The Top 100 Consumer Electronics Retailers, A To Z

ABC Warehouse

1 West Silverdome Industrial Park
Pontiac, MI 48343
(248) 335-4222
www.abcwarehouse.com
Gordon Hartunian, chairman
Stores with CE, 2009: 44
Stores with CE, 2008: 42
2009 CE sales (millions): $263
2008 CE sales (millions): $261

40 Privately held ABC Warehouse
has grown from its
founding in 1964 with a
single Michigan location to 44 ABC
Warehouse superstores in Michigan,
Indiana and Ohio. The NATM dealer
focuses on selling consumer electronics
and appliances with a “warehouse”
concept and with what it calls “the
closest thing to wholesale” pricing.
ABC Warehouse also offers online
shopping at its Web site. In addition
to the superstores, ABC Warehouse
operates the 16-store Mickey Shorr
chain of mobile electronics specialty
stores, and two upscale Hawthorne
Appliance outlets.

Abe’s of Maine

5 Fernwood Ave.
Raritan Center Industrial Park
Edison, N.J. 08837
(800) 992-2237
www.abesofmaine.com
Abe Mosseri, CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 1
Stores with CE, 2008: 1
2009 CE sales (millions): $129
2008 CE sales (millions): $129

56 Privately held Abe’s of
Maine was founded in 1979.
Originally located in Old
Orchard Beach, Maine, the mom-andpop
dealer relocated to Brooklyn, N.Y.,
in 1986, and in 2006 moved again to a
signifi cantly larger location in Edison,
N.J., where it also maintains a storefront.
Abe’s began as a photo specialty
dealer, but has expanded its assortment
to span the full gamut of consumer
electronics, including such recently
added categories as pro audio and 3D
TV. The company also serves customers
via a mail-order catalog, in addition
to its Web site and showroom.

Abt Electronics and Appliances

1200 North Milwaukee Ave.
Glenview, IL 60025
(847) 967-8830
www.abtelectronics.com
Bob Abt, CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 1
Stores with CE, 2008: 1
2009 CE sales (millions): $210
2008 CE sales (millions): $210

46 Operating out of a single
37-acre mega facility
in Glenview, Ill., privately
held Abt has been serving Chicagoland
residents out of several increasingly
larger locations since 1936. The
family business has established a rocksolid
reputation for service, and off ers
a vast selection of consumer electronics
and major appliances products, including
most premium brands. Abt
has become one of the largest singlestore
retailers in the United States and
a proving ground for many CE and
majap introductions. A pioneer in authorized
CE e-tailing, Abt’s online efforts
have given the company a national
presence. This year the former PRO
Group dealer re-joined the NATM
Buying Corp., its longtime buying
group home.

Adorama Camera

42 West 18th St.
New York, N.Y. 10011
(212) 741-0052
www.adorama.com
Mendel Mendlowitz, president
Stores with CE, 2009: 1
Stores with CE, 2008: 1
2009 CE sales (millions): $157
2008 CE sales (millions): $137

50 Privately held specialty
dealer Adorama recently
expanded its sole brickand-
mortar store in Manhattan’s
Flatiron district, but the showroom
still belies the breadth of its sales volume,
which is largely generated online.
The retailer specializes in professional
and consumer photographic equipment,
including digital cameras and
camcorders, but also sells an array of
other consumer electronics products ranging from computers and GPS, to
cellphones, personal audio and accessories.
Adorama also provides photofinishing services online.

Alienware

14591 SW 120th St.
Miami, FL 33186
(305) 251-9797
www.alienware.com
Nelson Gonzalez, CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 0
Stores with CE, 2008: 1
2009 CE sales (millions): $95
2008 CE sales (millions): $109

63 Founded in 1996 as a specialty
PC maker, Miami-
based Alienware has
broadened its focus beyond gaming
enthusiasts to also include business
and government with a product
line that includes powerful desktops,
notebooks and media centers,
plus peripherals, accessories, and a
growing selection of A/V and mobile
devices. The company was acquired
by Dell in 2006 and operates
it as a wholly owned subsidiary. Last
year it shut its four-year-old Miami
storefront but continues to sell direct
through the Alienware.com Web site
and call center.

Amazon.com

1200 12th Ave. South
Suite 1200
Seattle, WA 98144
(206) 266-1000
www.amazon.com
Jeffrey P. Bezos, chairman, president/ CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 0
Stores with CE, 2008: 0
2009 CE sales (millions): $4,609
2008 CE sales (millions): $3,314

8 Publicly held Amazon.com began
as an online bookstore in
1995, but it quickly went on to
become a full-line global merchant
and the world’s largest online-only retailer.
Media remains a key component
of its strategy, however, as Amazon
was quick to leverage the Internet
to offer digital downloads of video
game titles; music through its popular
DRM-free Amazon MP3 download
store; books, magazines and newspapers through its category-leading
Kindle e-book reader, the company’s
best-selling product; and streaming
video through a growing selection of
TVs and Blu-ray Disc players, plus
TiVo and Roku set-top boxes. Amazon’s
competitive pricing, vast assortment
and transactional ease has
also made it a leader in CE hardware,
placing it alongside Best Buy and
Walmart as one of the three most
powerful retail forces shaping consumer
electronics.

American TV & Appliances

2404 W. Beltline Hwy.
Madison, WI 53713
(608) 271-1000
www.americantv.com
Douglas (Doug) Reuhl, president/ CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 15
Stores with CE, 2008: 15
2009 CE sales (millions): $249
2008 CE sales (millions): $249

42 This closely held retailer
of consumer electronics,
appliances and furniture
was founded in 1954 by TV repairman
Ferd Mattioli, and is presently
headed by president, CEO and majority
shareholder Doug Reuhl. The
chain operates 15 retail stores in
Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa
and Missouri, averaging 130,000
square feet in size, and carries such
categories as video, audio, navigation,
gaming, imaging and PCs, as
well as custom design and installation
services for home and car. Besides
its retail superstores, American
TV & Appliance also offers online
shopping and operates independent
appliance distributor Kennedy-
Hahn Appliance.

