Good Guys no longer carrying Polk (1 Viewer)

[Greg Thomas]

A buddy and I were at a Good Guys in the SF Bay Area last weekend looking for some Polk RT35i bookshelfs. We were informed they will no longer be carrying Polk Speakers due to the fact too many competitors carry the Polk line. I'm guessing Circuit City and Fry's still carry them. Our local GG didn't have the RT-35i's in the color he wanted.

Anyway we were sent to the GG Clearance Center in Pinole and my friend ended up getting a pair of RT-55i's AND a CS-245i center channel for just under $400. All brand new in the box with full warranty. Now that's like buying a set of RT-55i's and getting the CS-245i for free!

If I didn't already have too many sets of speakers at home I would have purchased some myself.

So you might be able to negotiate a good price on Polks at your local Good Guys since they're on clearance. I also noticed quite a few Boston & Celestion speakers at the clearance center but I'm not sure if GG is discontinuing carrying these brands anymore. They could just be making room for newer models.

The guy at the Clearance center wasn't sure how long they'd be open. Could be anywhere from 30-90 days. If you check the Goodguys website, you'll notice Polk is no longer listed.

 

[Danny Tse]

Greg,

This was mentioned at the Club Polk website couple of weeks ago. I called the Dublin Good Guys and asked whether they have any RT35i's left, and they said all "new-in-box" bookshelf Polks are gone. Where's the Pinole GG clearance center?

 

[Mark C.]

I was in a Good Guys in San Jose a few weeks ago and I was told by a salesman that they no longer carry Panasonic, either. What's up with this chain?

 

[Danny Tse]

The Good Guys salesman I spoke with told me that they are thinking of bringing in Mirage. I guess that's logical since the Good Guys already carry Energy, one of Mirage's siblings at API. But he said it's so far just a rumor.

 

[Greg Thomas]

Good Guys Clearance Center is located in Pinole off I-80 and Appian Way exit. Pinole is a few minutes north of Berkeley and Richmond.

1220 Fitzgerald Avenue

Pinole, CA 94564

(510) 262-6670

They had some RT-35i's at the Concord store the other day but not in black. The demos on display were cherry. Not sure if they had 35's at the Clearance Center because the price was so cheap for the 55's my buddy stopped looking for 35's.

One of the salesmen told me they might bring in the B&W or M&K line. But this is all speculation.

 

[Danny Tse]

Thanks Greg!!

 

[Andy L]

There was an article in the Seattle Times earlier this month that Good Guys is closing 8 stores due to declining sales. I don't know that there is any correlation between discontinuing product lines and these closings. However, for a relatively small chain (79 stores per their website), 8 stores closing is significant.

 

[Luis A]

Andy,
I read the same article. I've also read articles at work that over the last couple years GG has lost millions.
I doubt GG will carry M&K since Magnolia Hifi already carries that line, and B&W is already carried by Definitive Audio. Both are high end retailers in the Seattle area, and I honestly doubt GG could compete. I can see GG bringing in Mirage, like Danny heard, and IMO would most likely be their best bet.
L

 

[Greg Thomas]

There are only two Magnolia Hi-fi's in California and they're are both in the Bay Area. Nothing in Central, Sacramento, SoCal or San Diego. So carrying M&K or B&W would probably be okay here.

There are no Definitive Audio stores here at all. Good Guys has 61 stores in California, which would probably give M&K or B&W a good presence if they wanted it.

I know for sure the Pinole Goodguys store is closing. I have no idea what other locations are on the list.

 

[Danny Tse]

Thanks again Greg!! I picked up a brand-new pair of black Polk Audio RT35i at the Pinole Good Guys for $251.95. Looks like a lot of Good Guys' stock are being cleared out at this store.

 

[Greg Thomas]

You're welcome Danny. I may stop by there myself to check out a Boston center channel to match my old A-70 Series II's. A Boston rep said the CRC would match well. The temptation is too hard to resist.

 

[Danny Tse]

Greg,

The Pinole Good Guys has a good number of Boston Acoustics speakers in their inventory. I was actually looking for one of my all-time favorite speakers, the CR8, but they don't have those anymore. BTW, they only open until 7PM each night.

 

[MatthewJ S]

The unspoken word re: good guys in the last few issues of TWICE magazine (an industry trade journal) is not encouraging...look to see best buy ,tweeter, among others sniffing around the weak animal...

 

[Marty Christion]

I've seen Polks a couple recent Fry's ads

 

[John Garcia]

I have been hearing they were going under for at least a year now. I would not be surprised if it's not GG that is pulling the lines, but the manufacturers that are pulling their products from a company that may not be around much longer...

 

[Zack West]

GG has already closed down one store here in Vegas and another is currently having a "store closing" sale. That leaves just one store here, the WOW supercenter of GG/Tower Records, in which I was able to pick up some floor model f/x500i's for $247. Prior to the first one shutting down, during their "store closing" sale I got a CS245i for $116.

 

[Barry Barnes]

Wow. That's too bad about The Good Guys. Even though the quality of their sales staff has declined a bit over the last couple of years, they are still heads and tails above Circuit City and Best Buy...

 

[Race]

Where can I buy a Polk SC245 online?

 

[Frank Zimkas]

Try WWW.Sounddistributors.com. I bought my Polk FX300 surrounds from them. Great prices, and I had them in about 5 days (UPS Ground)