My experience at a closing Compusa store.

[lu0s3r322]

I went to a Compusa nearby to see what sales were going on since it was closing (for those of you in Chicago, I went to the one in Northbrook).

The sales were only 10-20% but there were a lot of people there.

I immediately went to the Apple section of the store to see what they had on sale. First off, the only con to my visit were these two kids blasting rap music from random people's myspaces and it was annoying as hell.

Everything else besides that was great. The employee working the section was selling computers like I've never seen. I overhead him say he was retired but planned to work for Apple after the store closed. This lady came over with a Vista brochure and she asked him something about what type of computer she should buy and he said an iMac. I left for about five minutes and came back and she was sold on buying it. He pointed out all the major features, viruses, Boot Camp, add-ons like iSight.

I also heard him oversay that he sold $14,000 worth of Macs last week but only 1 PC. Which is skeptical but amazing if it's true.

Im expecting more discounts later on in the month.

 

[adrianblaine]

I also heard him oversay that he sold $14,000 worth of Macs last week but only 1 PC. Which is skeptical but amazing if it's true.

I wouldn't doubt this. They seem to have people that specifically work the Mac section at CompUSA. At least that's how it always seemed whenever I went to one. Although in my experience, the guy working the Mac section knew squat about Macs...

 

[SteveG4Cube]

This lady came over with a Vista brochure and she asked him something about what type of computer she should buy and he said an iMac. I left for about five minutes and came back and she was sold on buying it. He pointed out all the major features, viruses, Boot Camp, add-ons like iSight.

iSight is built into the iMac.

 

[lu0s3r322]

yeah i know but like if you bought a pc, a camera would be an add-on

 

[isleofjib]

were the macs on sale, too?

 

[nicque]

the one i went to macs were 5% off and apple software were 10% off.

 

[jessep28]

I'm not surprised they are leaving Omaha, Nebraska. Circuit City left a couple years ago too and now only have operations in Lincoln. Both closings can be attributed to the behemoth in the area the stores were in - Nebraska Furniture Mart.

It sucks though since now the only decent store retailer other than Apple who carries Mac software/hardware is leaving.

Best Buy is too generalist in my opinion and will only carry IBM stuff in my area. NFM is staffed with a bunch of commission driven salespeople. They tend to ignore me and it's impossible to find anything it seems. It took me 20 minutes one day to find where their flash drives were and I'm sure it wasn't theif full selection. Their knowledge generally is sub par vs. CompUSA or Apple. Also, NFM's Mac stuff is for the most part outdated and overpriced.

I will save my complete "I hate NFM" rant for another day when the Mac Community cares 🙂.

Oh well it's a shame. Good thing Apple set up shop in town. That's my only ray of hope for hands on purchasing.

 

[CipherMe]

I'm not surprised they are leaving Omaha, Nebraska. Circuit City left a couple years ago too and only have operations in Lincoln. Both closing can be attributed to the behemoth in the area the stores were in - Nebraska Furniture Mart.

NFM is a Warren Buffet owned operation and anyone who set up shop that remotely competes with them generally loses. I have always liked CompUSA though vs. Best Buy and NFM. Best Buy is just annoying with cheap crap and overpriced and NFM if you can find anyone (they tend to ignore young 23 year olds who want to spend money), they are generally slimy since their salary is based off of commission.

Yes, you don't go to NFM if you need any technical expertise from the staff. It's OK if you know what you need. I bought my MacPro and 30" Cinema display there. I did get my wife's 24" iMac at CompUSA though. Hate to see it go. Now I'll have to go up to 72nd and Blondo to DIT for pieces and parts I guess.

 

[wongulous]

I'm not surprised they are leaving Omaha, Nebraska. Circuit City left a couple years ago too and only have operations in Lincoln. Both closing can be attributed to the behemoth in the area the stores were in - Nebraska Furniture Mart.

It sucks though since now the only decent store retailer other than Apple who carries Mac software/hardware is leaving.

Best Buy is too generalist and geared towards stupid people thus will only carry IBM stuff in my area. NFM is staffed with a bunch of money grubbing, commission driven salespeople. They tend to ignore me since I guess 23 year olds don't have money and I disinterest them. Also, their Mac stuff is outdated and overpiced.

Oh well it's a shame. Good thing Apple set up shop in town, that's my only ray of hope for hands on purchasing.

Ditto. CompUSA was, before the Apple Store (and of course ignoring buying things online from Apple, Amazon, NewEgg, SmallDog, etc etc), the sole beacon of orderly, decently-stocked, mostly-up-to-date retail technology. And NFM is no substitute.