Apple Stores

1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 996-1010
www.apple.com
Steven P. Jobs, CEO/director
Stores with CE, 2009: 205
Stores with CE, 2008: 208
2009 CE sales (millions): $6,881
2008 CE sales (millions): $7,337

3 Apple Computers, incorporated
in 1977, is headquartered in
Cupertino, Calif. The company
designs and manufactures computers,
servers, software and digital
music players. Apple opened its first
retail store in 2001, and the fledgling
chain has since grown to 205 locations
in the U.S. Besides its famed
Macintosh computers, the product
mix at the retail stores includes
Apple’s top-selling iPod digital audio players, iPhone smartphones
and, most recently, its iPad touchscreen
tablet devices, in addition to
docks, cases, software, and other accessories
and peripherals. The stores
are renowned for their sleek, minimalist
designs which mirror Apple’s
products, particularly the company’s
de facto world flagship site at Fifth
Avenue and Central Park South in
Manhattan, where the below-ground
facility is accessed through a 32-
foot-tall glass cube. Business also remains
robust at the Apple’s userfriendly
e-commerce site, home to
the rabidly popular iTunes music,
app and game store.

Army-Air Force Exchange

3911 S. Walton Walker Blvd.
Dallas, TX 75236
(214) 312-2011
www.aafes.com
Brigadier General Keith Thurgood, commander
Stores with CE, 2009: 160
Stores with CE, 2008: 160
2009 CE sales (millions): $1,218
2008 CE sales (millions): $1,266

18 AAFES, as the organization
is known, began in
1895 under a Department
of War order to create an exchange
service at every U.S. military post
when possible. It now operates 160
full-line retail facilities in the U.S.,
but upward of 3,100 facilities worldwide
in more than 30 countries, five
U.S. territories and 49 states. AAFES
provides a full suite of retail, food
and services operations. In addition to
popular anchor — the BX/PX general
merchandise stores — AAFES
operates a wide range of convenience
and specialty stores providing DVD/
video rental, furniture, military uniforms
and accessories. The retail operation
also sells direct through its catalog
and an e-commerce Web site, and
is actively exploring the mobile commerce
(m-commerce) channel. Customers
are limited to active-duty
Army and Air Force military, National
Guard members, reservists, retirees
and their families.

Audio Express

15490 N. 83rd Way
Scottsdale, AZ 85260
(480) 966-3100
www.audioexpressusa.com
Ed Santacruz, president
Stores with CE, 2009: 40
Stores with CE, 2008: 40
2009 CE sales (millions): $55
2008 CE sales (millions): $49

81 Founded in 1978, Audio
Express is one of the largest
privately held automotive
electronics retail chains in the country.
The company operates 40 stores
in the West, Midwest and Southwest,
including Arizona, California,
Colorado, Illinois, Missouri, Nevada,
New Mexico and Texas, under
the trade names Audio Express, Mobile
One Texas and Quality Audio
Sound. Consumers can choose from
a wide assortment of factory-authorized,
mid- to premium products, and
receive discounted installation services
as proclaimed in the company’s tagline,
“Home of the One Dollar Install.”
Audio Express said it eschews
online sales, although the company
maintains an e-commerce operation,
Car Audio Internet, which offers differing
products and prices.

B&H Photo

420 9th Ave.
New York, N.Y. 10001
(212) 239-7500
www.bhphotovideo.com
Herman Schreiber, owner
Stores with CE, 2009: 1
Stores with CE, 2008: 1
2009 CE sales (millions): $418
2008 CE sales (millions): $380

32 B&H Photo was founded
in 1970 by Herman Schreiber.
The company’s lone
Manhattan superstore is located on
Ninth Avenue and features 35,000-
plus square feet of retail space packed
to the rafters with photo and A/V
equipment for consumers and professionals.
The “prosumer” business is
also supported by an e-commerce site
featuring more than 150,000 items
available for shipment from distributors
or the company’s own warehouse
facility in New York City. The retailer
said its motto, “The Professional’s
Source,” reflects its focus on quality,
competitive pricing and knowledgeable
service, while its name is taken
from a Hebrew blessing of God.

Badcock Home Furnishing Centers & More

200 N. Phosphate Blvd.
Mulberry, FL 33860
(863) 425-4921
www.badcock.com
Donald C. Marks, president/CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 300
Stores with CE, 2008: 330
2009 CE sales (millions): $27
2008 CE sales (millions): $31

94 W.S. Badcock Corp. was
established in 1904 in Mulberry,
Fla. The company
created a new store concept in 2000
called Badcock Home Furniture and
More. These stores include a product
line of more than 4,000 items,
with brighter and more spacious display
space. Approximately 75 percent
of chain’s 300 locations in the southeastern
United States are independently
owned and operated through
the company’s franchise business model.
Badcock carries an assortment of A/
V products, including camcorders, televisions,
DVD players, mounts, home
theater in a box systems and portable
audio, and last year closed 30 stores
amid the furniture industry downturn.

