Electronics retailer to open in mall’s old Borders store

Midwestern consumer electronics and appliance retailer h.h. gregg is set to open a 25,000-square-foot store in the empty Borders space at the Mall of Louisiana.

Todd Denton, mall manager, said h.h. gregg is set to open Nov. 8.

He said the mall was pleased to find a tenant for the vacant space in time for the holiday shopping season. That spot at the end of the mall’s open-air strip called The Boulevard has been vacant since September 2011, when the entire Borders chain went out of business.

Denton said h.h. gregg will take up all of the space that had been occupied by Borders.

The Indianapolis-based retailer has 223 locations across the Midwest and Southeast, including stores in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. The company announced earlier this week it would open its first three locations in south Louisiana this fall — at the Mall of Louisiana, on Veterans Boulevard in Metairie and in the Manhattan Plaza Shopping Center in Harvey.

Company spokesman Jeff Pearson said the New Orleans area stores should open around the same time as the Mall of Louisiana location.

Pearson said h.h. gregg plans to hire 60 sales and hourly workers at each of its Louisiana stores.

The publicly traded company carries items from such well-known household brands as Samsung, Sony, LG, Toshiba, Whirlpool and Frigidaire.