NFM might be huge (and hey, my partner and I have a card there--why not), but a great retailer they aren't. Even after their remodel, they're still a visual cacophony of a million brands and setups and things going on with little organization and a swarm of awful dress shirts and ugly ties pushing to get your commission. Their Macs are almost always broken, don't have internet access that works, are often dirty and marred, use stupid anti-theft measures (not unlike CompUSA, though), and the salespeople are dumber than dirt on average. NFM, across the board, hires individuals to be profit-driving salespeople, but not truly helpful consultative salespeople. They're numbers-based employees, not help-based, personality-based, or even knowledge-based. CompUSA guys (several of which I know personally) were at least pleasant and knowledgeable. I'm okay with an Apple-certified, geeked-out, experienced person acting like they're more intelligent than I--they probably are--but at NFM I always knew that wasn't the case and I just wanted to run away from them. I often turned away when they'd ask for help and wait for them to just stop asking me. It's funny... I brought my grandma in once and I got like 5x as many offers to help select merchandise.

But I digress on the NFM-bashing. I will miss the CUSA. It's too bad, too, because I always kinda wanted a job there... and just as I quit my other job and start looking for another they close. 🙂 I wonder when the big discounts start! Hurry up, tax return!!!

 

[jessep28]

Do you want to know what's interesting about NFM's credit cards? (note: this is trivial and I promise I will stop the NFM bashing and get back on Topic)

A business law professor of mine at UNO who practiced in bankruptcy told us one day that their credit is secured vs. most retail cards which are generally unsecured. That puts stuff you buy on NFM credit on the same general level as say a house or car.

That means that if the cardholder were to go into bankruptcy, 1) NFM is higher up on the food chain to get their money 2) NFM could go to your house and repo the item. Unsecured creditors are lower on the food chain and just want their money.

 

[Lancetx]

Funny thing is that, at least at one time if not still currently, CompUSA's credit cards were secured too. The only reason I know is because I have a friend that filed for bankruptcy about 4 years ago, and they sent a letter months after it discharged asking about a couple of specific items she had bought with that card. One of them was actually an iMac G3 that she had already parted with well before she ever even filed for the bankruptcy. Anyway, in the end, they never actually collected anything. Your story about NFM just happened to remind me of that.

 

[J.J. Sefton]

I went to the Framingham MA Compusa and picked up their last Mac Pro (aside from the floor model). The 5% discount saved me a drive to NH to save on sales tax. Funny thing, the place was DEAD. I expected them to be mobbed. Maybe the discounts aren't deep enough yet.

I wish I had enough left over to load up on ram and hard drives. Maybe if they're still around by the end of the month.

 

[jessep28]

Huh, I didn't know that. It would make sense since some of those items being of large ticket value would be worth it in terms of resale value to secure as collarteral against the loan via store credit.

I learned something today that's always a plus.

 

[swiftaw]

Wow, several Omaha residents on this thread. I drove past CompUSA today. There were lots of guys outside with signs advertising up to 20% off everything.

 

[BigPrince]

hmm, maybe a cheap flat screen monitor.

 

[i4k20c]

Sweet maybe i will go and hope they have some descent deals on external hard-drives or maybe LCD's? 🙂

 

[erickkoch]

Just came back from a local CompUSA and everything is 10% off, including the Macs. I almost bought a 20 inch ACD but I want to think about it some more, 10% isn't quite enough form me right now.

 

[jessep28]

I will stop by there on the way to class Monday and see what's still left. I am curious though as to what they are going to put there in its place? Another ethnic/whole foods market?? 😎

 

[miloblithe]

I went by one today. Since I don't really need anything, 10%-20% wasn't enough to inspire me to purchase anything. They also were out of 250GB hard drives, which is the size I would have wanted.

 

[savar]

A business law professor of mine at UNO who practiced in bankruptcy told us one day that their credit is secured vs. most retail cards which are generally unsecured. That puts stuff you buy on NFM credit on the same general level as say a house or car.

That means that if the cardholder were to go into bankruptcy, 1) NFM is higher up on the food chain to get their money 2) NFM could go to your house and repo the item. Unsecured creditors are lower on the food chain and just want their money.

I think your law professor doesn't know what "secured" means. A secured line of credit means the the debt is collateralized by a cash deposit. If an account becomes sufficiently delinquent, that account is closed and the cash deposit is offset against the unpaid balance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_card#Secured_credit_cards

In other words, this isn't really revolving credit at all. In a sense, you're loaning money to them, because they may have $2000 of yours but you can only spend up to $1500. These are primarily tools used for rebuilding credit if your credit isn't good.

