CompUSA To Shut Down

[i make movies]

Welcome to consumerism 101. The CompUSA in my home town was close to the crappy mall that is also dying. You know the mall...every city has one...the one that you went to in the early 90s because it was the only good mall around, but 14 shopping centers opened up, all clean and new, and the one that used to be king of the crop is now last decade's harvest. The same thing happened to Media Play/Suncoast/ Sam Goody a while ago. It sucked going into those stores because you knew it was dying. Those old shopping centers are our generation's ghost towns. Big empty boxes littering our cities. I predict as oil gets more expensive, more of these big box stores will shut down. You can't cut costs or reduce overhead when oil is 100 bucks a barrel. You can expect oil costs to double in 5 years.

But what do you expect when the majority of your revenue has no margin whatsoever? Again, the same thing happened to Media Play. There's no margin on cds and dvds...that's why there prices sucked. That's also why Best Buy can afford to sell cds and dvds below cost because they have many other products that have amazing margin, like HDTVs and car stereos.

 

[freediverdude]

Well it's sad in a way I guess......CompUSA is where I first saw the lampshade iMac way back when. I remember thinking wow, I wish I could afford that. It looked so much nicer and more futuristic than the other computers. So we ooohed and aaahed over it for a while, thinking maybe some day....... But yeah the last time I was in one, maybe last year, it looked really out of date. Everything did. Gadgets under glass counters old fashion style, wayyyy outdated check-out computers that took forever to get out of there, not enough space to really display things like big screen tvs or lots of choices of computers. It was like a trip back to the 80s. So I guess they decided not to try to re-do everything and just call it quits. Sad.

 

[Analog Kid]

Not going to miss these guys at all... It's not that the competition was fierce, its that CompUSA doesn't understand how to do business-- at least not the ones that I've been in.

There are only two reasons to go to a brick and mortar store anymore-- to ask questions, and to get your hands on stuff faster than it can ship. The places I've been in seem to hire they guys that got fired for spilling the oil at Jiffy Lube, and they never seem to carry the stuff I'm looking for at the moment.

 

[Cheffy Dave]

What exactly does this mean for my CompUSA Credit card bill????

oh, I dunno, they will just chalk it up to a bad debt, since they are no longer in business, and just write you off,you owe nothing. Yeah right!

The Bankrupcy judge/Court will sieze all accounts and you will be billed. What you owe is called an "asset", just as much as alll remaining stock is
Watch your intrest rate skyrocketas they "maximise" remaining profits.
Called "bidness" in the game

 

[Wild-Bill]

Good riddence to CompUSA I say.

How many times were they in trouble for rebate fraud??? They're going out of business because their prices always suck, among other things.

 

[thesdx]

I really didn't see this coming. The one near me is always buzzing, especially the Mac section.

 

[macpro2000]

good riddance....

I second that. IncompetenceUSA is more like it.

 

[pcdoctor]

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...

Yep, I used to work for SoftwareHouse. I remember when they bought out ComputerCity.

 

[danidoll521]

I know we can expect some good discounts, especially as the final closing date nears, but will CompUSA discount Apple products? What kind of discounts can we realistically expect?

 

[KiraDouji]

If only you saw all the bullying they do to the honest salesmen, my supervisor literally told me to lie to the customer as long as I can make the sale. I once told a guy that the $350 AppleCare he was buying would work in Morocco (where he was from).

Well, considering I work there... I don't know, though, apparently I've had a much different experience than anyone else in this thread. My managers were always very strict about making sure we had the right information and giving it out correctly and always bugged us if we weren't helping someone. To be honest, it was a bit exhausting considering the large number of people in my area who'd just come in and have no frellin' clue what they were looking for.

"It's that cord that goes in the back of the PC"... :|

On the up side, maybe I can get hired by the Apple Store moving into town

Still, anyway you look at it, that's at least 2000 retail emps out of a job come Jan/Feb/however long they have.

- Kira

 

[rdowns]

I know we can expect some good discounts, especially as the final closing date nears, but will CompUSA discount Apple products? What kind of discounts can we realistically expect?

As with any going out of business sale, all the good stuff is snapped up during the first 2 weeks when the discounts are only 5-10%.

The discounts go up as the quality of remaining merchandise drops.

 

[Aeolius]

On opportunity Apple will be missing, with the closure of the CompUSA stores, will be the influx of curious switchers who wander into the Apple corner of the store.

I enjoyed helping answer people's questions, regarding Apple hardware and software, when Mike wasn't around. It's fun to channel one's passion for Apple products, while rising to the challenge presented by skeptical potential Mac users.

I've helped parents shopping with their kids for their college laptop and I've helped older folks seeking to replace their aging Macs with something new. How many Windows users would happily spend their lunch breaks in such a fashion, I wonder?

