MSNBC: CompUSA is sold; will close all stores

[marmar]

CompUSA is sold; will close all stores
Struggling consumer electronics retailer will offer big holiday discounts

updated 1 hour, 11 minutes ago
DALLAS - Consumer electronics retailer CompUSA said Friday it will close its store operations after the holidays following sale of the company to Gordon Brothers Group LLC, a restructuring firm. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

CompUSA operates 103 stores, which plan to run store-closing sales during the holidays.

Privately held CompUSA, controlled by Mexican financier Carlos Slim Helu's Grupo Carso SA, said discussions were under way to sell certain stores in key markets. Stores that can't be sold will be closed.

Gordon Brothers will also try to sell the company's technical services business, CompUSA TechPro, and online business, CompUSA.com. It would be up to the buyers whether to continue the CompUSA name.

Dallas-based CompUSA has struggled for nearly a decade with falling prices on personal computers, its most important product, and competition from big-box retailers such as Best Buy.

The slowing growth in computer sales has affected other companies. Dell Inc.'s U.S. consumer sales fell 26 percent in the first half of this year, which could have accelerated the PC maker's announcement this week that it will sell machines at Best Buy. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22153236/

[aquart]

1. Whoa. That's some impressive Manhattan real estate.

[Coyote_Bandit]

2. Shit

Bought a laptop there in September complete with the service plan. Guess I got screwed by corporate Amerika once again.....

[Gman]

12. I'm sure you thought you were doing the right thing

but in the future I would suggest not getting the service plans because all they are is overpriced insurance. If a chip is going to go bad on a computer, it goes bad about 90% of the time in the first 90 days. It's a known mathematical curve. Hard drives go out most often because people don't defrag and it causes the hard drive to overwork itself until it fails. (Although some of the huge hard drives have been known to fail after about 6 months.) Regardless, you have a standard 1 year warranty on parts which is plenty of time. If nothing fails in that first year, chances are you're going to have that computer working fine until, with proper care and maintenance, a few years later you want to buy a new one.

[Coyote_Bandit]

26. The service plan I purchased

included screen and battery replacement and labor for any future upgrades as well as repairs. I have found that extended warranties and service plans on well used laptops arte usually worth the investment - and that extended warranties and service plans on desktops are useless for all the reasons you listed.

I purchased extended warranties on the last two computers I have had. In both cases there were necessary repairs resulting from hardware failures that exceeded the cost of the warranties. In both cases I had to pack the damn computer up and ship it cross country which meant that I had no access to a computer for over two weeks each time repairs were required. Purchasing the store warranty meant that I could carry the POS machine in and have it repaired on site without foregoing use of the machine (and often the revenue it generated) for a couple of weeks.

I really think I am going to try to contest the portion of my credit card charges that were attributed to the extended warranty and service plan. It is after all a payment for a service to be rendered at some future time - and which likely will not be honored. At the very least I should be entitled to have the charges pro rated. If that doesn't work then maybe for kicks and grins I'll sue the bastards in small claims court for that same pro rata return.

[Gman]

28. With any luck at all

they won't show up and you get a default judgement. But then you gotta collect.

[Coyote_Bandit]

30. With a judgment

I can compel an asset hearing.

Worse case I get to file a claim in bankruptcy court.

Best case I get some media coverage and i motivate several thousand other folks do the same exact thing.

[ellisonz]

40. Except for Apple.

[Gman]

49. Yeah, yeah, yeah!

We know, "except for Apple", all the Apple people say! :-)

[iamthebandfanman]

46. never

buy extended warrenties.
i think ull find them just as vague and stardard as the manufacturers warrenty ultimately.

[SoCalDem]

48. the service plans are usually with a third party, aren;t they?

I would call the toll free number on the policy and ask.. If it's not , then demand a refund for the balance of the policy..

[El Supremo]

3. That's fine with me.

They ripped me off the last time I went there and I would have never gone back.

MicroTech is my preferred over-the-counter computer store.

[Kutjara]

4. OMG! Now where will I go to buy...

...overpriced underspecced crap from mouthbreathers who haven't a clue about what they're selling?

Oh wait a sec, the answer was in the article all along: Best Buy. Whew, what a relief.

[marmar]

7. Now you're going to get me ranting....I only go into Best Buy as a desperate last resort. ...

Because no matter what department you're in, the person working in that department on the day you're there "doesn't normally work in this department" and can't answer the most basic of questions.....On the positive sides, they can point to where the restrooms are. :dunce:

[Kutjara]

13. I thought I was the only one who always...

...gets the "not my department" clowns. Of course, it's ridiculously easy to exhaust the knowledge of even the most dedicated "specialist." When some hard-sell type in the laptop department starts trying to push the latest crippled piece of junk on me, I just innocently ask, "Does the WiFi card use the Atheros chipset? I need an Atheros card so I can switch it to passive mode for intrusion testing and AP stumbling." This usually makes the poor soul suddenly remember a pressing duty elsewhere.

