TWEETER HOME ENTERTAINMENT GROUP INC. /Canton, Massachusetts Retailer Still Hitting High Notes Despite Slump.(THE NEW AMERICA)

Byline: Amy Reeves

There's probably a better time to sell expensive toys than amid an economic slowdown.

Then again, maybe not. The economy continues to struggle along its not-so-merry way. Yet Tweeter Home Entertainment Group Inc., which sells mid- to high-priced audio and video equipment, keeps churning out profit and expanding operations.

Founded in the Boston suburb of Canton in 1972, the company was a local New England chain for 20 years. But in 1996 it began a string of buyouts that brought it into the mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Texas and California.

In June it inked its biggest deal yet, agreeing to pay $114 million for Sound Advice Inc., a Florida chain. The deal will add 33 stores to Tweeter's current 105 and put it in the fast-growing Florida market.

"This is a good strategic acquisition for Tweeter," said C.L. King analyst William Armstrong. "It will give them nearly an unbroken presence on the East Coast."

Despite its size, analysts say, Sound Advice should integrate easily because the two firms are so similar.