As a leading US appliance retailer, hhgregg started out with an 800 square-feet appliance showroom and office in 1955. Today it has evolved to a multi-regional retailer with 229 brick-and-mortar stores in 20 states and is taking a different merchandising tack in the Orlando and Tampa markets.
According to US industry media twice.com, instead of the “wall-to-wall product stacks” common to big-box chains, hhgregg said it is employing “experiential room settings,” led by Samsung’s Open House in-store display concept for appliances.
The sections, which debuted earlier this summer at Best Buy, resemble a Samsung trade show exhibit booth, replete with full kitchen suites and an interactive 8-by-7.5-foot touchscreen called Centerstage that lets customers virtually experience Samsung’s whitegoods range through life-size photos and videos.
Showcased products include the manufacturer’s innovative built-in sink washer, WaterWall dishwasher, and FlexDuo ranges.
Select stores will also be updated with a new TV wall showcasing Samsung’s 4K SUHD displays.
“Customers want to be inspired when they are shopping, as if they are leafing through the pages of their favorite home design magazine,” hhgregg CEO Dennis May explained to twice.com. “They also want the most sophisticated products technology at their fingertips. We think we’ve done both by partnering with Samsung.”
The sales-floor resets coincide with the retailer’s 60th anniversary and are being launched in their handful of Florida markets as grand reopening events. The company, which has pursued an aggressive buildout strategy over the last 10 years, is now trying to find its footing amid a rapidly changing marketplace.
Despite improving sales and traffic trends, net sales slipped 6.6%, comps decreased 6.3%, and losses, though narrower, were $8.6 million for its first fiscal quarter, ended June 30.
Best Buy also on Samsung train
Meanwhile, Best Buy expects to roll out about 225 Samsung Open Houses by the end of the year. CEO Hubert Joly has called it the largest dedicated in-store display of Samsung appliances in the US.
The world’s leading CE chain is also expanding the number of Samsung home theater stores-within-a-store from 500 at launch to 603.