Bargain Hunt, formerly ''Essex Bargain Hunt'', was an American

discount store Discount stores offer a retail format in which products are sold at prices that are in principle lower than an actual or supposed "full retail price". Discounters rely on bulk purchasing and efficient distribution to keep down costs. Types (Uni ...

chain. Founded in 2004, Bargain Hunt is headquartered in

La Vergne, Tennessee La Vergne ( ) is a city in Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 38,719 at the 2020 census. La Vergne lies within the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area. Notably, its police department was the subject of a 2023 ...

with retail locations in Tennessee,

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

History

''Essex Technology Group'' — Bargain Hunt's

parent company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

was founded in the year 2000 in Nashville by Robert Echols and Phil Pfeffer. They started the company as a wholesaler of closeout goods. The company bought

overstock Overstock, excessive stock, or excess inventory arise when there is more than the "right quantity" of goods available for sale,Crandall, R. E. and Crandall, W. R.Managing Excess Inventories: A Life-Cycle Approach in ''The Academy of Management Exe ...

and excess inventory goods from big box retailers and sold them. Initially, the focus was on

electronics Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...

and

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

s. The first store was opened in 2004 in Nashville and was known as ''Essex Bargain Hunt''. The company also began an

online store Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the ...

selling directly to retail customers from its original Nashville location. The strategy was to sell items that were too big or expensive to sell online. After a successful run, Essex launched the Bargain Hunt superstores using locations abandoned by stores such as Staples and

Circuit City Circuit City Corporation, Inc., formerly Circuit City Stores, Inc., is an American consumer electronics retail company, which was founded in 1949 by Samuel Wurtzel as the Wards Company, operated stores across the United States, and pioneered th ...

. The name was later changed to Bargain Hunt. In 2020, the company won one of the Alliance Awards 2020. On January 31, 2025, Bargain Hunt's parent company, Essex Technology Group, warned that they were preparing to file for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

as soon as the following week. On February 1, 2025, after it was reported that the company shut its only distribution center, Bargain Hunt announced that they would be closing all 91 stores, with

liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a Company (law), company is brought to an end. The assets and property of the business are redistributed. When a firm has been liquidated, it is sometimes referred to as :wikt:wind up#Noun, w ...

sales beginning shortly after. Bargain Hunt filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on February 3, 2025, listing assets between $50 million to $100 million and liabilities between $100 million to $500 million. Up to 300+ employees lost their jobs after Bargain Hunt closed. All locations closed March 2025.

Expansion

Bargain Hunt opened its first store in Nashville in the year 2004 and went on to expand in Southern and

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

United States. The chain operated more than 80 stores in 10 states as of 2017. In 2015,

Thomas H. Lee Partners Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. is an American private equity firm headquartered in Boston. The firm focuses on investing in middle market growth companies across various sectors, including financial technology, services, healthcare, technology, ...

acquired a majority stake in the retail chain.

Retail Format

Bargain Hunt stores were typically around 20,000 - 25,000 sq ft. in size and sold products such as electronics, movies and music, furniture, home improvement, clothing, footwear, jewelry, toys, health and beauty, pet supplies, sporting goods and fitness.

Sales Strategy

The stores sold name brands at a discount of 30% to 70% on regular prices and played in the

extreme value In mathematical analysis, the maximum and minimum of a function are, respectively, the greatest and least value taken by the function. Known generically as extremum, they may be defined either within a given range (the ''local'' or ''relative' ...

retail space. The store also utilized a discounting program that dropped the prices on items by specific percentages depending on the time they have been on shelves. The company will eventually discount its

merchandise Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of Product (business), products ("merch" colloquially) to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative w ...

on a 30, 60, and 90 day cycle (30 days gets 30% off, 60 days gets 60% off, etc.).

External links

Official website

LinkedIn

References

{{reflist Retail companies established in 2004 Retail companies disestablished in 2025 Discount stores of the United States American companies established in 2004 American companies disestablished in 2025 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2025 2004 establishments in Tennessee 2025 disestablishments in Tennessee Companies based in Tennessee Defunct retail companies of the United States">Companies based in Tennessee">2025 disestablishments in Tennessee Companies based in Tennessee Defunct retail companies of the United States