The Southland

New Player in Consumer Electronics: Best Buy Co., the nation’s second-largest specialty retailer of consumer electronics, will enter the Southern California market by opening seven stores Friday. The Minneapolis-based discount chain will open Best Buy stores in Mission Viejo, West Covina, City of Industry, Palmdale, Rancho Cucamonga, Hawthorne and Torrance. The company, which plans to open five more stores by spring, has said it expects to have a total of 20 Southland stores by the end of 1995. Best Buy’s move into Southern California is expected to escalate the price war among consumer electronics chains in the region. With chains such as Circuit City, Good Guys and Adray’s, Southern California already has one of the most competitive consumer electronics markets in the country, industry experts say.