Indianapolis-based retailer of household appliances and electronic, HHGregg , will close 88 retail outlets nationwide by mid-April, putting 1,500 employees out of work. The retailer, which has gone up-market in an effort to stay afloat, will also shutter its distribution center in Miami and stores in Aventura, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Hialeah, Homestead, Wellington and West Palm Beach. Other outlets in the state will close in Gainesville, Jensen Beach, Orlando and Pensacola. The closures will reduce the number of hhgregg stores to 132. “We are strategically exiting markets and stores that are not financially profitable for us,” Robert J. Riesbeck, president and CEO of HHGregg , said in a prepared statement.
