Good Guys coming to Honolulu

[NoCal Boy]

Re: Good Guys coming to Honolulu

The Good Guys ceased to exist as an independent entity sometime late last year. All its stores were closed, many with big blowouts on their merchandise. (I picked up some Monster Cable and speaker mounts on the cheap, and agonized over buying a new TV.) Since then I've seen a few CompUSA stores reuse the GG brand with a small section within featuring a/v equipment. No where near the same selection as the original stores, and certainly not staffed by a/v specialists (though I might argue that some GG employees weren't exactly that knowledgeable themselves!)

I used to prefer GG over Circuit City and Best Buy as they at least gave the impression they specialized in home entertainment (whereas CC and BB seem to try to sell anything with an AC plug.) Still hard to beat local independent specialty stores for quality service, but obviously the big boxes will slowly nickel and dime these stores out of existence. Ironically, as GG itself was once considered a big box retailer, it was done in by bigger ones.

[pzarquon]

Re: Good Guys coming to Honolulu

So Good Guys is basically an empty shell, with the hand of CompUSA inside flapping it around like a "prestige brand" puppet? Yuck. It's even worse than the Costco/Sam's Club combo I mentioned upthread.

Found this article from last October announcing that CompUSA was closing Good Guys locations in California and Hawaii. Closing in Hawaii? Did one ever open? That is, did we ever get the Good Guys at Pearl Highlands (said to open last fall in the Advertiser article linked in the first post)? Or is it just that they're giving up on the Good Guys brand here, and the spot's going to be (or is) a CompUSA?

I avoid that area like the plague, so I'd never noticed.

[tutusue]

Re: Good Guys coming to Honolulu

[...]Still hard to beat local independent specialty stores for quality service, but obviously the big boxes will slowly nickel and dime these stores out of existence.[...]

Early on in this thread Kimo mentioned Video Life, a mom and pop store that is now on the corner of Ward and Auahi above Jamba Juice and Starbucks. Their prices are a little more than the big box stores and the difference in price equals Customer Service! They are just plain ol' worth it.

Last year I bought a Sony DVDirect. During a middle of the night bout of insomnia I turned on QVC. They were demo'ing this product. It was exactly what I was looking for so I called QVC to order it. They couldn't tell me if the burner could use -R discs. On air, +Rs were mentioned but not -Rs. So, I didn't order it. The next morning I researched online and found out that the burner was compatible with the standard DVD formats. I then went over to Video Life. They had the product for $20. less than QVC plus a $30. rebate!

I heard about VL from several members of the local film industry. That was a good enough recommendation for me! So far they've survived the big box invasion. I hope they can continue to do so.

Good Guys, should they open in Hawaii, won't get my business. Circuit City doesn't! I have to be desperate to go to CompUSA a mere 2 blocks from my office! I have made purchases at Best Buy and...so far, so good! Costco, too. But for anything involving higher end technology and electronics...gimme a place close by with great customer service!

[JAvendan]

Re: Good Guys coming to Honolulu

hi,

the compusa/good guys co-op didn't last too long...

i remember working out of a compusa as a printer rep, from 2000 to 2002, and was hearing that they were going to start carrying high end a/v equipment... i thought it was cool.

unfortunately, when i stopped rep'ping they "merged" with good guys and i honestly never went back into the compusa - even as a customer.

i had visited a few different good guys but didn't like stuff they had - too high end for me i guess. i look for quality at a good/fair price. i typically don't spend more than i have to - i'm sure my wife will say something that is totally different!!!

currently, i'm rep'ping for a different printer company and work out of a fry's... if you have a fry's nearby you really don't have to go to any other store. they match and beat prices daily - i know... i see the associates repricing all the time.

i say do your homework as best you can and get the best price - duh.

i check prices on the web and can always find better prices but i worry that i'll have to return something and i feel better driving to the store and doing a face-to-face than to deal with a vendor that is 100s/1000s miles away.

what were we talking about again...

joel

[adrian]

Re: Good Guys coming to Honolulu

if you have a fry's nearby you really don't have to go to any other store. they match and beat prices daily - i know... i see the associates repricing all the time.

I wish a store here would do something like that. That'd be great, especially in a place like Pearl City with Circuit City, Best Buy, Walmart, and soon to be CompUSA.

[JAvendan]

Re: Good Guys coming to Honolulu

hi doc,

i'm surprised that not too many stores are matching prices.

i figure they would love for you to come in so they can pitch their store warranty at you... that's big $$$ for them.

the fry's i'm at will eat a few bucks just so they have the opportunity to pitch their "warranty." if you like what you hear then it was worth it to drop/match the price.

tomorrow, sunday, the fry's supervisors will be going through the sunday paper and adjusting their price to match the competition. it will be a lot of work for the associatess but for the customer - one stop shopping.

last week there were sony crt tvs (wegas) - some with hd turners built-in and some not. sizes ranges from 27" to 36". price range was from approx. $300 to $500 -crazy prices. all gone now. some of those units were originally $1200 on the high side. shoot... had me thinking about taking one home.

it's tough to compete when a fry's lands... kinda like the starbucks of coffee.

joel