Beach Trading Company

80 Carter Dr.
Edison, N.J. 08817
(732) 623-4650
www.beachcamera.com
Raymond Mosseri, owner
Stores with CE, 2009: 1
Stores with CE, 2008: 1
2009 CE sales (millions): $225

45 Central New Jerseybased
Beach Trading
was established in 1983
in Maine. The privately owned etailer
serves the consumer, education,
business and government channels
through two e-commerce sites:
Beachcamera.com, which began as a
digital imaging store and expanded
to other CE categories, and Buydig.
com, which encompasses camcorders,
desktop and notebook computers,
peripherals, home audio, TVs,
DVD players, GPS devices and digital
imaging. The company also
maintains a mail-order business, and
it operates a 7,000-square-foot retail
showroom of photographic, video
and digital imaging equipment
in Edison, N.J. All are supplied by
a 45,000-square-foot warehouse in
Green Brook, N.J.
2008 CE sales (millions): $300

Bernie’s

1559 King St.
Enfield, CT 06082
(860) 741-1200
www.bernies.com
Milton Rosenberg, CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 15
Stores with CE, 2008: 15
2009 CE sales (millions): $58
2008 CE sales (millions): $63

79 Bernie’s makes its swan
song appearance on the
TWICE Top 100, at least
in its prior incarnation, after high
costs, low margins and the protracted
economic downturn in New England
forced its closure in February. The
company, which began as a gas station
in 1947, operated 15 stores in Connecticut,
Massachusetts and Rhode
Island, and carried major appliances,
consumer electronics and furniture.
This year’s closure wasn’t its first:
Bernie’s went belly-up soon after its
acquisition in 1985 by Newmark &
Lewis, and was bought back six years
later by CEO Milton Rosenberg, son
of founder Bernard. Rosenberg suggested
that a fourth incarnation of the
chain could be in the offing, after expressing
interest in re-acquiring the
Bernie’s name and at least two locations
from creditors.

Best Buy

7601 Penn Ave. South
Richfield, MN 55423
(612) 291-1000
www.bestbuy.com
Brian Dunn, CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 1,006
Stores with CE, 2008: 1,060
2009 CE sales (millions): $31,995
2008 CE sales (millions): $29,866

1 Minneapolis-based Best Buy is the
No. 1 retailer of consumer electronics
in the U.S., with an assortment
of products that includes consumer
electronics, personal computers,
entertainment software and appliances,
and related repair, subscription and
installation services. Founded by Dick
Schulze in 1966 as a St. Paul, Minn., hi-fi shop, Best Buy today operates more
than 1,000 retail stores across the country
along with several e-commerce sites.
Last year longtime chief executive Brad
Anderson passed the baton to
company veteran Brian Dunn,
who is transforming the company
into a services business as it
positions itself for a connected
world. Other key growth drivers
include off shore expansion
and Best Buy Mobile, the
stand-alone wireless stores and
in-store departments that
are co-owned by Britain’s
Carphone Warehouse.

BJ’s Wholesale Club

1 Mercer Rd.
Natick, MA
01760
(508) 651-7400
www.bjs.com
Herbert J. (Herb) Zarkin, chairman
Stores with CE, 2009:
Stores with CE, 2008:

2009 CE sales (millions):
2008 CE sales (millions):

25 Publicly traded BJ’s Wholesale
Club is the No. 3 wholesale
club chain, behind Costco
and Walmart’s Sam’s Club, and
operates primarily in the eastern United
States. At the end of its fiscal year
the company operated 177 warehouse
stores. Food accounts for more than half
the chain’s total sales, but BJ’s also offers
consumer electronics, media, small appliances,
jewelry, tires, toys, health and
beauty products, and apparel. Recently,
BJ’s Wholesale Club selected HiWired,
a tech-support and services provider,
to offer consumer PC-technologysupport
services to club members.

Boscov’s

4500 Perkiomen Ave.
Reading, PA 19606
(610) 779-2000
www.boscovs.com
Albert Boscov, chairman/ CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 39
Stores with CE, 2008: 39
2009 CE sales (millions): $78

2008 CE sales (millions): $89

68 Privately held
Boscov’s operates
39 fullline
department stores in
the Mid-Atlantic region. The chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection in 2008, which led
to the shutting of 11 locations and
the sale of the business for $300 million
to a group of family members led
by company scion Al Boscov and his
brother-in-law Ed Lakin, who had retired
two years prior. Boscov’s was
founded in 1911 and sells multiple
brands of better consumer electronics
products, including Hitachi, Mitsubishi,
Sony, Toshiba and Panasonic,
and boasts the largest independently
owned service organization in its
trading area. The company, a member
of the NATM buying group, remains
one of the country’s last remaining regional
department store chains.

Bose

The Mountain
Framingham, MA 01701
(508) 879-7330
www.bose.com
Dr. Amar G. Bose, chairman/CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 125
Stores with CE, 2008: 125
2009 CE sales (millions): $363

2008 CE sales (millions): $362

34 Since its founding in
1964, privately held Bose
has been an innovator in
audio products and systems using advanced
audio technologies. It sells
its products through 125 company-
owned stores in the U.S., located
largely in factory-outlet centers and
shopping malls, as well as online and
via broadcast infomercials. The company,
which resisted store closings despite
workforce cuts of 10 percent last
year, also operates about 50 retail locations
internationally.

BrandsMart USA

3200 NW 42nd St.
Hollywood, FL 33312
(954) 797-4000
www.brandsmartusa.com
Robert Perlman, CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 9
Stores with CE, 2008: 8
2009 CE sales (millions): $438
2008 CE sales (millions): $577

30 Privately held BrandsMart
USA was founded in 1977
by Robert Perlman with a
single store in Miami. Today the company
operates nine circular superstores
in South Florida and Atlanta that provide
exceptionally low prices on a wide
assortment of products, mostly presented
within a bazaar-like, grab-andgo
format. The company said its distinctive
octagonal showroom design
allows customers to view every item on
display, creating a stadium feeling. The
lower level houses thousands of small appliances, housewares, vacuum cleaners
and healthcare aids; the mezzanine
level showcases majaps; and an expansive
assortment of CE and media is located
on the main level, including audio
and home theater equipment, car
stereo components, computers, cellular
telephones, software and a large selection
of flat-panel TVs. The company,
which claimws to be one of the
largest volume-per-store retailers in the
U.S., recently added e-commerce functionality
to its Web site, and opened
a new location in Gwinnett County,
Ga., which is the first retail site of its
size to be certified a “green building”
by the state.

