Financially struggling appliance and electronics retailer hhgregg Inc. said Thursday that it plans to close 88 of its underperforming stores, including the location in Copley Township, as part of the company’s plan to become profitable again.
The Indianapolis-based company said the closings — expected to be complete by mid-April — will result in the elimination of about 1,500 jobs and leave the chain with 132 remaining stores.
Company spokeswoman Chantal Kowalski said in an email that 15 people work at the Copley store.
Kowalksi said the company does not know the closing date for each location.
The Copley store is at 160 Rothrock Road, next to a store operated by competitor Best Buy.
The hhgregg store at 430 Howe Ave. in Akron, near Cuyahoga Falls, is not on the closure list. Three other Ohio stores — in Mansfield, Springdale and Heath — are among those to be shut down.
“We are strategically exiting markets and stores that are not financially profitable for us,” hhgregg CEO Robert Riesbeck said in a news release.
Hhgregg is the latest retailer to reveal plans to close stores amid increased competition from online retailers such as Amazon and other big box stores.
In January, the Limited closed all of its storefronts across the country, including one in Summit Mall and one in Belden Village Mall in Jackson Township.
That same month, Macy’s said it would move forward with plans to close 68 retail stores and would cut more than 10,000 jobs. (Macy’s closed its store at Chapel Hill last year.)
Also in January, Sears said it would close another 150 stores — including its Chapel Hill Mall location in Akron. That store is to shut down this month, leaving J.C. Penney as the last anchor store at the mall.
Hhgregg’s sales for the quarter ended Dec. 31 were down nearly 24 percent compared to the year-ago period.
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com. You can follow her @KatieByardABJ on Twitter or on Facebook at www.facebook.com.