Last month TWICE reported that Sixth Avenue Electronics will be opening its first Pennsylvania showroom in May. Turns out it’s spitting distance from one of Bob Cole’s two World Wide Stereo stores.
In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, Cole, a former psychologist and current president of the Home Entertainment Source (HES) buying group, expressed both confidence and concern over his new neighbor.
Sixth Avenue chairman Billy Temiz told the paper that the proximity to Cole was unintentional, and the site, a vacant 35,000-square-foot storefront in the Philadelphia suburb of Montgomeryville, merely met the chain’s real estate criteria.
Operations VP Tom Galanis added that Sixth Avenue’s wide assortment of small electronics would sooner put it in competition with a nearby Best Buy.
And Dave Workman, who heads Sixth Avenue’s buying group, the Progressive Retailers Organization (PRO Group), suggested that Circuit City’s demise should free up enough CE sales for everybody.
For everyone’s sake let’s hope so.
