Company:H. H. Gregg

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H. H. Gregg
TypePublic (2007–2017)
Private (2017–present)
IndustryRetail
FateChapter 7 bankruptcy
Liquidation sale
Founded
  • April 15, 1955; 68 years ago (1955-04-15) (as Gregg Appliances, Inc.)
  • Princeton, Indiana , U.S.
  • August 17, 2017; 6 years ago (2017-08-17) (online comeback)
Founders
  • Henry Harold Gregg
  • Fansy Gregg
DefunctMay 25, 2017; 6 years ago (2017-05-25) (original)
HeadquartersIndianapolis, Indiana , U.S.
Number of locations
1 (Somerset, NJ)[1]
Key people
  • Cathy Langham
  • (Chairman of the Board)
  • Kevin Kovacs
  • (CEO)[2]
ProductsRetailing–Electronics and Appliances
RevenueDecrease US$ 1.96 B (FY 2016)[3]
IncreaseUS$ -51.73 M (FY 2016)[3]
Increase US$ -54.88 M (FY 2016)[3]
Total assetsDecrease US$ 385.35 M (FY 2016)[3]
OwnerValor Group LLC
(2017–present)
Number of employees
3,723 (2016)
Websitehhgregg.com

H. H. Gregg, Inc. (stylized as hhgregg, inc.) was an American privately owned and operated retailer of consumer electronics and home appliances in the Midwest, Northeast, and Southeast United States, that operated stores in 20 states including Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana , Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland,[4] Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee , and Virginia.[5] Valor LLC purchased the brand from the company's bankruptcy trustee for $400,000 and in August 2017 revived it as an online business. H.H. Gregg has closed all stores except for the one in N.J. which is their last location operating. Founded in Princeton, Indiana in 1955, H. H. Gregg was headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana when it ceased operating. Its retail offerings included home entertainment video and audio products, computers, and other selected consumer electronics; home appliances, such as refrigerators, ranges, dishwashers, freezers, washers, and dryers; and other products and services, including mattresses.[6] The company announced on November 24, 2008, that they would begin selling popular gaming systems such as Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.[7]

H. H. Gregg reported an annual revenue of US$ 1.96 billion in fiscal year 2016.

On March 6, 2017, H. H. Gregg filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The filing followed the decision to close 88 unprofitable locations outside of its core markets.[8] Troubles for H. H. Gregg continued and the Chapter 11 case was ultimately converted to Chapter 7 liquidation. The company announced on April 7, 2017, that it would also close all of its other stores (132 more than the 88 previously announced closures) in the coming months and would lay off about 5,000 people.[9]

History

An H. H. Gregg retail store in Florida

In 1955, a small storefront was erected by Henry Harold and Fansy Gregg on the north side of Indianapolis. The new store featured home appliances such as washing machines, clothes dryers, refrigerators, and grills. Shortly thereafter, they began selling televisions and other electronics.

Map of hhgregg stores in the U.S. in August 2011

In 1975, Jerry W. Throgmartin began working in his grandfather's store while attending middle school. He eventually worked his way through many positions there over the next 24 years, and in 1999, took over his father's position as Chairman, CEO, and Director of H. H. Gregg Appliances and Electronics.[10]

Dennis L. May succeeded Throgmartin as H. H. Gregg's President and Chief Executive Officer on February 17, 2009, and Throgmartin was named Executive Chairman of the Board.[11] Throgmartin died in January 2012.[12]

Despite market trends that have diminished profit margins on high-tech devices, Throgmartin and May expanded the business to 125 stores in 9 states as of October 2009. Throgmartin said, "We've been fortunate in that the areas of the [overall CE] business that have been strong are the areas in which we excel: high-end large-screen flat-panel TVs and home theater, and higher-end appliances".[10]

On July 8, 2009, the company announced that it planned to open 22 stores in the following year, primarily in Richmond, Virginia, Tampa, Florida, and in Memphis, Tennessee, many of them being in buildings formerly occupied by defunct Circuit City, as part of an aggressive growth strategy to fill the gap created by Circuit City's bankruptcy.[13] In December 2009, construction began on several stores in the central and eastern parts of Pennsylvania, the first in the state. March 2010 brought the openings of the first stores in the Norfolk-Virginia Beach metro area, in converted Circuit City and Linens 'n Things locations. In Spring 2011, the company expanded into the Youngstown, Ohio market with the opening of a store in the Youngstown suburb Boardman.[14] Ten stores opened in July 2011 in South Florida along the east coast from Miami to West Palm Beach.

