Ultimate Electronics Files Ch 11.

[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.