The Good Guys!

Infobox Defunct Company
company_name = The Good Guys!
company_
company_type = Electronics
foundation = 1973
location = Brisbane, California
industry = Retail
products = Computers, televisions, VCRs, and DVD players
homepage = None
defunct = 2003 (acquired), 2005 (all stores renamed/closed)
fate = Acquired by CompUSA

The Good Guys! was a chain of consumer electronics retail stores with 71 stores in California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. The company was headquartered in Brisbane, California in the Dakin Building in the early-1990s and subsequently in Alameda, California until it was bought in late 2003 by CompUSA. The Good Guys was founded in 1973 by Ron Unkefer on Chestnut Street, San Francisco. As of 2006, all The Good Guys stores have closed.

Re-launch

After all The Good Guys stores closed in 2005, CompUSA began marketing all California and Hawaii stores as CompUSA with Good Guys Inside in response to Best Buy's new marketing campaign with Magnolia Inside. However, this marketing campaign was dropped in an attempt to further separate CompUSA from the Good Guys name, and assist in launching its new Home Entertainment sections in select locations. The Good Guys name will once again no longer exist in 2008 when CompUSA closes its remaining stores.Fact|date=June 2008Extended warranties on televisions purchased through The Good Guys! or CompUSA can still be accessed through General Electric Extended Warranties.Fact|date=June 2008

Hostage crisis

In 1991, one of the stores in the chain located in Sacramento was taken over by four armed robbers. The event would end up being the largest hostage situation to ever take place in North America.

Australian Chain

The Good Guys brand name is also used by a chain of independently owned and operated stores in Australia. The stores maintain identical colours, signage and branding but with the name of the owner of the store appended, e.g. "Phil Favero - The Good Guys". The stores also buy cooperatively to enable them to compete with larger chains in Australia such as Harvey Norman and Bing Lee. The Australian stores are not associated with the American operations.

References

*"Good Guys lose suit to block competition", Sacramento Bee, December 2, 1987.
*" [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10611FC3B5B0C758CDDAE0894DA494D81 Market Place; Electronics Chain On Roller Coaster] ", New York Times, July 6, 1992.
*"Good Guys bets that the customer is always right", San Jose Mercury News, November 23, 1992.
*"Good Guys horror still vivid to ex-hostages 4 years later", Sacramento Bee, April 3, 1995.
*" [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/07/27/BU82544.DTL Good Guys CEO Discloses Master Plan] ", San Francisco Chronicle, July 27, 1999.
*"Good Guys Inc. will drop computers, office products", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 2, 1999.
*" [http://news.com.com/Good+Guys+to+spin+off+Web+store/2100-1017_3-235220.html Good Guys to spin off web store] ", CNET, January 5, 2000.
*" [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/03/02/BU193156.DTL&type=business The Good Guys Laying Off 450 Employees] ", San Francisco Chronicle, March 2, 2001.
*" [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/09/30/BUGSF214IJ1.DTL&type=business CompUSA to purchase Good Guys: $58 million deal expected to benefit both companies] ", San Francisco Chronicle, September 30, 2003.
*" [http://www.forbes.com/markets/newswire/2003/06/10/rtr995287.html Good Guys quarterly sales fall, sees wider loss] ", Forbes, June 10, 2003.
*" [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7645473/ Ex-Good Guys director settles SEC charges] ", MSNBC, April 26, 2005.
*" [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/06/BUGCMF30IT1.DTL Good Guys to close stores: Stand-alone outlets in California and Hawaii to get the ax] ", San Francisco Chronicle, October 6, 2005.