Miami – hhgregg is
looking to open a regional distribution center (DC) in Southeast Florida.
The new facility would
support an estimated nine new stores planned for the Miami area, which
represents the last untapped market in the Sunshine State for the multiregional
CE and appliance chain. hhgregg currently operates 22 stores across Florida and
is about to open its 23
rd
, in Pensacola.
According to a report in
the South Florida Business Journal, the retailer is looking to lease an
80,000-square-foot space in north Miami-Dade County or southern Broward County,
and hopes to have it operational by May.
The move will pit hhgregg
against CE and appliance chain BrandsMart U.S.A. on its home Southeast Florida
turf, where the latter operates six megastores. The two companies already go
head-to-head in the Atlanta market, which precipitated hhgregg’s departure from
the NATM buying group, where BrandsMart remains a member.
The company plans to open
between 35 and 45 new locations this year — including its first stores in
Chicago and Pittsburgh — which would bring its total store count to more than 200.
