What do you think of Ultimate Electronics? (1 Viewer)

[DaveBB]

Ultimate Electronics is coming to the St. Louis metropolitan area and seems to be opening four stores. They are building one at I-64/Hwy 40 and Brentwood; right by where I work and live.
To those that have these stores in their area; what are your opinions?
The nearest Best Buy is 15 to 20 minutes away in Crestwood. Plus I won't go back into the new Circuit Shitty that just opened in Brentwood Sqaure. The place opened a month ago and I already hate the place.

 

[Randy_M]

Ultimate operates under the name Audio King here in the Twin Cities. I have bought a lot of stuff from them and they carry top stuff (except for Bose...ugh!). Salesmen are commissioned and will spend time with you.
However, they seem to always try to get list price; they sometimes have the balls to put an ad in the paper spouting "Big Sale" and then, right in the ad, printing the full list price, like it's some kind of special deal.
That bugs me. Also, when the Denon 3300 was discontinued, they still charged big money for it.
All that said, you can get some deals if you work with them...they are also the only Def Tech dealer I know of around here
Cheers.

 

[ReidT]

I have to agree with Randy_M. Ultimate Electronics operates in Colorado as Soundtrack. They have about a dozen stores. Operating terms sound just about identical. Salesmen are on commission and won't offer the lowest price they can unless you push them to look in their computer for "lowest sales price" or something like that. Most everything in the store is tagged at list price or at the same price as is listed in the Crutchfield catalog. After you buy one fairly big ticket item you get on the "preferred customer list". After that, they send you special mailings a few times a year that gets you 5-10% more off during special sale times. I've noticed that these sale times usually occur right *after* a huge public sale, so the stock quantities and availability of floor models is poor. Some of their best deals are on discontinued or open-box items. This is especially true in their bigger (warehouse) stores, not the one closest to my house. Their overlap with Best Buy is fairly minimal, so they do complement each other well.
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[DaveBB]

Thanks for the info so far and keep it coming.
The store they are building by me looks to be pretty good size; like a typical Best Buy. Maybe 40,000 square feet.
Do they just carry hardware or do they also carry software like CDs and DVDs?

 

[Randy_M]

Just hardware here.
Randy

 

[Neil N]

We've got several Ultimate Electronics stores here in Las Vegas, and my experience with them has been positive. In my experience, the salesmen seem to be a cut above what you find in a Best Buy or Circuit City, with more knowledge about what they're selling. Also, the salesmen that I use (2 of them) are both still there after 4 years, which I like.
I've also found them to be very good about handling warranty issues, specifically (in my experience) with camcorders, vcr's, and phones. I've also bought tv's, a receiver, and a dvd player from them. The price issue that's been mentioned is valid....they aren't always the lowest place around. However, for the service I've received, they are my first choice for purchases.
Also, they're always good if you're thirsty. The first thing they ask you is if you'd like something to drink.