An H. H. Gregg store in Hanover, Maryland; opened in 2010 in a former Circuit City location

In the fall of 2010, H. H. Gregg opened several stores in former Circuit City locations in Maryland and Virginia.[15] Also, in late 2010, hhgregg partnered with The Cellular Connection, a cellular phone wholesaler based out of Indianapolis, to roll out kiosks to sell Verizon Wireless products.[citation needed]

In March 2011, H. H. Gregg announced it would open a new location in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, also in the location of a defunct Circuit City.[16] In June 2011, H. H. Gregg expanded into the Pittsburgh market with the opening of four stores in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area.[17] On September 15, 2011, 14 new stores opened in the Chicago area as well.[18] In September 2012, H. H. Gregg opened four stores in the St. Louis, Missouri metropolitan area.[19]

In August 2012, H. H. Gregg made its debut in Wisconsin by opening stores in Appleton, Brown Deer, Greenfield, Green Bay, and Racine.[20] In November 2012, it entered Louisiana with stores in the New Orleans metropolitan area and in Baton Rouge.[21][22]

The company's motto was "Gregg's Got It!", and their official mascot was an animated talking catalogue called HH, bearing likeness to that of the video-game character Rayman.[23]

In March 2015, a mash-up music video of an H. H. Gregg commercial and the song Doin' It Right by Daft Punk was uploaded to YouTube. The video has over 482,000 views and helped form an internet meme based around HH and the specific commercial in which the mascot advertises a Panasonic Blu-Ray Player, a 32" LCD TV and an LG 42" HDTV.[24] Since the bankruptcy of the company in 2017 and their online return, fans of the meme used twitter to plead the company bring back HH, who hasn't been in a commercial since May 2011.[25]

In February 2016, May resigned as CEO, and Robert Riesbeck was named interim CEO.[13] In August 2016, Riesbeck was named the permanent CEO.[26] After a buyout offer fell through, Riesbeck was terminated along with CIO Tom Schuetz and Chief Merchandising Officer Aaron Trahan. Kevin Kovacs (CFO at the time) was named CEO and president effective June 7, 2017.[2]

Bankruptcy

On March 6, 2017, H. H. Gregg filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The filing followed the closure of 88 unprofitable locations outside of its core markets.[8] BML Investment Partners, L.P. acquired at least 7.5% of the company by January 26, 2017.[27] On February 15, 2017 the company announced it was exploring "strategic alternatives", implicitly a sale of all or part of the business.[28] On March 6, 2017, the bankrupt company filed for reorganization under Chapter 11.[29][30] On March 16, 2017, the company announced that the sale had not been completed.[31] On April 7, 2017, the Chapter 11 case was converted to Chapter 7 liquidation, and H.H. Gregg said it would close all 220 of its locations (the 88 stores previously announced to be closing, plus the other 132 locations) and lay off about 5,000 employees.[9] All stores were closed permanently on May 25, 2017.

Online return (2017)

In August 2017, the H. H. Gregg brand and intellectual property was purchased by Valor LLC, for $400,000, topping a Sears Holdings bid of $350,000. It was announced in August the company would be revived as an online business with the possibility of opening some new hhgregg brick-and-mortar locations.[32] There is a store in Somerset, New Jersey. The new H.H. Gregg is not affiliated with the last company that went out of business. Unfortunately for past customers there is no way to recover records for their old purchases.[citation needed]

Fine Lines

Fine Lines[33] was a division of H. H. Gregg that was introduced November 1, 2004.[34] Each of its ten stores offered over 18,000 square feet (1,700 m2) of premium lines of appliances.[35] Products and ere were eleven Fine Lines locations.[36]

Stock

H. H. Gregg had its initial public offering on July 20, 2007, at US$13.72 and was traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol HGG.[37]

On February 27, 2017, it was announced that the NYSE suspended trading of HGG in preparation for delisting.[38] HGG shares were formally delisted on March 27, 2017.[39][40]

Sponsorship

On December 17, 2007, H. H. Gregg signed as one of 14 founding corporate partners for the Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts. H. H. Gregg's deal earned them rights to advertise in the south gate and display many of their large, flat panel televisions. The south gate was also home to a new 26,000-square-foot (2,400 m2) H. H. Gregg showroom.[41]

From late 2016 until the company's closing, H. H. Gregg sponsored several drivers on the Andretti Autosport team. They sponsored Carlos Muñoz and Marco Andretti. They were slated to become the full-time sponsor of Andretti in 2017, and sponsored them at St. Petersburg. When the company closed, the team removed their logos on their cars, although the logo remained on the firesuits. When Takuma Sato won the 2017 Indianapolis 500, the company logos were still seen on the left breast of his firesuit though H. H. Gregg had closed three days prior to the race.[42]