Buy.com

85 Enterprise
Suite 100
Aliso Viejo, CA 92656
(949) 389-2000
www.buy.com
Neel Grover, president/CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 0
Stores with CE, 2008: 0
2009 CE sales (millions): $300
2008 CE sales (millions): $335

39 Privately held Buy.com is
the No. 2 full-line, Internet-
only retailer behind
Amazon.com. Following an early focus
on electronics and computer hardware
and software, the company has
expanded into more than 20 product
categories, including games, apparel
and shoes, books, bags and luggage,
fragrance, home and outdoor, software,
sporting goods, jewelry and watches,
toys, and baby goods as part of an expansion
strategy that has fueled strong
growth over the past three years. Now
in its second decade, the e-tail pioneer,
founded by chairman Scott Blum,
boasts some 12 million customers who
are drawn to its longstanding promise
of “The Lowest Prices on Earth,” which
is backed by a low-price guarantee on
millions of new products. More recently,
the company reported 146 percent
year-over-year sales growth for its retail
Marketplace — which has more
than 11.5 million product listings from
thousands of third-party retailers, including
such CE stalwarts as Tiger-
Direct and Paul’s TV — and now accounts
for about half of Buy.com’s total
volume.

Cabela’s

One Cabela Dr.
Sidney, NE 69160
(308) 254-5505
www.cabelas.com
Dennis Highby, president/CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 29
Stores with CE, 2008: 28
2009 CE sales (millions): $35
2008 CE sales (millions): $33

90 Sporting goods chain Cabela’s
was created in 1961
after founder Dick Cabela
came up with a plan to sell fishing
flies he purchased while at a furniture
show in Chicago. The company’s foundation
remains its catalog business, and more than 76 diff erent catalogs
are published each year, with more
than 120 million mailings. Cabela’s is
represented in the TWICE Top 100
for its assortment of navigation, digital
imaging, two-way radio, weather
instrumentation and CE boating
products.

Cameta Camera

8400 New Horizons Blvd.
Amityville, N.Y. 11701
(631) 389-2138
www.cameta.com
Bill Cameta, principal
Stores with CE, 2009: 1
Stores with CE, 2008: 1
2009 CE sales (millions): $26
2008 CE sales (millions): $27

95 Cameta Camera is a fullservice,
single-location
camera store and photographic
equipment retailer that
has been in business on Long Island
for more than 20 years. The company
prides itself on its knowledgeable,
high-service staff that includes professional
photographers who evaluate the
latest imaging products before adding
them to the assortment. The company
also actively searches out promotions,
closeouts, value-added packages
and overstocks in pursuit of its stated
philosophy to “Buy smarter, sell for
less, and offer the best possible service.”
In 2001 Cameta expanded online
via eBay, where the company said
its Cameta auctions on eBay became
the largest eBay seller specializing exclusively
in the sale of photographic
equipment. Cameta further ratcheted
up its Internet presence with
the launch of an online digital photo lab, CametaDigitalLab.com, while
maintaining a core e-commerce site at
www.cameta.com.

Car Toys

20 West Galer St.
Seattle, WA 98119
(206) 443-0980
www.cartoys.com
Daniel Brettler, president/CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 51
Stores with CE, 2008: 50
2009 CE sales (millions): $124
2008 CE sales (millions): $136

58 Headquartered in Seattle,
privately held Car Toys was
founded in 1987 and specializes
in car audio and wireless sales
and service. The Progressive Retailers
Organization (PRO Group) dealer
operates 52 stores in Washington,
Oregon, Colorado and Texas, and has
formed strategic partnerships with mobile
electronics vendors and wireless
and paging carriers to provide a broad
array of products and services to the
Northwest and Texas markets. Looking
ahead, the company is controlling
costs as it rides out the recession and
said it is well-positioned in each of its
respective businesses and channels to
accelerate growth and expand its value
proposition with customers.

CDW

200 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Vernon Hills, IL 60061
(847) 465-6000
www.cdw.com
John A. Edwardson, chairman/CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 0
Stores with CE, 2008: 0
2009 CE sales (millions): $140
2008 CE sales (millions): $159

54 Privately held CDW focuses
on sales of IT equipment
to corporate, government
and educational sectors, and
most of its $7.6 billion in annual sell-through is derived from those channels.
Corporate accounts are predominantly
small- to medium-sized
businesses. Although CDW no longer
caters to the consumer market, consumers
nevertheless continue to comprise
a small proportion of its customer
base, ostensibly drawn by the
company’s competitive prices. CDW
also publishes merchandise catalogs
and accepts call-in orders, although
the Internet remains its chief distribution
channel. Founded in 1984, the etailer
was acquired in 2008 by Providence
Equity Partners, which took
the public company private. CDW
maintains two warehouse facilities:
a 513,000-square-foot Western distribution
center in North Las Vegas,
Nev., and a 450,000-square-foot distribution center at company headquarters.

Comp-U-Plus

20 Robert Pitt Dr.
Monsey, N.Y. 10952
(845) 352-0266
www.compuplus.com
Adam Reich, president/CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 0
Stores with CE, 2008: 0
2009 CE sales (millions): $69
2008 CE sales (millions): $72

72 Founded in 1993, privately
held Comp-U-Plus began
as a computer and peripherals
reseller and has morphed
into an e-tailer of IT, CE, home and
garden, health and beauty, jewelry and
children’s products. Within electronics,
the Monsey, N.Y.-based business
carries PCs and peripherals; home, car
and portable A/V; navigation; gaming;
digital imaging; and accessories.
The company has shipped more than
3 million orders since 1993, and continues
to offer a 30-day, money-back
guarantee with no restocking fee on
most products.

