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Egghead Bets On Modular Format At New Spokane Store

Michael Murphey Staff writer

Calling the store “a bet on our future,” Terry Strom, Egghead Software’s president and chief executive officer, presided over the opening of the company’s first retail outlet in Spokane Wednesday.

“This is a bet that what we are seeing in the retail industry is a cycling back into an era of specialization,” Strom said. “We hope this is the first of several stores in Spokane. We are certainly looking for more locations.”

The 164th store in the nationwide Egghead chain, located at 7808 N. Division, is based on Egghead’s new modular format store. These are much bigger stores carrying a much larger selection of software titles, as well as a range of top-of-the-line computer hardware.

The store and its presentation of product offerings are designed, Strom said, to create the atmosphere of a book store rather than the typical “superstore” retail warehouse atmosphere.

The store carries about 2,500 software titles, and Strom predicted that will expand to 4,000-5,000 a year from now.

The 5,000-square-foot store, which employs 25, is the fifth new format store since the first opened in Beaverton, Ore., last October. The company plans to expand 10 existing stores into the new format, and open 10 new stores under the format, including the Spokane outlet.

Strom said that retail is an industry that evolves in 20-year cycles. He said the “superstore format” for distributing retail goods is about 15 years into its cycle. But Egghead has chosen to expand within that format because Strom believes the next phase of retail development will involve an even greater degree of specialization.

“We hope we’re walking into the future,” Strom said, “not just trying to build the next store out of the past.”

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: MOVING IN Egghead is in the final phase of the relocation of its corporate headquarters to Spokane, with about 500 people employed here. The move from the Puget Sound area to Egghead’s new Liberty Lake facility will be finished in January.

This sidebar appeared with the story: MOVING IN Egghead is in the final phase of the relocation of its corporate headquarters to Spokane, with about 500 people employed here. The move from the Puget Sound area to Egghead’s new Liberty Lake facility will be finished in January.