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Best Buy Into Goleta as CompUSA Bows Out?
Camino Real Marketplace manager says electronics retailer excited about prospect of moving in.
Ten years after a failed bid to enter the South Coast market, Best Buy is the likely next occupant of a building in the Camino Real Marketplace vacated in February by the now-dissolved CompUSA.
Although nothing has been finalized, the Goleta shopping center’s manager said both the electronics retailer and the Camino Real Marketplace are excited about the prospect of a Best Buy in Goleta.
“They very much want into this market,” Mark Ingalls, property and general manager of Camino Real Marketplace said Thursday. “Frankly, we think they’d be a good fit for Goleta as well.”
He added that Best Buy could move into the center located near the intersection of Hollister Avenue and Storke Road as soon as October.
CompUSA, a retailer of electronics and computer services, foundered as a nationwide chain, and in December was sold to a liquidation company that began the process of shutting down the 100 or so remaining stores.
Despite having closed its doors at 7090 Marketplace Drive in mid-February, CompUSA is still leasing the building from Camino Real Marketplace. Ingalls said the companies are working toward a lease transfer.
Ingalls said Best Buy had tried unsuccessfully to claim a spot at the center when it was constructed in 1998, but the deal fell through. Since then, he said, Best Buy has proven to be a strong competitor in an uncertain market.
“As a company they are doing very well,” he said. “Even in this slow market, they continue to outperform the other stores in their category.”
Ingalls said no firm date has been set for Best Buy’s South Coast debut.
“Late this year would be their hope — I mean, that’s optimistic,” he said. “We don’t actually have a deal with them yet.”
The retailer has stores in both Santa Maria and Ventura.
Comments
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» on 05.09.08 @ 12:40 AM
Great. We’re going to replace CompUSA’s "NO Customer Service" with Best Buy’s "Crap Customer Service…" I can’t wait.
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» on 05.09.08 @ 01:55 AM
Both companies overcharge. If people still haven’t figured out how to order stuff online, then they deserve to get ripped off. Other than shopping on Black Friday I do not enter these stores, as I am not interested in being molested by their price tags.
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» on 05.09.08 @ 02:03 AM
Anyone know what’s going where Linen’s N Things is? Or the Rite Aid in the adjacent shopping center?
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» on 05.10.08 @ 02:00 AM
I wish we could get a Jo-Ann fabrics and a Kohl’s. If we had a Kohl’s we could break the boring Macy’s offerings.
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» on 05.10.08 @ 09:01 AM
ANYONE HEARD ANY NEWS ON STEVE AND BARRY’S COMING TO SANTA BARBARA?
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» on 05.10.08 @ 12:36 PM
What about Fry’s?
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» on 05.10.08 @ 12:38 PM
CompUSA gave me service when I needed service and there prices were not always out of line. BestBuy will fill a needed void, but why does it want to wait until October.
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» on 05.12.08 @ 02:27 AM
Hopefully we will get the same high level of service from the unemployeed and uninterested UCSB students who are more interested in where the next party is than what camera gives you the best quality. At least with Fry’s you know you won’t get good service but the prices are way lower and the selection is better.
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» on 05.12.08 @ 06:50 AM
Even a small Fry’s would be better than Best Buy (which is not). Most people go to a store because they need something right away or to get the advice of the supposed knowledgeable staff. Best Buy has neither. I would rather buy off the web and wait.
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» on 05.13.08 @ 08:55 AM
What we really need here in Santa Barbara is a TARGET! My friends and I spend a lot of money in Ventura and on the internet because there are no stores in Santa Barbara that offer hip merchandise at reasonable prices. This location is not large enough for a Target but Santa Barbara is losing a lot of sales tax $ to Ventura and the internet…
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» on 04.14.09 @ 11:57 AM
As of April ‘09, the Best Buy is in the process of renovating the former CompUSA. Also, they have added their ads, which were previously absent, to the Sunday-paper ads.
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» on 04.28.09 @ 10:32 AM
WHE NEW THE NEW BESTBUY CUMMING???
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