Conn’s

3295 College St.
Beaumont, TX 77701
(409) 832-1696
www.conns.com
Bill Nylin, chairman
Stores with CE, 2009: 76
Stores with CE, 2008: 75
2009 CE sales (millions): $360
2008 CE sales (millions): $415

35 Founded in 1890, Conn’s
is a publicly traded retailer
that carries consumer electronics,
major appliances, furniture,
bedding and lawn care equipment. The
NATM member operated 76 stores
throughout Louisiana, Oklahoma and
Texas last year, and maintains an inhouse
credit operation. Last year was
a busy one for the business: chairman
Thomas Frank Sr. stepped down after
50 years with the company due to
ailing health, and was succeeded as
chairman by long-time corporate officer Bill Nylin soon after his son Timothy
succeeded him as CEO as part of a
planned succession. The company was
later sued by the Texas attorney general
for deceptive trade practices, including
using misleading and high-pressure
sales tactics and failing to fully honor
extended-warranty agreements. Conn’s
denied any wrongdoing, but agreed
to pay customers $4.5 million to settle
the suit. More recently, credit modifications approved earlier this year by
Conn’s lenders helped the company
avoid defaulting on its loans following
several quarters of falling sales, attributed
in part to the weak local economy.

Costco Wholesale

999 Lake Dr.
Issaquah, WA 98027
(425) 313-8100
www.costco.com
James D. Sinegal, president/CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 409
Stores with CE, 2008: 399
2009 CE sales (millions): $5,132
2008 CE sales (millions): $4,796

5 Publicly traded Costco is the
largest wholesale club in the
U.S., with 409 domestic membership
warehouses. The company can
be traced back to 1976 when the late
Sol Price, creator of the wholesale club
concept, opened the first as a Price
Club store in a remodeled air hanger
in San Diego. The chain later merged
with Costco, which had opened its first warehouse in Seattle in 1983. Today,
the company offers a wide range
of competitively priced products, including
food, appliances, electronics,
automotive supplies, health and beauty
products, and apparel. In CE, Costco
is represented in most major categories
including A/V, computers, home
office, digital imaging and wireless by a
tightly edited good, better, best selection
of tier-one brands, such as Apple,
Dell, LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp,
Sony and Toshiba. Costco ceased its
open-ended return policy
on TVs and other
CE three years ago after
earnings were challenged,
but maintains its go-forward
strategy of a stillliberal
two-month return
period, a doubling of the
manufacturer’s warranty coverage
period, and free tech support to cut down on returns.

Crutchfield

1 Crutchfield Park
Charlottesville, VA 22911
(434) 817-1000
www.crutchfield.com
William G. Crutchfield, Jr., founder/CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 2
Stores with CE, 2008: 2
2009 CE sales (millions): $243
2008 CE sales (millions): $250

Started in 1974 as a mailorder
car audio business,
this privately held business
has long since added 12-volt video
and home A/V through its catalog
and e-commerce Web site. The PRO
Group member also operates a Spanish-
language Web site, www.crutchfieldenespanol.com. Proprietary services
include the CrutchfieldAdvisor,
available online, which provides extensive
CE information, product advice
and comparisons, and installation
assistance. Headquartered in Charlottesville,
Va., the award-winning direct
seller also maintains two brickand-
mortar retail outlets within its
home state. More recently, the company
launched a mobile version of its
e-commerce site that can be accessed
by logging onto Crutchfield.com from
a mobile phone. Visitors will automatically
see a version of Crutchfield’s Web site that is optimized for
their specific handheld device, and
can make purchases through a secure
checkout process that has also been
optimized for mobile phones.

CyberPower

4802 Littlejohn St.
Baldwin Park, CA 91706
(626) 813-7730
www.cyberpowerpc.com
Stanley Ho, president
Stores with CE, 2009: 0
Stores with CE, 2008: 0
2009 CE sales (millions): $65
2008 CE sales (millions): $60

74 Privately held CyberPower
is a computer manufacturer
and direct-seller
of its proprietary, PC-only product
line, which includes various highend
and custom-configured gaming
machines, notebook systems and
high-performance workstations designed
to meet the needs of gamers,
businesses, government agencies, educational
institutions and other end
users.

Cowboy Maloney’s Electric City

1313 Harding Street
Jackson, MS 39202
(601) 948-5600
www.cowboymaloney.com
J. Con Maloney, CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 12
Stores with CE, 2008: 12
2009 CE sales (millions): $22
2008 CE sales (millions): $21

100 Cowboy Maloney’s
returns to the
TWICE Top 100 after
several years’ absence. The familyheld
business began in 1952 as a lumber
yard selling built-in appliances for
new homes, and added TVs to the mix
after the first TV station in Mississippi
began broadcasting. Its 1991 acquisition
of Electric City helped it become
the dominant independent CE
and appliance dealer in the state with
12 locations. Along the way, the company
became renowned for selling the
first DirecTV system in the world,
and was similarly first to market
with Sirius Radio. More recently, the
NATM dealer, run by brothers Con,
Eddie and Johnny Maloney, acquired
Riverwood Home Appliances, a twostore
appliance chain that carries ultra-
premium brands.

