Updated! Tennessee’s big-box tech and appliance chain Electronic Express is going south of the border again.
After establishing a North Alabama presence five years ago in Decatur, Ala., the family-held business is planning two more stores just over the state line.
The first to open is a 20,000-square-foot showroom in southeast Huntsville, in what CEO Sam Yazdian described as a growing area. The store soft-opens next week, and a grand opening event is slated for May 9.
The retailer is also staffing up for a 30,000-square-foot former Best Buy location in Florence, according to posts on the company’s website and the local Times Daily. No timetable for the opening was indicated.
The two new showrooms will bring the company’s store count up 18, with most concentrated in central Tennessee. The Nashville-based chain, which specializes in A/V, appliances, smart home, mobile, security, bedding and furniture, was founded in 1983 by Yazdian and his brother Abe, who serves as secretary/treasurer and senior A/V merchant.
In 2003 Electronic Express joined the powerful NATM Buying Corp., and in recent years remodeled six of its showrooms and expanded a distribution center to make room for bedding, furniture and the addition of small appliances, Abe Yazdian told TWICE.
Related: Come Together, Right Now, Over NATM
The expansion into North Alabama follows hhgregg’s exit from the state, and addresses a regional void in CE/appliance stores, Sam Yazdian explained in an email. He added that the two new stores, like their predecessor in Decatur, are within close proximity to the company’s Nashville base and distribution center.
Still, the Yazdians will find themselves going head to head with Conn’s, the Texas-based furniture, appliance and tech chain that opened a HomePlus store in Huntsville three years ago and a second in Southern Alabama (Montgomery) in February.
