ago, they were the most profitable chains in it's sector.

EDIT: It's official!

[Deleted]

I think they expanded beyond their means. Grew too big for its britches.

And the Samsung washer recall had to take a huge hit. (Certain washers might blow its top. Of course I find this out AFTER I got mine paid off.)

[Dr. T is an alien]

Here I am still waiting on my tax check and can't take advantage of any liquidation sales.

[Mozenrath]

One, two, is this on?

Yo, Jimmy, hit me with that HHGregg

[ToyfareMark]

Considering that walking into one of their stores is like walking into a funeral home during a service, I'm not surprised.

[willywonka666]

Apr 1, 2017 9:19:00 GMT -5 @sandman said:

I think they expanded beyond their means. Grew too big for its britches.

That seems to be going on a lot-it's happening here with a hospital of all places.

I'm not a business man, but damn, it seems that more often than not, a business will run itself into the ground and if it survives, they hire someone to head it and do it again. And again, and again.

[The Legend of Groose]

Christmas in July is ruined.

[Glitch]

They would have done better if they changed their name to HHHGregg.
They would have buried the competition.

[Dr. T is an alien]

All jokes aside, if you are thinking of investing in retail, just flipping don't. The economy has been kicking the shit out your average consumer for years now and virtually all retail companies are feeling the pain caused by no one having disposable income anymore.

Just about the only people thriving are people who buy up struggling companies to transfer debt to them in order to rid themselves of that debt by later filing bankruptcy. This is why struggling companies never seem to recover. The companies and their employees are exploited through accounting tricks.

What makes it worse is that things are not going to be changed any time soon. Many people will be losing jobs soon and won't be addressed until it gets really bad.

[crash1984]

There is this area of town that is loaded with commercial buildings and strip malls. Back in 2007 they built this really fancy strip mall complete with a large pond and used HHGregg as the anchor. Some 10 years later and there still is nothing much over there and with HHGregg closing it is going to become an even bigger joke.

[Doctor Of Style]

I went to one of their stores a couple years ago, looking to buy a new washing machine. They wanted to charge me 25 bucks just for the electrical cord to plug it in, and hit me with a delivery fee. I went with a local appliance store for about a hundred bucks less for the same model.

[crash1984]

I bought a dishwasher from them once and also got a warranty. Had some problems with the dishwasher and was basically told by them that it was my tough luck that the dishwasher stopped working even though it was still under warranty.

[CMPunkyBrewster]

I had no idea HHGregg still existed. I haven't seen one in forever.

[Hassan bin Sober]

I bought my first TV there. This was back in like 1998. I remember paying in cash and they were all confused because apparently nobody used cash even back then. Not been in there since.

[Deleted]

I worked there for 2 years as a commissioned appliance salesman, I don't know how I lasted that long. I hated everything about it, the managers, the commissioned based pay, having to nickel and dime customers for everything, fighting to get something delivered when the customer wanted it, etc...

I won't shed a tear if they close.

[Deleted]

It'll be official Friday.

One reason I am happy is because Dan Dakich was a spokesperson for them, so that is one less brand with his mitts on it.

[y4j1981]

add Payless shoes to the tale of stores in trouble. They are gonna; website has the list of all the stores closing btw:

Payless ShoeSource said Tuesday that it has filed for bankruptcy and will immediately close 400 stores in the US and Puerto Rico.

The closures could impact more than 2,000 employees.

Payless has been in talks with its lenders for months over a restructuring plan that at one point included closing as many as 1,000 stores, or a quarter of the company's locations.

[crash1984]

Well it is official now.

www.indystar.com/story/money/2017/04/07/hhgregg-close-all-stores-after-failing-find-buyer/100183284/

NDIANAPOLIS — The going-out-of-business sales start this weekend at HHGregg.

The bankrupt retailer is planning to begin liquidating its assets Saturday after failing to find a buyer by its Friday deadline. The company expects to close all of its 220 stores by the end of May, resulting in about 5,000 layoffs across the U.S.

HHGregg CEO Bob Riesbeck in a statement said the company has "continued to fight for the future" since March 6 when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

"While we had discussions with more than 50 private equity firms, strategic buyers and other investors, unfortunately, we were unsuccessful in our plan to secure a viable buyer of the business on a going-concern basis within the expedited timeline set by our creditors," Riesbeck said.

A company spokeswoman said Riesbeck was not available for an interview.

The liquidation process means HHGregg customers only have a few weeks left to use gift cards and return previously purchased items. Customers who want to make returns could end up being disappointed. The company, citing its bankruptcy process, is limiting returns on items bought before March 6 to $2,850 — a fraction of the cost of many high-ticket appliances and televisions.

The liquidation ends a 62-year run for HHGregg, which is headquartered on 96th Street. The company was founded by Henry Harold Gregg and his wife, Fansy.

CLOSING STORES IN 2017:Sears, J.C. Penney, Kmart, Macy's and more

HHGregg built a reputation as a regional electronics retailer, taking on companies such as Best Buy. But, like other big-box stores, HHGregg struggled to adapt to the e-commerce age. The store lost foot traffic and was slow to add features that online shoppers like, such as free shipping.

Riesbeck, who became CEO in February 2016 after Dennis May resigned, acknowledged he faced a difficult task. He described in an August interview how constantly changing technology has disrupted the company's business model.

"One thing HHGregg used to make their money on was those big-box TVs people had to have delivered," Riesbeck said. "And that's how HHGregg was built through the years. Once it went to flat panels, and all of a sudden people realized they could put them in the backseat of their car, delivery's not that important anymore."

Riesbeck attempted to divert HHGregg's focus from electronics to Fine Lines, an upscale store-within-a-store that sells appliances. HHGregg has become the seventh-largest appliance retailer in the U.S. behind Lowe's, Home Depot, Sears, Best Buy, Sears Hometown and Wal-Mart, according to the consumer electronics trade publication Twice.

Although the Fine Lines brand showed encouraging growth, it was not enough to make up for plummeting electronics sales. HHGregg lost money in each of the past two years. The company suffered through a brutal holiday shopping season last year, which accelerated its demise.

HHGregg this year has taken a series of drastic steps to stay afloat. The company in February said it would lay off 100 people, including 70 workers at its headquarters, and followed that up March 2 with an announcement that it would close 88 stores in 15 states. Those store closings, which have not yet been completed, would have brought the company down to 132 locations. HHGregg has a total of 220 stores in 19 states.

HHGregg warned a week ago that the end could be near. The company disclosed in a March 31 Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it would begin liquidating unless it found a buyer by Friday.

HHGregg has signed a consulting agreement with Tiger Capital Group and Great American Group to sell its merchandise, furniture, fixtures and equipment across all of its stores and 14 distribution centers. The bankruptcy is expected to wipe out the value of HHGregg's common stock.

As Riesbeck was working to reinvent HHGregg last year, he offered a blunt assessment of the company that could be considered its epitaph.

"I would say," he told IndyStar, "we're not unique in retail."

[Deleted]

Interesting story, they opened one in my area that was across the street from Best Buy. A Circuit City was in the spot first, followed by another electronics company and finally HHGregg. All of them went out of business. I hold very little faith in the discount furniture store that's opening up in that spot. It's like the Sizzler that had an E. coli outbreak in 2000, it shut down and every restaurant that opened in it's spot shut down.