Data Vision

445 5th Ave.
New York, N.Y. 10016
(212) 689-1111
www.datavis.com
James Garson, CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 1
Stores with CE, 2008: 1
2009 CE sales (millions): $105
2008 CE sales (millions): $96

61 Privately held DataVision
sells computer hardware,
software, digital photography,
home audio and video and
mobile electronics products. The
specialty niche player operates one
35,000-square-foot store in Midtown
Manhattan and sells products directly
through its e-commerce sites, www.
datavis.com and www.ipodsrus.com.
Authorized brands include Apple,
Asus, Canon, LG, Nokia and Samsung.
The company entered the premium
audio and home-theater products
and custom installation market with
its creation in 2006 of Home Theater
Expo@Datavision, an 11,000-squarefoot
showroom above its main home
computer floor. Given
DataVision’s
high-profile location
(across the street
from The New York
Public Library on
Fifth Avenue), the store is often used
as a showcase for major manufacturer
product introductions, including the
launch of the Apple iMac and Intel’s
Pentium M and Duo Core processors.
Last year was a challenging period
for the company as it was for many,
but it ended 2009 with a strong fourth
quarter and an expanded Web presence
reflecting the addition of more
than 100,000 items.

Dell

1 Dell Way
Round Rock, TX 78682
(512) 338-4400
www.dell.com
Michael S. Dell, chairman/ CEO
Stores with CE, 2009:
Stores with CE, 2008:
2009 CE sales (millions): $4,740
2008 CE sales (millions): $5,803

6 Founded by Michael Dell in
1984, publicly traded Dell was
built on a business model of selling
and drop-shipping custom-configured computers directly to customers
who order via its Web site, catalogs
and phone lines. The company would
later add personal electronics and
home video to its mix, and began selling
its desktop and laptop computers
through a select group of retailers,
including Costco. As part of a new
worldwide channel strategy, Dell expanded
distribution in 2007 to Best
Buy, Staples and Walmart with limited
assortments of Dell notebook and
desktop PCs, monitors, printers, ink,
toner and bundles. As part of the retail
redirection, Dell closed all 140 of its
mall- and airport-based kiosks in the
U.S., shut its first and only retail store,
and scrapped plans to build more. The
company’s 18 percent year-over-year
sales decline on the Top 100 reflects its
volume shift from direct sales to its retail
channel partners, the resurgence
of Hewlett-Packard, and the advent of
inexpensive netbook computers from
Asus and other competitors.

eCost.com

200 N. Sepulveda Blvd.
Ste. 101
El Segundo, CA 90245
(310) 658-5000
www.ecost.com
Adam Shaffer, CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 0
Stores with CE, 2008: 0
2009 CE sales (millions): $64
2008 CE sales (millions): $78

76 California-based eCost.com
is a discount e-tailer offering
new, closeout and re-certified brand-name products. It carries
about 75,000 SKUs, including computer
hardware, software and peripherals;
home and personal A/V; GPS;
digital imaging; gaming; mobile; storage
and memory; accessories; and a full
range of home, automotive and personal
care goods. The company was acquired
in 2006 by PFSweb, an e-commerce
services provider for Fortune
1000 companies including P&G, and
operates as a wholly owned subsidiary.
More recently, PFSweb reported continuing
improvement at eCost.com
which, despite lower revenues, posted
its first positive net income since its
acquisition during the fourth quarter
of 2009, thanks to cost reductions
and new operational efficiencies. The
e-tailer also established a new division
last year called eStore Retail Services
that allows PFSweb to leverage its proprietary
interactive marketing, product
procurement, rich content merchandising,
customer-acquisition methodologies
and related Web retail services.

Electronic Express

2627 Grandview Ave.
Nashville, TN 37211
(615) 259-2031
www.electronicexpress.com
Sam Yazdian, president
Stores with CE, 2009: 16
Stores with CE, 2008: 15
2009 CE sales (millions): $85
2008 CE sales (millions): $82

66 Founded in 1985, Nashville-
based Electronic Express
operates 16 stores
throughout the Central Tennessee
market and an e-commerce Web
site. The privately held NATM dealer
carries a large selection of premium
TVs and video products; home,
personal and car audio; computers;
digital cameras; and mobile electronics.
It also offers custom-installation
services and recently added major appliances
to the mix. The largest independent
dealer in its trading area,
the chain last year reopened a former
Circuit City store in Spring Hill,
relocated its 12,000-square-foot
Clarksville store to another 21,000-
square-foot Circuit
site, and reopened a
former CompUSA
storefront in Brentwood.

Electronics Expo

38 Fairfield Place
West Caldwell, N.J. 07006
(973) 808-8838
www.electronics-expo.com
Leon Temiz, president/CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 7
Stores with CE, 2008: 7
2009 CE sales (millions): 155
2008 CE sales (millions): 130

51 Founded in 2003, privately
held Electronics Expo operates
seven retail locations,
all in northern New Jersey. Consumers
can also shop online at www.electronics-
expo.com. The A/V specialty
retailer offers high-end audio, video,
cameras, camcorders, mobile electronics
products, and custom-installed
whole-home systems, as well as home
furnishings and decorative accessories.
Electronics Expo’s stores feature
brand-specific vignettes in a designer
showroom style. More recently,
the company formed a new home-theater
design and installation division
called Xtecs comprised of CEDIA certified installers and an architectural
designer, and last year relocated to a
new 90,000-square-foot headquarters,
showroom and warehouse complex
that allowed the business to expand
its product assortment and record the
most profitable year in its six-year history,
the chain reported.

