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‘A different way to shop’
The Vindicator
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Though the grand opening doesn’t happen until Thursday, Steve Gilmartin, hhgregg general manager, said he’s been impressed with the foot traffic during the store’s soft open. The hhgregg Boardman location, 441 Boardman-Poland Road, is the company’s 175th store.
A new Boardman store, hhgregg, will have its grand opening Thursday
By Karl Henkel
BOARDMAN
Hermitage, Pa., natives Jack and Lillian Bayer were in the market for a new television and quickly found a worthy deal at the new hhgregg, 441 Boardman-Poland Road.
But aside from the deal — a 51-inch high-definition Samsung for $599 — the aspect of the store that struck Jack Bayer was the customer service.
“We were greeted right at the door, and someone helped us right away,” he said. “It was a good experience.”
Hhgregg, a consumer-electronics company in business since 1955 that opened its 175th store in Boardman on Saturday, is banking on a friendly approach to help attract customers.
“A lot of companies talk about customer service,” said Steve Gilmartin, Austintown native and general manager. “But somewhere in the middle, it gets lost.
“You’re going to get service right off the bat.”
Gilmartin, who previously worked at Best Buy for a half-dozen years, said the difference between other chain electronic stores and hhgregg is the focus on customer service.
“Some places are ‘stack it high, let it fly,’ but we’re more about customer service,” he said.
He thinks the friendly alternative quickly will draw customers, as will hhgregg’s unique floor layout.
“It’s a different way to shop,” he said. “You can walk right through the front door and see everything we carry.”
Customers have had a chance since Saturday to experience the store, which will host a grand-opening ribbon cutting at 3 p.m. Thursday, and Gilmartin was impressed with the early turnout.
The Boardman hhgregg employs 50 people; Gilmartin said more than 300 had applied.