Subscribe
Jobs
Cars
Real Estate
Apartments
Classifieds
Shopping
Remember Saturn’s no-haggle sales policy?
Well, Saturn’s out of business while another company that uses the opposite approach is going strong.
ABC Appliance Inc. on Monday officially opened a store at 610 Coliseum Blvd. E. It’s the company’s 44th location and Fort Wayne’s first.
The company continues to expand even though it operates primarily in Michigan, a state with the nation’s highest unemployment, and it’s in a retail sector in which Circuit City closed in the past year. ABC, by contrast, is planning to open a 45th store, in Lansing.
“We get down to the P’s and Q’s, and we satisfy our customers,” ABC President Gordon Hartunian said.
ABC is based in Pontiac, Mich., but its owner was in Fort Wayne to celebrate the grand opening. The store had a “soft” opening in October.
The outlet sells TVs, home theaters, washers, dryers and other merchandise in about 35,000 square feet of space that had been empty for about a year after Kittles Furniture consolidated two showrooms. ABC employs about 30.
The chain started in 1963, when Hartunian opened a store in Centerline, Mich.
Joni Naab, manager of the Kittles showroom next door, said ABC will complement her business.
Hartunian seems to know how to get traffic to his stores even though 34 are in Michigan, seven are in Ohio and three are in Indiana – all states that have been hit hard in the recession. A willingness to negotiate draws cost-conscious consumers into ABC stores, Hartunian said.
“We’re just the opposite of Saturn,” he said. “We’ll beat your best deal.”
Hartunian explained that customer service representatives have the authority to negotiate, and they try to build long-term relationships with customers. That way, even if they don’t make much on a given sale, they’ll get return business from the customer and others the customer refers, Hartunian said.
The promise of reduced prices is drawing some customers into the store. Joe and Karen Bercot of Fort Wayne went to ABC after seeing a newspaper advertisement.
The couple said that despite the weak economy, they’re starting to plan their Christmas purchases. But Karen Bercot declined to say whether she is planning a big Christmas.
“I can’t really say much because some people have big ears,” she said, nodding at her 10-year-old son, Josh.