Fingerhut

6509 Flying Cloud Dr.
Eden Prairie, MN 55344
(952) 656-3905
www.fingerhut.com
Brian Smith, president/CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 0
Stores with CE, 2008: 0
2009 CE sales (millions): $129
2008 CE sales (millions): $131

57 Fingerhut and its new sister
site Gettington.com are a fullline
e-tailers of “games, gadgets
and goodies” with a direct-sell heritage
that goes back to 1948. The business was
bought by Federated Department Stores
in 1999 and resold in 2002 to The Petters
Group, an equity investment concern,
which rebuilt its customer base and Web
site and renamed it Fingerhut Direct
Marketing. The company was acquired
again in 2008 by Bain Capital Ventures
and Battery Ventures and renamed Bluestem
Brands this past February. The direct
seller continues to offer a wide assortment
of products including apparel,
baby products, housewares, home furnishings,
jewelry, sporting goods, toys
and even major appliances. The electronics
assortment features A/V, home office,
portable audio, car and marine products,
musical instruments, digital imaging,
gaming, e-book readers, accessories, and
PCs and peripherals. The two sites ship
more than 2 million packages annually
from Bluestem’s 1.2 million-square-foot
fulfillment and distribution center in St.
Cloud, Minn.

Fred Meyer Stores

3800 SE 22nd Ave.
Portland, OR 97202
(503) 232-8844
www.fredmeyer.com
Michael L. (Mike) Ellis, president
Stores with CE, 2009: 25
Stores with CE, 2008: 124
2009 CE sales (millions): $179
2008 CE sales (millions): $185

49 A division of publicly traded
supermarket retailer
Kroger, Fred Meyer
Stores is a major Western food-anddrug
chain that operates nearly 130
large multi-department stores in four
states. In addition to consumables and
pharmaceuticals, the unique format
also features a wide selection of general
merchandise, including apparel,
home fashion and furnishings, electronics,
automotive products, toys and
fine jewelry.

Fry’s Electronics

600 E. Brokaw Rd.
San Jose, CA 95112
(408) 487-4500
www.frys.com
John Fry, CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 34
Stores with CE, 2008: 34
2009 CE sales (millions): $1,704
2008 CE sales (millions): $1,893

14 Closely held Fry’s is concentrated
in the six Western
states of California, Texas,
Arizona, Oregon, Washington and Nevada, although the family-run business
also maintains stores in Georgia,
Indiana and Illinois. Founded in
1985 in Sunnyvale, Calif., Fry’s sells
and services computer hardware and
software, electronics components and
accessories; audio/video; telecommunications
devices, major and small appliances,
personal electronics, musical
instruments, and CD and DVD software,
as well as convenience and general
merchandise goods. Ranging in size
from 50,000 square feet to more than
180,000 square feet, each big-box store
features a unique design that reflects
its particular locale. The company also
maintains an e-commerce site, www.
frys.com (formerly Outpost.com).

Game Crazy

900 W. Main St.
Dothan, AL 36301
(334) 677-2108
www.gamecrazy.com
Joe Thomas (J.T.) Malugen, chairman/ president/CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 384
Stores with CE, 2008: 558
2009 CE sales (millions): $338
2008 CE sales (millions): $253

41 Game Crazy, a national
chain that sold new and
used video games, game
consoles and accessories, was expected
to shutter at press time. It was created
as a sister chain to investor Mark
Wattles’ Hollywood Video, and many
of its stores were located within or adjacent
to the video rental stores. Both
businesses were later sold to Movie
Gallery, which won a bidding war with Blockbuster for Wattles’ Hollywood
Entertainment. Movie Gallery filed
for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
in 2007, resulting in the closure of 174
Game Crazy locations, and again in
Feb. 2010, which precipitated another
wave of closures, reducing the store
count to 250. The company purportedly
succumbed to competition from
DVD mail and kiosk rentals, video on
demand and GameStop’s domination
of the gaming software retail market.

GameStop

625 Westport Pkwy.
Grapevine, TX 76051
(817) 424-2000
www.gamestop.com
R. Richard Fontaine, chairman/CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 4,383
Stores with CE, 2008: 4,308
2009 CE sales (millions): $4,620
2008 CE sales (millions): $4,978

7 GameStop became the world’s
largest video game and entertainment
software specialty retailer
following its 2005 merger with EB
Games. GameStop carries new and used
software, hardware and game accessories
for PC and gaming systems from
Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft. The
publicly held business operates nearly
5,000 retail stores in the U.S., Canada,
Australia and Europe under both
the GameStop and EB Games trade
names. The company also operates two
e-commerce sites, GameStop.com and
EBgames.com, and publishes the gaming
magazine Game Informer. Its stores
accept trade-ins of used games, which
are repackaged and resold. The strategy
helped drive traffic and sales during the
economic downturn, and has since been
tested by Best Buy, RadioShack and
other competitors.

Geeks.com

1890 Ord Way
Oceanside, CA 92056
(760) 726-7700
www.geeks.com
Frank Segler, chairman/founder
Stores with CE, 2009: 0
Stores with CE, 2008: 0
2009 CE sales (millions): $58
2008 CE sales (millions): $62

80 Geeks.com (corporate name
Computer Geeks) is a 13-
year-old consumer-direct
business specializing in computer and
assorted CE-related excess inventory,
manufacturer closeouts, end-of-life
products and high-demand and unusual
computer components and peripherals
at highly discounted prices. The
company, a division of privately held
Genica, caters to “geeky” tech-savvy
and price-conscious consumers, while
its sister unit, wholesale distributor
Evertek Computer, serves the reseller
channel. Last year the company settled
Federal Trade Commission charges
of failing to protect sensitive customer
information after hackers breached
the company’s data. The e-tailer said it
maintained solid margins despite lower-
than-projected sales in 2009, and
will continue to focus on cost reduction
and price competition going forward.

Harmony Electronics/ Ultimate

1801 Flatbush Ave.
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11210
(845) 369-1280
www.shopharmony.com
Nate King, CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 1
Stores with CE, 2008: 1
2009 CE sales (millions): $112
2008 CE sales (millions): $111

59 Harmony Electronics/Ultimate
edged up from 64th to
59th place on the TWICE
Top 100. The 21-year-old company,
formerly Harmony Computers, resides
in a recently renovated showroom in
the heart of Brooklyn, N.Y., but has established
a larger online presence. Its
ever-evolving product mix now centers
on four primary areas: consumer electronics,
including home theater, 12-volt
electronics, GPS devices, cameras and
radar detectors; musical instruments
and DJ equipment; sporting goods; and
housewares. Harmony sells direct to
consumers, as well as through the government,
corporate and educational
channels.

