A Q&A with the Man Behind the hhgregg Comeback Story

It’s been quite the interesting few months for the hhgregg brand. Back in April, Dealerscope reported on the company’s decision to close its doors after 60-plus years in operation. At the time, it was considered to be the end of an era for a retailer that had built up quite the reputation only to see it wash away.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the hhgregg brand popped back up near the end of the summer. It started with a slow but effective social media campaign that helped to drum up all kinds of excitement among already nostalgic-minded consumers. Then came a working website with daily deals, and all of a sudden hhgregg was back.

The resurgence of hhgregg is a credit to Valor LLC, an investor group that focuses its efforts mainly on the consumer electronics channel. Michael Eisner, the principal of the company, has led the charge and is responsible for Valor’s successful bid for the hhgregg assets during a mid-summer auction, beating out companies like Sears and Best Buy. With the big win, Valor got access to the brand’s customer lists and troves of other data, all of which it plans to use to put hhgregg firmly back on the map in the consumer electronics retail industry.