Hhgregg Inc., a national appliance and electronics store that has been exploring locations in the Pittsburgh area since summer, said it will open four stores by the end of May, bringing 200 jobs to the region.
The Indianapolis-based company, with 173 stores nationally, will lease the locations and open a warehouse at an undetermined site, said Jeff Pearson, hhgregg's vice president of marketing.
A Monroeville-area store will be at 3480 William Penn Highway, Wilkins, in a former CompUSA location. A Robinson Town Centre store at 800 Chauvet Drive, North Fayette, is a former Circuit City site.
In West Mifflin, hhgregg will be in the former Circuit City store near Century III, 9951 Mountain View Drive. And a fourth store in Cranberry Commons, 717 Route 228, Cranberry, is in the former Linens 'n Things site.
Pearson said the company is hiring management and sales associates. Each store will have about 50 employees.
Hhgregg may be filling a void created several years ago when national electronics retailers, such as Circuit City and CompUSA, went out of business. The only major national electronics company in the region has been Best Buy, with nine stores in the Pittsburgh area.
Although hhgregg is considered by retail analysts as a competitor to Best Buy, it has a major difference. About 35 percent of its merchandise is so-called white goods, such as bedding and appliances. About 5 percent of Best Buy's merchandise falls into that category.
Hhgregg disclosed its interest in the Pittsburgh region in May when it filed an application with Cranberry for approval to make interior alterations in 31,296 square feet of space at Cranberry Commons.
Ohio and Indiana have heavy concentrations of hhgregg stores, and recently, hhgregg opened a store in Erie. It has six stores in the Philadelphia area, plus six stores in nearby Delaware and New Jersey. Its most recent new store is in Boardman, Ohio.
