LA HABRA, CALIF. —
Paul’s TV,
the Los Angeles-
area
specialty
A/V dealer,
plans
to take its
store-within-
a-furniture
store
concept to all 50 states.
Babak Ghazavi, president
of the privately held business,
wouldn’t put a timetable on
the expansion, but said he is
targeting dominant furniture
chains with significant share in
their respective markets.
By year’s end, the strategy will extend
the two-store, PRO Group dealer’s multiregional
presence to 41 leased shops
in New England (with Jordan’s), Southern
California (through Living Spaces)
and Michigan (via Art Van).
The latter deal, announced last
month,
calls for 31 in-store shops averaging
about 3,000 square feet that will hold 60
to 80 TVs plus audio and other hometheater
products. Paul’s has complete
sales and operational responsibility for
the stores, and has secured a 112,000-
square-foot warehouse in Detroit to
support the rollout.
Ghazavi said the time is right to reunite
CE and furniture, which had been
merchandised together in department
stores more than a generation ago. “Female
shoppers are having a bigger say
in CE selection, especially now that TVs
are looking sexier,” he said.
Ghazavi is in “no hurry” to enter new
markets. “We will do it carefully,” he
said, adding that he has no plans for additional
freestanding Paul’s TV stores
beyond the two existing locations here
and in West L.A. Instead, the company
will focus on its Art Van expansion and
the addition of two more Living Spaces
shops, for a total of six, later this year.
Paul’s TV was founded in 1964 by Paul
Goldenberg, the self-proclaimed “King
of the Big TV.” The company is currently
held by a management team comprised
of former Good Guys executives.
