Springfield, N.J. –
Sixth Avenue Electronics has closed its three New York locations, leaving the
A/V specialty chain with four New Jersey stores.
According to the
company’s operations VP Tom Galanis, the latest closings are part of a
strategic plan to shift from big-box stores to 5,000- square-foot to
7,000-square-foot showrooms. The New York stores, all located in Long Island,
were an average of 30,000 square feet in size.
The smaller format
will bring the chain back to its original brick-and-mortar footprint, and
better suits its newly exclusive focus on home networking and automation, distributed audio,
tablet computers and d-SLRs, Galanis said.
Sixth Avenue plans
to return to the New York market in 2012 and is currently negotiating
locations, he noted.
The company, which
rapidly expanded to a peak of 19 locations last year, recently sold a 33
percent stake in the business to an outside investor to help it pay down
outstanding debt.
The as-yet-unidentified
investor became a non-operating partner, while senior management led by
brothers Billy and Mike Temiz remains in place.