References

  1. ↑ "hhgregg Announces First Fiscal Quarter Operating Results" (Press release). Archived from the original on June 29, 2015. Retrieved September 15, 2014. Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 McGowan, Dan (June 7, 2017). "hhgregg Cuts Loose CEO, Other Execs". Inside Indiana Business. http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/story/35610300/hhgregg-cuts-loose-ceo-other-execs. Retrieved September 5, 2017. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 HHGregg, Inc. (HGG) Income Statement via Wikinvest.
  4. ↑ "Electronics store hhgregg to open today in Hagerstown, Md.". PublicOpinionOnline. http://www.publicopiniononline.com/localnews/ci_14933567. Retrieved 2010-04-26. [|permanent dead link|dead link}}]
  5. ↑ "hhgregg Announces Grand Opening of Snellville, GA Store". hhgregg. http://press.hhgregg.com/2009/05/hhgregg-announces-grand-opening-of.html. Retrieved 2009-05-06. 
  6. ↑ "hhgregg, Inc. (HGG:NYSE) Snapshot". BusinessWeek. http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?capId=13648539. Retrieved February 18, 2008. 
  7. ↑ "hhgregg Launches Gaming Business Across Chain". hhgregg. November 24, 2008. http://press.hhgregg.com/2009/01/hhgregg-launches-gaming-business-across.html. Retrieved November 24, 2008. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Electronics retailer hhgregg files for bankruptcy". Reuters. March 6, 2017. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hhgregg-bankruptcy-idUSKBN16E0AZ. Retrieved April 8, 2017. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Briggs, James (April 7, 2017). "HHGregg to close all stores after failing to find a buyer". IndyStar. http://www.indystar.com/story/money/2017/04/07/hhgregg-close-all-stores-after-failing-find-buyer/100183284/. Retrieved April 8, 2017. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Brian Ploskina (January 2008). "A Commitment to Vision". Dealerscope 50 (1). Archived from the original on March 22, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080322221915/http://www.dealerscope.com/. 
  11. ↑ "hhgregg Announces Executive Changes". hhgregg. http://press.hhgregg.com/2009/02/hhgregg-announces-executive-changes.html. Retrieved 2009-02-18. 
  12. ↑ "hhgregg Announces Death of Jerry W. Throgmartin, Executive Chairman of the Board and Former Chief Executive Officer". hhgregg. January 23, 2012. Archived from the original on September 16, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150916024349/http://ir.hhgregg.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=641512. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Hhgregg CEO Dennis May Resigns (Wall Street Journal)
  14. ↑ Luthern, Ashley. New Appliance Store Coming to Valley, Vindicator, 6 January 2011.
  15. ↑ "12 New Stores Opening Soon in Washington D.C. Area". http://blog.hhgregg.com/blog/hhgregg/12-new-stores-opening-soon-in-washington-dc-area. 
  16. ↑ "Electronics store to hire 50 on Myrtle Beach Area". The Sun News -Myrtle Beach. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110717035959/http://www.thesunnews.com/2011/03/15/2039991/electronics-store-to-hire-50-in.html. 
  17. ↑ [1][|permanent dead link|dead link}}]
  18. ↑ "14 hhgregg stores to open in Chicago region on Sept. 15". Chicago Sun-Times. August 19, 2011. http://www.suntimes.com/business/7140781-420/14-hhgregg-stores-to-open-in-chicago-region-on-sept-15.html. 
  19. ↑ "h.h.gregg Announces the Grand Opening of St. Louis, MO Area Stores". hhgregg. September 11, 2012. Archived from the original on February 14, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150214142310/http://ir.hhgregg.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=706194. 
  20. ↑ "h.h.gregg Announces the Grand Opening of Green Bay, WI Area Stores". hhgregg. September 18, 2012. Archived from the original on January 20, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160120125023/http://ir.hhgregg.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=707542. 
  21. ↑ "h.h.gregg Announces the Grand Opening of Two New Stores in New Orleans, Louisiana". hhgregg. November 13, 2012. Archived from the original on August 25, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130825012622/http://ir.hhgregg.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=720892. 
  22. ↑ "h.h.gregg Announces Grand Opening of Baton Rouge, Louisiana Store". hhgregg. November 13, 2012. Archived from the original on January 14, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130114215633/http://ir.hhgregg.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=720890. 
