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CompUSA To Shut Down

I go there all the time. It will be a sad day. Also, it always sucks aesthetically when a large store in a nice shopping center boards up.
 
siurpeeman said:
a bit sad but hardly surprised. i don't even remember the last time i stepped foot in a compusa.
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Same here. They haven't had any decent deals there at all since their store contraction started last spring anyway. It's been apparent that the company has been slowly dying now for a good while.
 
I wouldn't be surprised.


Best Buy is killing them on price, store locations, depth of stock, and layout. Our CompUSA's (Nashville) haven't been refreshed since the late 90's. They have a very "Slummish" vibe, while the Best Buys are all crisp and clean.

It's also apparent that someone at CompUSA loses a bonus every time they open a cash register line, because they seem to view it as an absolute moral defeat any time they have more than one open! Best Buy seems to staff at a level that keeps checkout quick rather than painful.
 
I would not be surpise to seem them go. They have been getting pounded by everyone else.. I used the compUSA here in lubbock because it is easy for me to get to but it selection is well crap compared to best buy. Added in the fact you have stores like fry's expanding and building in new location it starting to hurt even worse. Fry's takes all the computer geeks away and Best Buy taking everyone else.
 
I've bought a lot of Mac software there over the years.

Tends to be cheaper and with rebates when compared to the Apple Store.
 
CompUSA wasn't it SoftwareHouse then CompUSA, then bought ComputerCity (owned by Tandy). I remember buying my Performa 6100 System from ComputerCity before they were bought out (those were the days...)

They have recently gone down hill and closed all their Chicagoland stores anyways. They're already gone here, everyone's a BestBuy, and most Apple customers are at the Apple Store, popping up all over here now...
 
Odd. The other day I read about a new Apple Store opening "early next year" in Greensboro NC, my neck of the woods. Now I see this rumor about the remaining CompUSA stores closing.

The Greensboro CompUSA store has maintained its "cozy corner" for Mac users for some time. The resident Apple Solutions Consultant is courteous, knowledgeable, and professional. It seems unclear, whether he would be transitioning from CompUSA to the Apple Store, but I hope that to be the case.

You have to wonder about the timing of it all, though. The Greensboro Apple Store is announced a week prior to news about Greensboro's CompUSA closing? I know CompUSA sells other items other than Apple products, but it makes you wonder if that was serendipity or a well calculated plan.
 
It's too bad that CompUSA is shuttering its remaining stores, but I suppose this is to be expected given how poorly the one store near me has been doing. I believe it has been closed, now, though I haven't checked.

I liked CompUSA back when they were better at selling Macs. They had a decent Mac section, compared to, say, Best Buy. The people there don't always know what a Mac is, let alone where the Apple section is in their store.
 
Aeolius said:
Odd. The other day I read about a new Apple Store opening "early next year" in Greensboro NC, my neck of the woods. Now I see this rumor about the remaining CompUSA stores closing.

The Greensboro CompUSA store has maintained its "cozy corner" for Mac users for some time. The resident Apple Solutions Consultant is courteous, knowledgeable, and professional. It seems unclear, whether he would be transitioning from CompUSA to the Apple Store, but I hope that to be the case.
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The one at BestBuy is an actual Apple Employee so I would assume he'd go over to BestBuy or the new Apple Store.
 
gkarris said:
The one at BestBuy is an actual Apple Employee so I would assume he'd go over to BestBuy or the new Apple Store.
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I don't even know if the local Best Buy carries Mac products. Last time I went in there, more than a year ago, they did not. I loathe that store with a passion. Seems like every time I go in there, some idiot is blaring the car stereos so loud it makes me nauseous. Also, their music selection is pitiful.
 
They shut the CompUSA down in the Waco, Texas area a couple of years ago. It as good for Apple products but the service was poor. They had Best Buy, Circuit City, and my personal favorite Altex Computers & Electronics to compete with. The sad thing is that without CompUSA the Waco area doesn't have any store for Apple computers as our local Best Buy isn't carrying the computers yet. I often wonder if Apple would have a market for a retail store at the new Central Texas Market Place or even our Richland Mall. With three college campuses in the area and a growing economy I have to think it might be possible, though I might be long gone from the area before it happens.

Cheers to CompUSA.
 
I have a slightly different take. In the cities I've lived in CompUSA has never been the major Mac retailer. There is a store called MicroCenter that is based in Ohio. These stores have Apple stores in them that go beyond an isle or back section of the store. Perhaps they along with Fry's (which has a complete line of Mac products) has given them a run for their money. I understand the comment about CompUSA's slummy vibe. The overall "look and feel" of the store is largely unkept. Now Fry's is the "Walmart" of electronic stores however they keep their inventory up to date. Best Buy I don't consider an Apple Retailer any more than Guitar Center or Sam Ash. These stores are also places that you could purchase a Mac, but the scope of what they carry is limited to the overall stores focus. You can buy an iMac or Mac Pro with FCS but you cannot buy Aperture because its beyond what a music store would ever need to stock even though its made by Apple.




Then again...............maybe CompUSA just sucked?
 
FF_productions said:
CompUSA has been going downhill for years now, now they will finally just be over with.

So what retail stores are left? Circuit City and Best Buy?
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I dont think Circuit City carries Mac's in all of their stores. Best Buy, Fry's, MircoCenter, Music Stores (Sam Ash, Guitar Center etc).
 
The merger with Good Guys seemed to be the nail in the coffin. The CompUSA store that was near me was larger than most Best Buy stores, but after the merger they closed that store and took over the Good Guys location. The Good Guys store was about 1/10th the size of their previous store, and it was miserable just trying to look at what was on a shelf since everything was so cramped. They not only killed themselves, but Good Guys in the process.
 
http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/07/technology/compusa.ap/index.htm?postversion=2007120719

See ya, CompUSSR. It just took them way to long to get it, if they ever got it. They used to have the most horrendous return policy in retail, and treated you like a criminal if you returned anything. They improved a bit, but it was too little, too late.

And, I know of a handful of cases where people had picked out and were going to buy a computer but walked out because the sales people badgered them about an extended warranty. Like harassment style...literally asking like twelve times.

Their stores were crapholes, and they could never decide what to do with them. Everytime I went in there (maybe 4 times a year), the product categories had been moved or a counter was gone or moved.
 
Great. CompUSA was the only major Apple reseller in my state. Looks like Apple needs to build a new store.
 
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