I assume the Greensboro Apple store will be in the NW corner of "The Shops at Friendly" ( http://www.friendlycenter.com/theshops/TEXT/map.html ). There is newly finished store, there, while two others are still open structures of girders and bricks. The nearby stores are a Harris Teeter and an REI.

Perhaps Apple will get some curious switchers walking over from nearby stores, or driving by after catching a movie at the nearby theater. Good luck, Apple.

 

[Roller]

I'll miss CompUSA for their large selection of cables and other accessories. Of course, there's nothing that you can't buy online these days, but CompUSA was always handy if you needed something that day.

I never bought a Mac from CompUSA, and the Apple section at our local store was typically understaffed. But, until we got our Apple store, there was nowhere else to go to get some hands-on with the latest Apple hardware.

 

[alec]

Good riddance.

 

[Diversion]

Here in my city, CompUSA usually undercut the competition by $10 or so.. Usually saved me tax on the same items. I heard about CompUSA shutting down about a year ago, I thought it was some kind of silly rumour.. Guess they were shutting down in other areas first. Oh well, I can't wait to get a stab at their close out prices.

 

[jagolden]

decent walk-in selections

a bit sad but hardly surprised. i don't even remember the last time i stepped foot in a compusa.

I frequent them for inks and paper.
They're the only place you can walk in to and purchase
quality photo and specialty papers in 13" x 19" sizes.

Always great deals on HD storage and bank cd/dvd media.

 

[Stang68]

good...that store sucked.

 

[MrMoore]

CompUSA closed in the Chicagoland area earlier this year, so I guess it was no surprise. I went there time to time and their Mac sections weren't bad and I like looking for an item on their website and seeing if it was available in-store. Always a trip saver. After the stores closed here, it will tell me the nearest store was in Rockford. Only 66 miles

I go to the Apple store now to get Mac specific. If I need a keyboard or other non-Mac stuff, there is still MicroCenter or that massive behemoth Frye. And if I am desperate, Best Buy

 

[AudiA4]

In spite of everyone else's comments, I've always like CompUSA...they've always been a friend to Apple and the "Mac" store within was always buzzing. So, I'm sad to see the store close, but the silver lining is that a new Apple Store is coming to Little Rock!

 

[MacAddict1978]

IMO this is kinda sad. I mean it shows the company was loyal to apple by being one of their biggest retailers. Just a couple years ago apple struggled to get stores to sell Macs. (one of the main reasons apple fell so behind in market shares)

Now, apple is finally getting other stores to support them, and as a result this store is struggling and does apple care? Obviously not.

Im sure im looking at this in the wrong angle but IMO this story is sorta sad.

Mac sales is a very small percentage of compusa's total sales. Apple has nothing to do with this.

CompuUSA never had a great customer focus nor customer friendly policies (return, warranty, etc.)

I always liked their selection though, and they did often have good deals on blank media and often printers and such. Their selection has shrunk quite a bit.

Here in Pittsburgh we had 2. One closed this past Spring with the other staying open. Both were recently remodeled and looked pretty good.

 

[diamond.g]

That being said, I wonder where I will be able to get that one computer component I need the next time someone's pc crashes and they have to get it working omg THAT DAY, considering CC and BB don't sell parts.

- Kira

I am unexcited about losing a place I can go to to buy a new motherboard or processor or high end video card same day. This is depressing. I wonder if the Hawaii store is going to close. They seemed to be doing pretty well when I lived there.

 

[davebarnes]

Most likely to BestBuy

Greensboro CompUSA store ... resident Apple Solutions Consultant is courteous, knowledgeable, and professional. It seems unclear, whether he would be transitioning from CompUSA to the Apple Store

BestBuy is his most likely landing place. Apple is getting in bed with BestBuy in a big time manner. My local Apple rep literally walked across the parking lot. Saturday at CompUSA and Sunday at BestBuy.

I hate WorstBuy, but they are doing a much better job for Apple. The Apple display is better (similar in design to the Apple Store) and much more prominently located (it was in a dingy corner at CompUSA).

 

[wattage]

Great. CompUSA was the only major Apple reseller in my state. Looks like Apple needs to build a new store.

In Little Rock, Arkansas myself and thought the same thing. I don't trust the Mac people at Best Buy as it is a new venture for them.

We NEED an Apple store, maybe over by the Lewis and Clark or Pottery Barn.

 

[uzi]

CompUSA RIP

CompUSA left our town about a year ago. They failed becuase their service was very poor...

 

[thestaton]

CompUSA had the worst customer service (worse then fry's) I ever encountered. They earned this failure. They treated Apple fans like outcasts and could never answer a Mac question.

When I walk into an Apple store I feel as if I will get some help. Sometimes even intelligent.

Ding Dong, the witch is dead.

My thoughts exactly!