  23. ↑ GandWuser (2017-07-19), Ultimate HH compilation, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilQxLvVwYOc, retrieved 2018-09-27 
  24. ↑ HydroDalek (2015-03-27), doin, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYGTbrYi914, retrieved 2018-09-27 
  25. ↑ "hhgregg on Twitter" (in en). https://twitter.com/hhgregg/status/981992563191279618. 
  26. ↑ Minaya, Ezequiel (August 1, 2016). "Hhgregg Names Robert Riesbeck Permanent CEO". The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/hhgregg-names-robert-riesbeck-permanent-ceo-147007827. Retrieved April 9, 2017. [|permanent dead link|dead link}}]
  27. ↑ [BML Investment Partners, L.P. "SCHEDULE 13G"]. BML Investment Partners, L.P.. Retrieved 24 November 2017. 
  28. ↑ "hhgregg to Explore Strategic Alternatives". http://yahoo.brand.edgar-online.com/displayfilinginfo.aspx?FilingID=11862975-5265-10946&type=sect&TabIndex=2&companyid=741475&ppu=%252fdefault.aspx%253fcik%253d1396279. Retrieved 24 November 2017. 
  29. ↑ "hhgregg Files for Chapter 11 Reorganization". http://yahoo.brand.edgar-online.com/displayfilinginfo.aspx?FilingID=11912776-13570-21576&type=sect&TabIndex=2&companyid=741475&ppu=%252fdefault.aspx%253fcik%253d1396279. Retrieved 24 November 2017. 
  30. ↑ "Form 8-K". http://yahoo.brand.edgar-online.com/displayfilinginfo.aspx?FilingID=11912776-885-13431&type=sect&TabIndex=2&companyid=741475&ppu=%252fdefault.aspx%253fcik%253d1396279. Retrieved 24 November 2017. 
  31. ↑ "hhgregg Terminates Letter of Intent". http://yahoo.brand.edgar-online.com/displayfilinginfo.aspx?FilingID=11938176-4710-10332&type=sect&TabIndex=2&companyid=741475&ppu=%252fdefault.aspx%253fcik%253d1396279. Retrieved 24 November 2017. 
  32. ↑ Briggs, James (August 22, 2017). "HHGregg relaunches, sort of, promising 'grand opening'". Indy Star. http://www.indystar.com/story/money/2017/08/22/hhgregg-relaunches-sort-of-promising-grand-reopening/587248001/. Retrieved August 27, 2017. 
  33. ↑ "Fine Lines – Luxury Kitchen Applances". hhgregg Fine Lines. http://www.hhgreggfinelines.com. 
  34. ↑ Lieber, Tammy. "Kitchens for the elite: H.H. Gregg goes upscale with Fine Lines appliance store". Indianapolis Business Journal. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go1582/is_/ai_n9440419. Retrieved 2008-01-04. 
  35. ↑ "Product Selection". hhgregg Fine Lines. http://hhgregfinelines.com/finelineshtml/about/selectionhtml. Retrieved January 4, 2008. [|permanent dead link|dead link}}]
  36. ↑ "hhgregg Fine Lines Store Locator". hhgregg Fine Lines. Archived from the original on April 2, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090402055213/http://www.hhgreggfinelines.com/storeLocator.html. Retrieved January 4, 2008. 
  37. ↑ "hhgregg Inc. Announces Pricing of IPO". Archived from the original on 2008-01-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20080129195715/http://ir.hhgregg.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=255702. Retrieved 2008-02-25. 
  38. ↑ "Brief – NYSE to suspend trading immediately in Hhgregg Inc (HGG) and commence delisting proceedings". 27 February 2017. https://www.reuters.com/article/brief-nyse-to-suspend-trading-immediatel-idUSFWN1GC12O. 
  39. ↑ "NOTIFICATION OF THE REMOVAL FROM LISTING AND REGISTRATION OF THE STATED SECURITIES". http://yahoo.brand.edgar-online.com/displayfilinginfo.aspx?FilingID=11932608-4809-7238&type=sect&TabIndex=2&companyid=741475&ppu=%252fdefault.aspx%253fcik%253d1396279. Retrieved 24 November 2017. 
  40. ↑ "NOTIFICATION OF REMOVAL FROM LISTING AND/OR REGISTRATION UNDER SECTION 12(b) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934". http://yahoo.brand.edgar-online.com/displayfilinginfo.aspx?FilingID=11932608-1389-4703&type=sect&TabIndex=2&companyid=741475&ppu=%252fdefault.aspx%253fcik%253d1396279. Retrieved 24 November 2017. 
  41. ↑ "Hi-def highlights 'showroom' part of Lucas Oil sponsorship". The Indianapolis Star. http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007312110002. Retrieved 2008-02-25. 
  42. ↑ "Honda power helps give Takuma Sato first Indy 500 win, but strands Fernando Alonso, two others" (in en-US). USA TODAY Sports. 2017-05-29. http://sports.usatoday.com/2017/05/29/takuma-sato-indianapolis-500-win-honda-fernando-alonso/. 

External links




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