Hewlett-Packard

3000 Hanover St.
Palto Alto, CA 94304
(650) 857-1501
www.hp.com
Mark Hurd, CEO
Stores with CE, 2009: 0
Stores with CE, 2008: 0
2009 CE sales (millions): $833
2008 CE sales (millions): $695

21 Hewlett-Packard was
founded in 1939 by Stanford
classmates Bill
Hewlett and Dave Packard, who developed
a device used to test sound
equipment. HP has since evolved into
a global IT powerhouse that makes,
markets and sells PCs, servers, storage
devices, printers, networking equipment
and IT infrastructure. The company
has enjoyed a strong resurgence
in the marketplace within the past
two years thanks to new manufacturing
effi ciencies, a reinvigorated Compaq
brand and brisk demand for netbooks.
HP primarily sells through
channel partnerships with retailers
but also sells direct to consumers,
businesses and the educational channel
through its Web site at HP.com.

hhgregg

4151 E. 96th St.
Indianapolis, IN 46240
(317) 848-8710
www.hhgregg.com
Gerald Throgmartin, chairman
Stores with CE, 2009: 127
Stores with CE, 2008: 108
2009 CE sales (millions): $963
2008 CE sales (millions): $857

20 hhgregg was founded in
1955 in Indianapolis, and
last year operated 127
stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia,
Indiana, Kentucky, North and South
Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia
as it progressed with plans to become
a national 400-store specialty
CE and majaps chain. Its product
assortment includes mid- to premium-
priced video, audio, home office,
car A/V, imaging and major appliances,
and the chain recently extended its mix to gaming and netbook PCs. The
retailer also operates five Fine Lines
boutique-type stores featuring superpremium
appliances, and a commercial
sales division serving the home
builder channel. The company went
public in 2007 to help fuel its expansion
plans and allow retiring family
members to cash out, although most
of its recent build-out has been supported
by cash flow. The chain is currently
completing a 45-plus store rollout
into the Mid-Atlantic States,
including its first stores in Maryland,
New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

38 HSN (Home Shopping
Network), a division of
publicly held HSNi, pioneered
electronic retailing with its debut
in 1977 and has grown into a global
multichannel retailer, with 24-hour
TV programming that reaches more
than 90 million households and an ecommerce
site that ranks among the
Top 10 in traffic. The assortment includes
consumer electronics, fashion
apparel, housewares, jewelry and other
general merchandise categories.
The CE selection spans virtually every
product category and is represented
by most major brands. Products
are also available for purchase through
catalogs, online, by phone or from one
of 26 retail and outlet stores. In 2007,
HSN teamed with EchoStar Communication
and its Dish Network satellite
service to launch the HSN Shop
by Remote interactive TV (ITV) service,
which allows Dish Network subscribers
with ITV-enabled set-top boxes to purchase products using
their TV remotes. Parent company
HSNi also operates Cornerstone
Brands, which distributes over 300
million catalogs annually, operates
eight separate Internet sites. More
recently, HSN said strong growth in
its electronics and wellness categories
helped grow net sales 9 percent
to $518.9 million for the first quarter
ended March 31.

Howard’s Appliance & Flat Screen Superstores

901 East Imperial Hwy.
La Habra, CA 90631
(714) 871-2700
www.howards.com
Judy Lawrence, president
Stores with CE, 2009: 10
Stores with CE, 2008: 9
2009 CE sales (millions): $26
2008 CE sales (millions): $27

97 Privately held Howard’s
Appliance & Flat Screen
Superstores began as a radio
repair shop founded by chairman
Howard Roach in the back of a San
Gabriel, Calif., sporting goods store
in 1946. More than 60 years later, the
100 percent employee-owned business
serves much of Southern California
from its 10 superstore locations.
The product mix includes mid- to upper-
midtier majaps and an assortment
of tier-one flat panel TVs from LG,
Panasonic, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba.
The company launched its e-commerce
site, www.howards.com, back
in 2002, and more recently moved its
64,000-square-foot service center and
warehouse to a new 172,000-squarefoot
facility in Pico Rivera, Calif. It
opened its 10th superstore last year in
Torrance, Calif.

Huppins Hi-Fi/OneCall

421 West Main
Spokane, WA 99201
(509) 747-2624
www.onecall.com
Murray Huppin, president
Stores with CE, 2009: 1
Stores with CE, 2008: 1
2009 CE sales (millions): $72
2008 CE sales (millions): $81

69 Privately held Huppin’s
Hi-Fi, Photo and Video
began as a tailor shop
in 1908, morphed into a pawnbroker
shop that added cameras, radios
and stereo equipment in the 1950s,
and became a specialty electronics retailer
in the 1970s. While it continues
to operate a single showroom in its
hometown of Spokane, Wash., it established
a national presence with the
1994 launch of the OneCall mail-order
and Internet division, and became
one of the industry’s first authorized
CE e-tailers. Today the assortment includes
home theater, home and portable
audio, digital imaging, home office,
and wellness. Under fourth-generation
owner Murray Huppin, the PRO
Group dealer has earned a reputation
for competitive prices, innovative Web
design and solid customer service. Unlike
other e-tailers, the company owns
its own inventory, held in two area
warehouses, to provide greater control
over fulfillment, and maintains an
experienced, highly trained and noncommissioned
call center, which provides
“the right information and outstanding
customer service,” Huppin
told TWICE.

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