[TarHeelMom]

35. I'll rant with you.

I won't even say the name of that store that begins with a "B", and my kids know not to say it in front of me. The Sunday ad is immediately recycled. It had to do with not honoring a warranty. Since then my son has told me that two friends' fathers won't go there either because of not honoring vouchers or rain checks. That store has lost thousands of my consumer dollars since then, because I've bought stuff at other places.

[Breeze54]

23. That's what you get for living in LA!

"mouthbreathers who haven't a clue" :P

CompUSA trains them here in MA! ;)

[IDemo]

5. Shocking but not surprising

I've done more business with Newegg and Crucial.com than with any retail outlet lately, and I'm sure many others have as well.

[Deja Q]

6. Holy shit. Not even 1 year ago did they close 52% of their stores.

In my area, they had some good technicians - better than BB, CC, et al... but one thing w/ CompUSA was consistent: Inflated prices. That helped kill them.

Plus, hasn't Best Buy been around longer than CompUSA? (CompUSA has been around for 10 years. BB rather longer...)

I've noted, as with Dell, Apple is selling their glossy tinker toys at BB stores too. I saw one up close...

I had no idea they had a separated service called "TechPro". So much for advertising...

Still, compared to the competitor's dorky names, "CompUSA" did have a nice name to it... but probably too geeky. :eyes:

[SammyWinstonJack]

8. Next up Circuit City, Best Buy et al.

:bounce:

[ShaneGR]

Best Buy is profitable

Circuit City restructured, hard to tell.

[BadgerKid]

19. Nah, Best Buy is going to sell Dell computers

Therefore, you might not be incorrect about Circuit City.

[SammyWinstonJack]

24. The CEO of Circuit City is a scumbag, laying off hard working salespersons and hiring them back for

less than what they were working for, or hiring for less, while making millions in salary and bonus' himself. This corporation deserves to go under. We hard working Americans can only hope these greedy big box corps go out of bidness!

[BR_Parkway]

44. They're also selling Dell's at Staples now (another store I don't deal

with)

[lpbk2713]

9. CompUSA is (was) a frequent advertiser on the Limbaugh Hatemonger Show.

Glad to see it happen. I set foot in their stores maybe twice. Their sales people were just there to make sales. They were just bullshit artists when it came to asking them anything technical.

[ShaneGR]

17. And Apple Computers was a main centerpiece of their stores..

And Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, is a major liberal donator/supporter. Odd how that works.

[pinniped]

10. The restructuring firm is restructuring it by shutting it down.

.

[Kutjara]

16. Yes, the whole enterprise will be neatly restructured...

...so that it fits into a standard-sized dumpster.

[originalpckelly]

11. I remember when they bought out Computer City.

I remember how excited I was when I bought my first new computer instead of getting a second one at Computer City. It was so cool! I still go to the now CompUSA here in Denver. I wonder what will become of it? There are really few computer-only stores in this country anymore, it seems the mixed stored like Circuit City and Best Buy don't really carry enough specialty parts when I need them. Oh well, I guess that's what New Egg is for.

[Gman]

14. I forgot all about Computer City

it was a really cool place at the time.

[El Supremo]

22. That was on Colorado Blvd. right?

They were fine before CompUSA took them over. Just go a little farther south to MicroCenter (MicroTech) on Quincy near I225.

[originalpckelly]

33. Indeed it was.

I miss that store, I remember the employees being so helpful.

Now I'm starting to realize how crappy CompUSA is, I remember going to buy a computer there and they were way too fucking expensive, and they didn't have any AMD processors. I walked over to BestBuy and got a much better deal. And then I bought my monitor there, but they had extremely deceptive price labeling and they had the price of the mail-in rebate in bold print with the real price either hidden or not prominently displayed. In a way, aside from the employees losing their jobs, I'm glad they're being closed. There's a reason they're not doing well, and it's because their service sucks.

[tridim]

15. Thank gawd for MicroCenter here in Denver

I don't know if it's a chain, but it kicks CompUSA's butt by a mile. It's cheap too.

I can't remember the last time I was in a CompUSA.

[originalpckelly]

I've never been there, but I'm guessing that I'll have to go there from now on...

They are a chain of stores, but they are significantly smaller than CompUSA, they have only 21 locations.

[Steepler0t]

18. well that puts a grin on my face

I caught managers skimming hours off me when I worked there, they are total scum, corporate in TX couldn't have given a toss when I reported it either.

Last time I was in the store I asked 2 of my former coworkers and they said they are still skimming people.


Good riddance! compussr was a shithole company.
I cannot believe they got me to wear a AOL patch on my shoulder for a year. :mad:

[Steepler0t]

21. just remembered

I have about 80$ in mail-in rebates supposedly "in the mail" from them too, funny how its been 2 months and no word.

[Breeze54]

20. He sells CompUSA TechPro almost yearly!

:P

I know. I used to work for them. They sold it out to another
company in MA a few years ago and moved the rest to Dallas.

