Mark Wattles

Ultimate Electronics has expanded into the Pacific Northwest with a new store in the Portland area.

Investor Mark Wattles, who infamously sold Hollywood Video to Movie Gallery for $1.2 billion in 2005, has sold more than 1.7 million shares of deteriorating Blockbuster stock for a modest gain of $230,741, according to a regulatory filing.

Mark Wattles, who founded and formerly headed the company's rival Hollywood Video, on Monday purchased a stake in Blockbuster Entertainment, and expressed confidence in the company's health.

What happened to one of the industry's foremost retailers, and where is it headed? By Joe Paone Ultimate Electronics, the Rocky Mountain retail mainstay, has seen better days. Its finances are in tatters, so much so that in January, it filed for bankruptcy protection. Its stock, once a hot commodity, is virtually worthless. It owes several of the industry's foremost vendors millions of dollars. Its boardroom and executive suites have undergone an extreme makeover, with the familiar faces of Founder Bill Pearse, President/CEO Dave Workman and numerous other executives exiting the company in the wake of a friendly bailout-cum-takeover

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