By Robert Salonga
Daily Bruin Staff
The grand opening of a Best Buy store in Westwood Friday marked
the the coming of the fifth electronics and music national chain
store to the area.
Along with Best Buy, Westwood is now occupied by the chains
Circuit City, Radio Shack, Tower Records and The Wherehouse,
competitors that say they do not feel threatened by the new
store’s potential drawing power.
Because the Westwood store is neither visible from the freeway
nor is it located on a major street ““ unlike its sister
stores ““ Best Buy management representatives say they hope to
foster strong relations with the surrounding community.
“This is a community-based store,” said Gary Harris,
manager for inventory and loss prevention at Best Buy.
“We’re here to serve the community. We have employees
from West Los Angeles, and a mixed clientele ““ UCLA students,
seniors, and professionals working at the university.”
Harris said more than 50 percent of the Best Buy workforce
consists of students employed either part- or full-time. He
estimated that 30 percent of the employees attend UCLA.
The store opened on schedule, Harris said, in time for the
impending holiday shopping rush. Because of the forthcoming season,
he said an accurate assessment of the store’s performance
cannot be measured until January, when sales return to a normal
level.
Best Buy is the latest tenant of the Le Conte Avenue building
complex that housed Macy’s until 1999. Ralphs Fresh Fare and
EXPO Design Center, a high-end home decor and remodeling store, are
the complex’s other occupants.
The complex is owned by Madison Marquette Retail Services, which
hopes to provide an economic boost for the Westwood economy.
Madison Marquette senior vice president Joel Mayer said to the
Daily Bruin in an article dated Sept. 27 that he predicts the
stores will amass a total of $125 million per year in sales.
Many students welcomed the addition of Best Buy to Westwood,
including fourth-year sociology student Francis Sillona.
“I’m pretty excited. It’s only five minutes
from campus,” Sillona said. “It brings our wants and
needs closer to where we are.”
Most of Best Buy’s main competitors acknowledge there will
be an initial effect on their sales, but that things will return to
normal once the novelty of a new store fades.
“In the short run, it will hurt sales, but we have loyal
customers that will stay with us,” said fifth-year mechanical
engineering student AgustÃn Garcia, a supervisor at Tower
Records on Westwood Boulevard. “Who would you want to buy CDs
from ““ someone who sells CD players or someone who knows
music?”
Second-year psychology student Azadeh Aziz, a Tower Records
patron, said she saw the opening of Best Buy as just another
shopping option.
“I’ll probably go back and forth between them,
trying to get the best of the two,” she said.
Eric Jumbo, manager for Radio Shack, welcomed the challenge of
an electronics giant in Westwood.
“It will slow down traffic and reduce sales initially, but
we’re an established company,” Jumbo said.
“Competition is good.”
According to respective management estimates, Tower Records
draws an average 250 customers each day, while The Wherehouse and
Radio Shack receive 150 and 80, respectively.
Representatives of Circuit City could not be reached for
comment.
Harris said because shoppers make several visits before they
make a final purchase, it is impossible to assess the number of
customers that patronize Best Buy.