What was the name of this Best Buy-like electronics chain?

February 20, 2009 2:46 PM

Trying to remember the name of Best Buy-like chain store from the late 80s early 90s.

All I can remember about it is that it was very similar to Best Buy, the company color scheme featured heavy use of green and that there was a store in Brookfield, WI. Does anyone remember this chain? I'm pretty sure they went bankrupt in the early 90s

posted by drezdn to grab bag (22 comments total)

Highland?
posted by mr_roboto at 2:48 PM on February 20

Incredible Universe (now Fry's)?
posted by mudpuppie at 2:51 PM on February 20

This is going to drive me crazy now. Do you remember WHERE in Brookfield it was? I'm sure it had to be on Bluemound, but how far west? Or what's there now?
posted by desjardins at 2:55 PM on February 20

I think you might mean BEST.

I can't find any links but I am almost sure that was the name of the store.
posted by Danf at 2:56 PM on February 20

Highland sounds right.
posted by drezdn at 2:56 PM on February 20

Seconding BEST. Or Service Merchandise.
posted by nitsuj at 2:56 PM on February 20

Here's a link to BEST.
posted by nitsuj at 2:57 PM on February 20

Compco?
posted by desjardins at 2:58 PM on February 20

yup nitsuj, that is what I was thinking of. a pretty underwhelming store, actually.
posted by Danf at 2:59 PM on February 20

Was it Lechmere?

(I used to go there all the time to play Virtual Boy.)
posted by knguyen at 3:01 PM on February 20

Hmm, I don't remember the name Highland, but the logo looks vaguely familiar. I can't find any record of them having stores in Wisconsin, though.
posted by desjardins at 3:03 PM on February 20

Crazy Eddie! His prices were insaaaaane!
posted by LilBucner at 3:04 PM on February 20

Silo?
posted by nax at 3:09 PM on February 20

I can't find any record of them having stores in Wisconsin, though.

They definitely had stores in WI. It was one of the first states they pulled out of when they started going under, though.
posted by mr_roboto at 3:13 PM on February 20

We had Highland Superstores in Minneapolis. They competed head to head with Best Buy on products and prices in the late 80s/early 90s.
posted by xotis at 3:22 PM on February 20

From the Journal Sentinel archives:

Sampson Investments purchases 3 buildings


Publication: Milwaukee Sentinel
Publish Date: October 5, 1991
Word Count: 233
Document ID: 0EB826BB3104B47E

Sampson Investments has purchased three buildings that formerly housed the electronics and appliance stores of Highland Superstores, the brokerage company that handled the transaction said Friday.

The buildings are at 4940 S. 76th St., Greenfield; 8600 W. Brown Deer Rd.; and 16096 W. Blue Mound Rd., Brookfield, said Mark Brickman, president of the Polacheck Co. Each building contains about 50,000 square feet of space.

The sale included about five acres of land around each building,

So Highland Superstores was located roughly across the street from Brookfield Square, around where Barnes and Noble used to be before they took over the mall. I think it's a Fry's now, and either way the building in Google Maps has been renovated several times over the years.
posted by niles at 3:55 PM on February 20

What am I thinking? It's not a Fry's. It's a Flanner's. Probably not the same building, but that's the area.
posted by niles at 3:59 PM on February 20

HQ
posted by Oriole Adams at 4:10 PM on February 20

Fretters? I bought my first car stereo there, in suburban Chicago, so maybe they were up in WI too.

Also, I found this article featuring ads from defunct electronics chains.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 8:36 PM on February 20

Was it a Silo?
posted by azpenguin at 11:05 PM on February 20

To everyone saying Best: their color was distinctively red and yellow. Or, at least, not green. (This was challenging to my child-brain when Best was replaced by Best Buy in the same location.)
posted by whatzit at 1:07 AM on February 21

Thanks for the responses everyone. The mention of Best brought back long buried memories. IIRC, one of the local Bests had a really strange exterior with the bottom half made of concrete and the top glass, so the building looked almost like it had been destroyed.
posted by drezdn at 5:27 AM on April 10