If Ultimate Electronics had more customers like Paul Gilman, the suburban Denver-based chain might not be closing its doors.
Gilman, of Colorado Springs, came to Ultimate’s store at 7207 N. Academy Blvd. on Friday with his wife and two children on a regular shopping trip. He didn’t know the chain had begun a liquidation sale this week as part of its Jan. 26 bankruptcy filing.
He’s always preferred Ultimate over other electronics stores, Gilman said, because it had more informed sales people and would match competitors’ prices.
“They have a whole lot better customer service,” Gilman said. “They don’t pester you.”
“If I buy electronics, I’ll start here first,” he added. “Now, I’ll have to go to Wal-Mart.”
A going-out-of-business sale — an all-too-familiar event the last few years in the Springs and around the nation — was in full swing Friday at Ultimate Electronics’ North Academy store, the chain’s lone Springs location. Signs advertised prices up to 30 percent off and warned customers that all sales were final.
Company officials at Ultimate’s suburban Denver corporate office didn’t return a telephone call Friday and store employees said they couldn’t comment.
How long the sale will last isn’t clear. Documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, where Ultimate filed its Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition, said all sales will be completed by April 15. At the same time, another document noted that closings among the chain’s 46 stores might vary; one location might close sooner than others and its remaining merchandise could be moved to another store.
Ultimate said in bankruptcy filings that it sought to close its doors for several reasons. Among them: The retailer hadn’t obtained financing to continue operations and its largest creditor, General Electric Capital Corp., who is owed nearly $65 million, wouldn’t allow Ultimate to use its cash collateral to acquire new inventory for its stores.
Ultimate’s closing is another blow to the Colorado Springs’ retail scene and to North Academy.
The shopping center vacancy rate in Colorado Springs rose to 11.3 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, several points higher than a few years ago, according to Turner Commercial Research. Several big-name retailers — such as Circuit City and Linens ‘n Things — have shuttered as a result of the recession that began in 2007.
Part of that fallout has been a series of vacancies along North Academy, which otherwise has been a popular retail corridor in the Springs for the last several decades.
Some North Academy vacancies have been filled in recent months with new stores and restaurants such as Boot Barn and HuHot Mongolian Grill.
Meanwhile, a former Denver-area employee of Ultimate sued the chain in bankruptcy court on Thursday, alleging the retailer failed to give proper notice to about 170 workers before laying them off. The suit contends Ultimate violated the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires employers to give 60 days’ written notice before conducting a mass layoff.
The lawsuit is seeking 60 days’ pay and benefits for all employees laid off between Jan. 3 and Monday.
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