The Good Guys!
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Former type | Electronics |
|---|---|
| Fate | Acquired by CompUSA |
| Founded | 1973 |
| Defunct | 2003 (acquired), 2005 (all stores renamed/closed) |
| Headquarters | Brisbane, California |
| Industry | Retail |
| Products | Computers, televisions, VCRs, and DVD players |
| Website | None |
The Good Guys! was a chain of consumer electronics retail stores with 71 stores in California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. The company was headquartered in Brisbane, California in the Dakin Building in the early-1990s and subsequently in Alameda, California until it was bought in late 2003 by CompUSA. The Good Guys was founded in 1973 by Ron Unkefer on Chestnut Street, San Francisco. By 2006, all of this company's stores had closed.
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[edit] Re-launch
After all The Good Guys stores closed, CompUSA began marketing all California and Hawaii stores as CompUSA with Good Guys Inside in response to Best Buy's new marketing campaign with Magnolia Inside. However, this marketing campaign was dropped in an attempt to further separate CompUSA from the Good Guys name, and assist in launching its new Home Entertainment sections in select locations. The Good Guys name once again no longer existed in 2008 when CompUSA closed its remaining stores.[citation needed] Extended warranties on televisions purchased through The Good Guys! or CompUSA can still be accessed through General Electric Extended Warranties.[citation needed]
[edit] Hostage crisis
In 1991, one of the stores in the chain located in Sacramento was taken over by four armed robbers. The event would become the largest hostage situation to ever take place in North America.
[edit] Australian Chain
The Good Guys brand name is also used by a chain of independently owned and operated stores in Australia. The stores maintain identical colors, signage and branding but with the name of the owner of the store appended, e.g. "Phil Favero - The Good Guys". The stores also buy cooperatively to enable them to compete with larger chains in Australia such as Harvey Norman and Bing Lee. The Australian stores are not associated with the American operations.
[edit] References
- "Good Guys lose suit to block competition," Sacramento Bee, December 2, 1987.
- "Market Place; Electronics Chain On Roller Coaster," New York Times, July 6, 1992.
- "Good Guys bets that the customer is always right," San Jose Mercury News, November 23, 1992.
- "Good Guys horror still vivid to ex-hostages 4 years later," Sacramento Bee, April 3, 1995.
- "Good Guys CEO Discloses Master Plan," San Francisco Chronicle, July 27, 1999.
- "Good Guys Inc. will drop computers, office products," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 2, 1999.
- "Good Guys to spin off web store," CNET, January 5, 2000.
- "The Good Guys Laying Off 450 Employees", San Francisco Chronicle, March 2, 2001.
- "CompUSA to purchase Good Guys: $58 million deal expected to benefit both companies", San Francisco Chronicle, September 30, 2003.
- "Good Guys quarterly sales fall, sees wider loss," Forbes, June 10, 2003.
- "Ex-Good Guys director settles SEC charges," MSNBC, April 26, 2005.
- "Good Guys to close stores: Stand-alone outlets in California and Hawaii to get the ax," San Francisco Chronicle, October 6, 2005.
