Best Buy Orders from Service Merchandise

Best Buy Co. Inc. (Eden Prairie, Minn.) has purchased six sites from the bankrupt Service Merchandise chain.

The locations are in Birmingham, Ala.; Boynton Beach, Fla.; Patchogue, N.Y.; Pineville, N.C.; Saugus, Mass.; and South Bend, Ind. They were the last Service Merchandise units to close, suggesting they were among the top performers in the one-time catalog showroom operation. They were either acquired by purchase of the land and building outright or by purchase of the leasehold interest of Service Merchandise.

“These locations offer us immediate presence in key markets which historically are difficult to expand in,” said Pat Matre, Best Buy's vp of real estate.

The new store locations will add more than 255,000 square feet of retail space to the nation's largest consumer electronics specialty retailer. All the stores are 45,000 square feet, with the exception of the 30,000-square-foot Massachusetts store.

The stores will open in 2002 or early 2003.

Service Merchandise, once a flourishing retail chain, began liquidation in January 2002, after nearly three years in bankruptcy. At the time of its liquidation, it was estimated that nearly $1 billion in product would be disposed of.