CompUSA store closings

Here it is:

 

http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/02/28/compusa/index.php

 

I wandered into two stores this weekend and found sales persons standing around

looking on morbidly as I looked over the inventory. So far there are no real

bargains. Some things on sale can be had elsewhere for less at retail. Still

there are some good buys. This will get better as the inventory dwindles. Paper,

ink, cameras, cable, blank media - everything is on sale from 5% to 50% off

tagged prices.

That's too bad. It doesn't surprise me though. I hate it when stores go from a neat place with lots of stuff to cleaned up and streamlined to the point they're not fun anymore. I could see this happening at CompUSA, especially when they purged the store I went to of most of their software. They went from many components to only a few.

I passed a CompUSA store yesteday that was closing down. They had a sign up that even the "fixtures and fittings" were for sale, so maybe you could get a good deal on a set of shelves or a cash register!

CompUSA/Radio Shack/Tandy are a dead end. Stores like Fry's and Best Buy along with the Internet make the trashy Tandy stores in the dust. Those CompUSA stores that are still open are being managed by companies that specialize in "Going out of business" sales and the like. So do not expect any real bargains because they will wholesale to other stores before making any real discounts to consumers. I expect MicroCenter to be the next to go.

The CompUSA store near me in Hanover or Whippany, NJ is also closing. They have people standing at nearby intersections holding up signs advertising the closing. I remember when Computer Shopper magazine had nearly 800 pages. From one issue to the next you never knew which retailer would stay in business. Now computer shopper has fewer than 100 pages and the pages they have are a lot smaller than they used to be. All of the Computer Shopper advertisers, even the many no longer in business, contributed to the growth of computer use and eventually to the growth of the internet. Retail computer sales is mostly a web based business now and I'm surprised CompUSA stayed around as long as it did. Hardware margins are very low and the business of service and software is far more profitable.

CompUSA hasn't closed its doors completely, but it did cut it retail stores in half. Here in

the San Francisco Bay Area, CompUSA is closing all its stores in the South Bay (probably it

couldn't compete with Fry's), but its stores around San Francisco and the North Bay are

remaining opening. CompUSA stores in Fresno, Bakersfield, and Santa Barbara are also

remaining open.

 

All the stores in Southern California (Greater Los Angeles and San Diego Areas) are being

shut down though.

 

It's a major retrenchment of CompUSA, but it hasn't closed down completely, just yet.

All CompUSA stores in Michigan are closing except one. I was talking to one of the managers in a store near me and he indicated the reason was not that the store was loosing money, they were profitable, just that corporate felt they weren't making enough money.

 

Just another case of corporate greed, it's not enough to just make money but let's make lots of money. Who cares if we put a bunch of people out of work, the execs get their bonus so all is well. If they were actually operating at a loss I could understand store closings but that's not the case based on the information I have.

 

While I'm not an economist it seems pretty short-sighted to me to put people out of work in order to make a short term profit gain then later on wonder why people aren't spending money. DUH!, maybe it's because they're not working or are working for a lot less money.

Dick Tope's comments are very apt. Circuit City's announcement that they are laying off

something like 3,500 people and replacing them with people who will work for a smaller

wage is just one example of such crass capitalism. I hope that the people who run Circuit

City choke on the small profit increase they will earn by employing such anti-social tactics.

Maybe Circuit City could not fire anyone; pay the folks more; bload the inventory up to the moon; and burn out with all the stores in Bankruptcy in a bang in 6 months since capitialism is crass. Frys and Best buy could then follow this model; the goal to not consider costs, bload up the inventory, never fire anybody; dont consider profits. May the common employee would be happier if the execs got paid zero; and these 3 stores died by 2008. This would make the anti-captialism folks happy? Maybe the "nots make more money concept " could be made illegal, teenagers could be issued just one MP3 song to hear, photographers would have to use a standard camera, with the goverment to set prices so that photographers illegal profits could be delt with, cameras crushed, with jail times breaking rocks and Summicrons. :)

It's hard to feel too sorry for them given that they were always unknowledgeable and rude when I visited. The local Micro Center was always better equipped, had better employees, and friendlier service. Gee do you think there is a connection between my experiences and their economic problems?

Folks; the problem is, WE helped create these business monstrosities. Look at some of the forums here. People are obsessed with getting the mostest for the leastest. The fact is when stores are run to comply with this demand model, they will ultimately develop a business model that supplies your demand. Once you get close to the "free" deal, the business has to cut corners to make things work. The wages of employees are adjustable, and employees are often treated as disposable garbage, so why not?

Love capitalism? We live it everyday. I agree with previous post. We all want something for nothing (or as close to nothing as we can get). We have the freedom to chose. I don't shop Wallmart for a reason. I do give my dollars to the local guys who may come close to what I want to pay. Its all relative to your pocket book. CC probably had it coming for not being more market savy. Its competition for your buck. Who are you going to give it to and why?

THAT IS FALSE TO WHO SAID THE COMPUSA BAKERSFIELD IS NOT CLOSING, THEY ARE IN THE PROCESS OF ENTIRE STORE CLEARANCE 10-30% EVERY ITEM IN STORE. (I LIVE IN BAKERSFIELD AND SAVED $100 ON A PHONE THAT I WAS CONSIDERING BUYING AT BEST BUY BUY AT FULL PRICE, LUCKILY WENT TO COMPUSA)

CompUsa closed in Ventura (Bakersfield by the sea) years back; but then there is a local Frys in Oxnard; but is CompUsa still ok in the city with the pretty name?