AS VEGAS — Ultimate Electronics used Las Vegas as a venue to unveil its new Hard Rock Sound Asylum theme rooms. The chain plans to install the rooms with the famous Hard Rock name in 35 stores this year and throughout the chain in 2004.

The 58-store chain based in Denver opened the first two rooms at its Las Vegas outlets just a few miles down the road from the Hard Rock Casino. Ultimate Electronics president David Workman was at the July 11 opening of newly renovated store on Tropicana Avenue to talk about the demo rooms and the new partnership with Hard Rock Cafe.

“We always try to bring out-of-the-box experiences to our stores, and this is a great example of that,” said Workman. “The Hard Rock Cafe is one of the top 10 brands in the world, and they have the same passion for music that we have.”

The demo rooms are set in back of the stores and feature the Hard Rock logo above the doorway. Klipsch Audio Technologies, the official supplier of loudspeakers for the Hard Rock Cafe, is providing the sound systems, and Sharp and Pioneer are chipping in with projectors and components.

The chain plans to spend approximately $1 million to roll out the Hard Rock rooms in stores this year, including seven new stores it plans to open in Minneapolis; Kansas City, Mo.; Austin, Texas; and Wichita, Kan. The remainder of the stores will be outfitted with Hard Rock rooms in 2004.

In addition to giving Ultimate a high-profile brand name in its stores, Workman said the demo rooms help set the chain apart from other consumer electronics chains. “Anyone can display products on a wire rack and sell them, said Workman. “We’re all about showing people what the products can do.”

Ultimate is also using the rooms as a key component of store remodels like the one it just completed on the Tropicana Avenue store. “We’re retooling the interiors of some of our stores and the Hard Rock rooms are a part of the new look,” said Workman.

Ultimate Electronics is continuing to expand despite an ongoing economic malaise that’s hurting sales. In its most recent quarter, the chain posted a loss of $1.4 million and reported an 8% decline in same-store sales. Part of the loss was attributed to costs associated with 12 new stores it opened in late 2002. Later this year, the chain will eliminate computer products from its stores to make room for new audio and video products.