Good Guys Gets Makeover, Trim From CompUSA

Dallas— CompUSA is closing 17 Good Guys stores in seven markets and will convert eight additional locations to Megastores, a new combination CompUSA and Good Guys format.

Thirteen stores closed Aug. 3, while the remaining four will continue to operate until they are shut within the next 60 days. Affected markets include Los Angeles (six stores), Seattle (four stores) and San Francisco (three locations). CompUSA is also closing one store each in Portland and Eugene, Ore., Sacramento, Calif., and Las Vegas (a Tower Records Wow! location).

The Megastore conversions will begin immediately and are expected to be completed before the fourth quarter. The format combines CompUSA's extensive PC and home networking offering with Good Guys' high-end home entertainment assortment, and melds sales staff from both chains. The conversions, located in Los Angeles (three stores), San Diego (three stores), San Francisco (one store) and Sacramento, Calif. (one store), will join 16 existing Megastores which began appearing in June.

“In the course of operating our first CompUSA stores featuring Good Guys premium home entertainment, we confirmed our original belief that consumers desire a broader range of products in a single location,” said Larry Mondry, CompUSA's president/CEO.

The consolidation will leave 30 freestanding Good Guys locations, down from 71 stores when CompUSA acquired the chain last year. The company attributed the latest round of closures to “market forces and business realities.”

In addition, 35 West Coast CompUSA stores will expand their assortments to include more high-end home entertainment, the company said.