 

[SmurfBoxMasta]

I think your law professor doesn't know what "secured" means. A secured line of credit means the the debt is collateralized by a cash deposit. If an account becomes sufficiently delinquent, that account is closed and the cash deposit is offset against the unpaid balance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_card#Secured_credit_cards

In other words, this isn't really revolving credit at all. In a sense, you're loaning money to them, because they may have $2000 of yours but you can only spend up to $1500. These are primarily tools used for rebuilding credit if your credit isn't good.

Well, FWIW, Sears CC's are the same. When you buy something with them, they maintain a "security interest" in the item(s) until the amount of that purchase is repaid.

I know this because a friend of mine filed bankruptcy a few years ago. He had bought a few things from Sears about 6 months prior, and during the proceedings, Sears filed a "secured creditor" claim and my friend was ordered by the court to either pay them a % of the original value, or surrender the goods to them.......... he had to give the stuff back since he didn't have the cash 😛

 

[Tom J]

Ditto. CompUSA was, before the Apple Store... the sole beacon of orderly, decently-stocked, mostly-up-to-date retail technology. And NFM is no substitute.

...Even after their remodel, they're still a visual cacophony of a million brands and setups and things going on with little organization

(Another Omaha specific post)

What was NFM thinking when they designed the remodel? aisles at angles, one department blending into another, printers? where? granted, I don't need one now, but I've been in there four times recently and I still haven't found them. Given NFM's history, who would have thought that browsing through their store would be a frustrating experience.
Pictures of remodel or... I buy my TV's at Disneyland !!!

After being burned by CUSA's rebates, I only ever bought accessories and consumables there and their selection of those was much better than NFM or the OfficeMAX/OfficeDepot twins. I'll miss CompUSA (sigh), but you live by the rebate, you die by the rebate. RIP

TJ

 

[joepunk]

10 to 20% off is not a high enough incentive for me to want anything from there. I'll wait.

 

[Lancetx]

I think your law professor doesn't know what "secured" means. A secured line of credit means the the debt is collateralized by a cash deposit. If an account becomes sufficiently delinquent, that account is closed and the cash deposit is offset against the unpaid balance.

A cash deposit is merely one form of securing a line of credit. I work for a bank in commercial lending and we have numerous lines of credit (both revolving and non-revolving, consumer and commercial) that are secured by many different types of collateral other than cash. His law professor was absolutely correct.

 

[jessep28]

I think your law professor doesn't know what "secured" means. A secured line of credit means the the debt is collateralized by a cash deposit. If an account becomes sufficiently delinquent, that account is closed and the cash deposit is offset against the unpaid balance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_card#Secured_credit_cards

In other words, this isn't really revolving credit at all. In a sense, you're loaning money to them, because they may have $2000 of yours but you can only spend up to $1500. These are primarily tools used for rebuilding credit if your credit isn't good.

She and my other Business Law Professor (We are required at my UNI to take Bus Law I but elected to take II) were right. The Wikipedia article you placed up is an article for a Secured Credit Card which typically function like normal consumer credit cards like Visa and Mastercard.

CompUSA, NFM, and many others identify themselves as a secured party in their card holder agreement. West's Business Law, 9th Edition (my old Bus Law book I keep for reference) in the glossary defines a secured party as: "A lender, seller or any other person in whose favor there is a security interest, including a person to whom accounts or chattel paper has been sold."

A secured transaction is defined as "Any transaction in which the payment of a debt is guaranteed, or secured, by personal property owned by the debtor or in which the debtor has a legal interest"

The credit card and store credit act in similar ways, but are secured with different things. When you get the secured VISA card to build your credit, the debt is guaranteed by the cash you give up to get the card.

On the store credit it differs by having the debt is guaranteed by the piece of property you bought which created that debt. Now I have never read a secured credit agreement, but there is a question if the debtor sells or gives up the property which is secured and later defaults or goes into bankrupcy.

Maybe the creditor can go after the debtor for other property. I know in bankruptcy, as a secured party they get priority over unsecured creditors (e.g., everyday, run of the mill unsecured credit cards).

But they do not get priority over Purchase Money Security Interest (PMSI) creditors. They have a higher level on the bankruptcy food chain than normal secured creditors. This may apply since the loan is directly to finance the item that is sold.

But what do I know, I am just a soon to graduate from college accountant and not a lawyer. However, I'm sure i am fundamentally accurate from the two business law classes I took, one of which had a section that covered secured transactions.