Ultimate Electronics Files Ch 11.

[CRMA]

Tried to find a link, but in the Denver Post today it had that UE filed for Ch11. It didnt say which stores would be closing.

[Aerodude73]

that sucks if its true. the one near me, although a 40 min drive (Seekonk, Mass.), has some great prices; especially on New releases.

[PaulGo]

Ultimate Electronics bankrupt
Posted on: Sat, 29 Jan 2011 07:07:39 EST

Symbols: ULTEQ
DENVER, Jan 29, 2011 (The Pueblo Chieftain - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --

The owner of Denver-based electronics retailer Ultimate Electronics has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The chain, headquartered in the Denver suburb of Thornton, operates 46 stores in more than a dozen states. It operates nine stores in Colorado. Until 2005, the Colorado stores went by the name SoundTrack.

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/s...t-1454743.html

[Rob J in WNY]

Yep, read about it yesterday after a friend of mine saw a news article on it.

Hopefully they can make it through. Competition is good, but sometimes, not good enough. Not all stores are expected to close, thankfully. Just the under-performing ones.

They filed in 2005 as well, but rebounded very well within a couple years.

[steve1971]

With the way the economy is right now nothing surprises me about this. First it was Circut City, Blockbuster now Ulitmate Electronics. CC is gone and Blockbuster is headed into oblivion but I hope Ultimate Electronics can hang in there. I visit their store often and I like their prices. they are much cheaper then Best Buy.

[Malik True]

Originally Posted by steve1971

With the way the economy is right now nothing surprises me about this. First it was Circut City, Blockbuster now Ulitmate Electronics. CC is gone and Blockbuster is headed into oblivion but I hope Ultimate Electronics can hang in there. I visit their store often and I like their prices. they are much cheaper then Best Buy.

You would think these stores are dying a slow death but perhaps not, numerous hhGregg's have opened in my area occupying stores that Circuit City may have had. I walked in a few stores but I don't see me shopping there they have a weird product mix, they sold mattresses in the back? HUH! No music or movies if I can recall and a minuscule selection of computers. They been around since 1955 so what do I know?

[Flatnate]

This is a bummer, I noticed the guys who worked at Ultimate really knew their stuff too. Even the Best Buy guys in the Magnolia sections often struggle to help me. I asked one the other day which recievers on the floor had pre-outs and he told me he would have to start turning them around to look. I just said "don't worry about it dude, I can figure it out with my phone".

[myklipschoath]

Originally Posted by Flatnate

This is a bummer, I noticed the guys who worked at Ultimate really knew their stuff too. Even the Best Buy guys in the Magnolia sections often struggle to help me. I asked one the other day which recievers on the floor had pre-outs and he told me he would have to start turning them around to look. I just said "don't worry about it dude, I can figure it out with my phone".

At least he didn't give you a blank stare... Pre? Outs?.

[steve1971]

Originally Posted by Flatnate

This is a bummer, I noticed the guys who worked at Ultimate really knew their stuff too. Even the Best Buy guys in the Magnolia sections often struggle to help me. I asked one the other day which recievers on the floor had pre-outs and he told me he would have to start turning them around to look. I just said "don't worry about it dude, I can figure it out with my phone".

This is one thing of many that I like about Ultimate Electronics. Every time I go into their store the guys seem to know what they are talking about unlike BB or Sears who seem to NEVER know what they are talkin about! I hope Ultimate can hang on I really do because I like their store and their employees.

[rgbsyr]

There goes my tax refund

[Flatnate]

So they will liquidate completely?

I know I'm only thirty years old but it seems like in so many ways as a consumer I find myself back in the ma and pop shops that I remember being around when I was little. Sometimes I'm amazed that these places weathered it out. At least where I live our locally owned boutique store is now THE place to buy electronics if you want descent service. On top of that, it seems that outside of redbox the only place to rent a disc in town is the old mom and pop rental store by the college or the grocery store. Its 1989 all over again.

[Rob J in WNY]

Stopped by our Buffalo-area UE today and talked to one of the managers and a couple employees.

Within about eight weeks, the two month old store will be closed down. Liquidation promotion begins next week. So much for closing just the "underperforming" locations. This location posted profitability over its short time, and plans were drawn for adding another location as well. I had been looking forward to that new location, which would have been closer to my home.

I had become friends with some of the employees, who were always cheerful. I'll miss UE.

[CRMA]

I havent heard anything about the Denver branches. They are based in Thorton, which is about 15 min from Den. I wonder how many in the denver area they will close?

[toef]

Originally Posted by CRMA

I havent heard anything about the Denver branches. They are based in Thorton, which is about 15 min from Den. I wonder how many in the denver area they will close?

From what I understand, all 46 stores, nation-wide, are closing.

The owners of Ultimate Electronics have asked a U.S. Bankruptcy Court for permission to sell off its inventory and close all 46 stores...

...Ultimate Acquisition Partners LP Friday asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware for permission to hire Gordon Brothers Retail Partners LLC and Hilco Merchant Resources LLC as consultants to sell off merchandise and close the stores.