[Wcross]

25. I'm gonna miss them.

They were a "last resort" supplier when internet purchases wouldn't get here quick enough (i.e. blown power supply).

[itsrobert]

27. I think Fry's Electronics can expand to fill some of the void

Fry's is very good.

[frylock]

31. toys r us for geeks..

i love Fry's!

[Kutjara]

32. They have a great product range, for sure, but...

...they are overpriced on many items and their sales guys combine idiocy and arrogance in equal measure. They're also pretty predatory in the PC department, so the less computer savvy should be very careful lest they get sold a pig in a poke. At least, that's been my experience in the two Fry's nearest me (Anaheim and City of Industry).

I tend to buy most of my tech stuff on the web, only using Fry's for the cables/fans/thingummyjigs and assorted geegaws I inevitably forget to order in the first place.

[slackmaster]

47. Competence of Fry's staff varies from place to place

They have a terrible reputation in the San Francisco Bay area, but I've had uniformly good experiences with the sales staff at the San Diego store.

They all speak English, and know their stuff. I've never had one sell me the wrong part.

[Xithras]

29. All the CompUSA's around here closed around a year ago.

Don't miss them a bit. Our smaller computer stores made a bit of a comeback after CrapUSA closed their doors.

[LiberalFighter]

36. I've had my last computer built locally to specs.

[backscatter712]

34. Oh well... More business for Newegg...

I'll always build my own - you get a better computer that way. Buy them at the big box stores and they'll cheap you out in every chance they've got. Shitty power supplies, crappy memory, substandard chips on the motherboard, etc. Then they load the hard drive full of crapware, that you'll have the worst time getting rid of.

I swear, if I build my own, then set it right next to a big-box-store computer with the same specs, the one I homebuilt will feel twice as fast.

[CRF450]

38. Yup, twice as fast for way LESS!

I built my gaming computer, complete with a 22" monitor and a mouse keyboard for only $1,700 and I go to these websites that have gaming computers for almost twice as much with the same specs as mine!

Specs on mine is...

Core 2 Duo Q6600 overclocked to 3.0ghz
MSI P6N SLI 650i motherboard
4gigs pc800 memory
150gig Western Digital Raptor 10,000rpm hard drive
500gig storage drive
EVGA Geforce 8800gt vid card
Tuniq T-120 cpu cooler
Thermaltake Soprano case
Thermaltake 700w psu
Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit
22" Acer LCD widescreen monitor
Logitech MX518 gaming mouse
Logitech Ergonomics Wave Keyboard
Logitech Z-560 4.1 400watt speakers. These things are almost 7 years old, but they still sound better and louder than 90% of computer speakers on the market! The original subwoofer started rattling so I replaced it with a RE Audio 8" subwoofer. Since it was a dual 4ohm sub compared to the original 8ohm sub, I had to use an extra peice of speaker wire for the terminal posts for a 8ohm load to match the amp. The controls are starting to go bad, and I'm currently looking for a Klipsch Promedia 5.1 Ultra speaker system on Ebay.


Everything here, I got from newegg.com except the speakers, got them about 7 years from Best Buy. If I remember currectly, they were a little over $200.

[slackmaster]

43. Anything I need right now I usually buy at Fry's

If I can wait a couple of days (and I mean literally that) it's usually NewEgg for computer parts.

I can place an order over the weekend and have it delivered on Tuesday in most cases.

[keroro gunsou]

37. well that blows

as a former employer of compusa, that sorta sucks...

i enjoyed working there as it was my first real geek sales job... selling scanner and printers. in my store we had like 4-5 self-proclaimed specialists, i was the video game scanner/printer guy. eventually, i evolved into a pc expert as well.

i had several customers who always came to talk to me about their prospective purchases for their businesses or schools, so it was a win-win for my store... sadly my boss didn't see it that way, and did her best to fuck me over with crappy hours, biased performance reviews, and her "in my face" management style. apparently she thought i was a threat to her job, rather than an asset.

sad when my store closed... had i still been working their, i'd prolly have been the last guy out to turn out the lights...

[BearSquirrel2]

39. Good inventory but ...

CompUSA always had excellent inventory. But I often wanted to strangle most of the staff. Someone with a computer science degree quickly tires of hearing 2nd hand product rep schpeel. That's OK, I ALWAYS want to strangle Best Buy people.

[ellisonz]

41. Buh-bye.

[slackmaster]

42. They've sucked around here for at least a dozen years

Undercut by independent shops, then Fry's, then online retailers.

I haven't set foot in a CompUSA in more than 10 years.

[slackmaster]

45. Even CEO Can't Figure Out How RadioShack Still In Business

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/even_ceo_cant_figure_out_how

;-)

[edhopper]

50. Oh no!

Where will I go to buy the wrong accessory for my PC. For those losing their jobs, I know Circuit City is looking for the least qualified sales people they can find.
For the record, I've actually gotten pretty good tech sales advice at Best Buy.