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HHGregg to close in Arlington Heights, Bloomingdale, Schaumburg, Niles

HHGregg Inc. stores in Arlington Heights, Bloomingdale, Schaumburg, Niles, Champaign and Springfield are among 88 stores nationwide that will close by mid-April, the company said Thursday.

About 1,500 jobs will be cut, including 85 workers in Illinois, said HHGregg spokeswoman Chantal Kowalski.

"We feel strongly that the markets we will remain in are the right ones for our customers and our business model," Robert J. Riesbeck, HHGregg's president and CEO, said in a statement. "Our team is dedicated to moving forward and being a profitable 132 store, multi-regional chain where we will continue to be a dominant force in appliances, electronics and home furnishings."

Three distribution centers slated to close are in Brandywine, Maryland; Miami, Florida and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Kowalski said.

Local stores surviving the cut are in Crystal Lake, Downers Grove, Geneva, Gurnee and Naperville.

Founded in 1955, HHGregg operated about 220 stores in 19 states. Stores sell mobile phones, tablets and PCs, along with an exclusive deal with Verizon Wireless. Other products include TVs, mattresses, washers, dryers and other appliances.

This week, the company's stock was removed from the New York Stock Exchange. The company was not in compliance because its average global market capitalization over a consecutive 30-day trading period was less than $50 million and, at the same time, its stockholders' equity was less than $50 million, according to federal filings.

On Feb. 15, the company hired a firm to search for strategic and financial deals that would help the company improve its liquidity and return to profitability.

In January, HHGregg reported that its third fiscal quarter, ending Dec. 31, showed a net loss of about $58 million, compared to a loss of $26 million in the same period the year before. Sales also were down 23 percent.

In February 2011, the Daily Herald reported that HHGregg was entering the Chicago and suburban market with as many as 20 new stores and hiring about 900 workers. It occupied many former Circuit City locations. It already had stiff competition from big box home improvement stores, such as Best Buy and Fry's Electronics.

Last August, the company closed five Wisconsin stores and one in Vernon Hills.

HHGregg seeks to stop losses, but dropped by NYSE

Indianapolis-based HHGregg faced extreme challenges from other big box stores that sell appliances. COURTESY OF HHGREGG INC.
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