Sixth Avenue Electronics continued its expansion last month with the opening of its 11th store, located here.
About 150 customers were lined up on a Saturday morning in anticipation of the store’s grand opening.This is the chain’s second Long Island location, joining one in Carle Place, N.Y., that opened last year. A 12th store in Brick, N.J., is slated to open later this year and additional Long Island locations are being considered, said Mike Temiz, Sixth Avenue Electronics president.
The 23,000-square-foot Commack facility differs somewhat from the chain’s traditional footprint, said Tom Galanis, operations VP, by being square instead of rectangular. Galanis said it gave the store’s interior a more comfortable feeling.
The main selling floor is dominated by a long, glass counter area where digital cameras and cellphones are sold. The open area in front will feature tricked-out show cars built by Sixth Avenue’s custom audio installers, Galanis said.
The perimiter is dominated by a series of home theater and video demo rooms — sponsored by vendors such as Pioneer, Sharp and Monster Cable — and by two large plasma and LCD display sections. Another area has been set aside to give side-by-side demonstrations of Blu-ray and HD DVD players, and there is a single mobile electronics installation bay in the back.
The store also includes a custom installation room where consumers can design there own home theater. Sixth Avenue employs 40 CEDIA-certified custom install technicians, Galanis said.
The store is adjacent to the busy Jericho Turnpike corridor and it will immediately face stiff competition from five established CE retailers located within a mile of the facility.
Sixth Avenue chairman Billy Temiz recognized the competitive nature of the neighborhood, but he said a great deal of research was done prior choosing this location to ensure that it would be successful.
Galanis said Sixth Avenue’s strategy of offering entry-level to high-end products enables the stores to draw customers in and then upsell them through their commissioned sales personnel. In addition, Sixth Avenue, a member of the PRO Group buying organization, tries to be a destination store by creating interest through Sunday circular ads and its Web site, www.6ave.com, instead of simply drawing foot traffic off the street by hyping low-priced items.