Ultimate filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Jan. 26 asking for court protection so that it could reorganize its business and pay off its debts, which it said were in the range of $100 million to $500 million. It listed assets in the same range.
The company owes $64.8 million to GE Capital Corp., its largest secured creditor. It owes $6.1 million to its Video Products Distributors, its largest unsecured creditor.

The company told the court that a quick, organized sale of its inventory would be in the best interest of its creditors.
In court documents, Ultimate said it was driven to close because it has not secured any financing to keep its operations going, and GE Capital will not allow the electronics retail chain to use its cash collateral to buy new inventory for the stores...

...Ultimate has an agreement with its consultants to begin going-out-of-business sales no later than Feb. 12 and to finish the job no later than April 15, court documents said.

Sounds like a bummer to me. The store I went to was located in what used to be a Circuit City. It's like deja vu.

[steve1971]

I just heard about this the other day. First CC and now Ultimate Electronics. Sad because I liked going into their store. Staff was always freindly and they knew their stuff. I also got some good deals from them in the past. But its hard for small chain electronic stores to keep up with places like BB, Walmart and Target just to name a few. They have cheaper prices. Hell when I bought my BDP S570 Sears beat all their prices. Now that they are goin out of buisness it would be a great time to get some really hot deals on TV's ect. Ultimate Electronics: Fun while it lasted.

[Jim L]

They went out too just shortly after CC.

It is really sad to see the retail chains folding. There is no replacement for knowledgeable staff and demoing products in person.

It's not just the bad economy, but consumers' paradigms are changing. Now everyone shops online for the savings and convenience.

Don't know if others have heard but Borders is in bankruptcy now too.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Being that they are such a (relatively) small retail chain and none of them are in my area, I've never even been to an Ultimate Electronics store. I've heard that they have good deals, but that may have been part of their downfall.

I actually had never even heard of of them until a little over a year ago, on Black Friday 2009.

I stayed home, doing most of my BF shopping online, mostly from Amazon, to avoid the crazy crowds (and in the area where I live, it genuinely is crazy to go out on black Friday... I've tried it in the past and it's just not worth the insanity).

Anyway, some guy created a discussion thread about how Amazon's black friday deals weren't that great this year, and how he thought that they were going head to head with such big box retailers as Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Ultimate Electronics, and goes on to say how he got much better deals at those stores.

So, I joined in the discussion, and to make a long story short, the vast majority of the guy's good deals came from UE. Apparently when he got there that day, they were just handing people $40 gift cards, so between him and his wife they got $80 of free money to spend... not to mention that they had some insanely good video game deals for then-newer games, so he got some games for WELL below what he would have gotten elsewhere.

The deals that he got from the Best Buy and Wal-Mart had similar equivelants available on Amazon (which he at first assumed they didn't, and that was quickly debunked). It was then pointed out to him that UE is a much smaller retailer, and just because he has one in his area doesn't mean that the rest of the people doing their shopping on Amazon would have faired as well as he did if they had gone to retail stores.

The guy even went on to saythat while they wouldn't get the gift cards, Wal-Mart would have priced matched UE's prices. And then I pointed out to him that this is true... for anyone who has a UE in their area AND has access to a UE ad. For people who don't live anywhere near one, their local stores won't price-match UE, and even if they would, it's kind of hard to get ahold of their circular ad when it's not included in any of the local papers.



Anyway, my reasoning for pointing this out is that while that guy got some insanely good deals (and good on him for that), if this is any indication on how they handle sales, it's no wonder they've been losing money. Granted, I only really have this one guy's account to go off of. And of course, the sales throughout the rest of the year wouldn't be as insanely good as those on black friday, but none the less, if this insane sale is an indicator of how much they price themselves below the competition, it's no wonder they are going out of business.



I do agree that it is sad about this store (and the likes of Borders) going out of business. Physical brick and mortar stores keep disappearing. Granted, I haven't been much help. Ever since I got on board with Blu-Ray, I've bought most of my movies online. Though I have done some B&M shopping more recently. It's hard to pass up better prices, but at the same time, physical stores going away is bad for the economy and the consumer alike.

But, if stores are going to practically give their merchandise away, I can see where they will have problems staying in business.

[steve1971]

Originally Posted by Jim L

They went out too just shortly after CC.

It is really sad to see the retail chains folding. There is no replacement for knowledgeable staff and demoing products in person.

It's not just the bad economy, but consumers' paradigms are changing. Now everyone shops online for the savings and convenience.

Don't know if others have heard but Borders is in bankruptcy now too.

Yep Borders filed chapter 11 bankruptcy and now they are closing some stores. The one where I live is closing but being that I worked there last summer I can understand why.

[linkgx1]

I wonder....If they're going to pull a Circuit City in the liqudation.


AND I MISS THE GOOD GUYS!

[dwane5]

i went to ultimate electronics tonite and the prices are still quite high as u all know. i saw curious case for 11.95 without the slip with 20%off.

well when i got to the counter i was told it was in the system as 22.95 and he would only give me 20% off that price.

i balked.

crazy...

oh well i still await my first criterion bluray.