CompUSA closes shop

Forget Black Friday. For the best deals on gadgets and PCs this holiday season, look no further than your neighborhood CompUSA.

The embattled electronics retail chain was dealt its final blow Friday when it was sold to Specialty Equity, an affiliate of private equity firm Gordon Brothers Group. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but the immediate result is that Specialty Equity will close all 103 CompUSA stores in the United States, according to a press release issued late Friday.

Gordon Brothers will "initiate an orderly wind-down" of each of the stores, the company says. That's great news for consumers looking for bargains. CompUSA will remain open through the holiday shopping season, presumably with "Everything Must Go!"-style signs.

It was clear all was not well at the retailer when in March it closed half of its stores due to pressure from bigger chains like Best Buy and Circuit City.

[john55440]

No bargains at previous store closing sale...

When their local store closed, I went to their store closing sale, and the "on sale" software that I was considering was cheaper at Amazon.com.<br /><br />I didn't see any real bargains on anything.

[fred dunn]

No. You could find stuff cheaper at Best Buy.

And Circuit City. CompUSA always had at least one or two "loss-leaders" (always in limited quantities, no rainchecks) but other than that they were too expensive.<br />I checked out their so called sales when they were closing a store and it was ridiculous.<br /><br />Not hard to see why they are going out of business.

[benjobritt]

I got some bargains

I bought Vista Home (not upgrade) for $60<br />20" iMac core duo for $799.<br />generally software deals were great, not available elsewhere<br />Most laptops, desktops, printers were not great until about 2-3 <br />weeks from store closing.

[Ramon366]

CompUSA

Well, I guess I'll have to search for a new place to receive UN-<br />HELPFULNESS and surliness!<br />They dropped the ball by not creating a mechanism to teach their <br />people courtesy and manners.<br />I was there this past Sunday, and it was the same as it's ever been.

[lingsun]

That's too bad. I got a lot of good deals at compusaauctions.com.

I used to buy computers at compusaauctions.com from 2000 to 2005. I could buy a refurb for half to two-thirds of the retail cost.

[inachu]

No sale at compusa.... i checked here

The Microcenter that replaced them is 1000 times better and has every part you can think of to build that powerful pc beast that you always wanted. Compusa was always lacking in the hobbyist dept.

[jeremyblaze]

Gordon bros means no deals

I have worked with Gordon brothers before, and can tell you there will be no deals till the last two weeks, when the store will go 70-90% offl but by then the idiots who are blinded by the word sale will have bought anything with value, at close to what they would have paid at a regular best buy or amazon sale price.

[jeremyblaze]

Gordon bros means no deals

I have worked with Gordon brothers before, and can <br />tell you there will be no deals till the last two weeks, when the store will go 70-90% offl but by then the idiots who are blinded by the word sale will have bought anything with value, at close to what they would have paid at a regular best buy or amazon sale price.

[Jim Satterfield]

Yep

You've got that right. Both CompUSA stores in the K.C. area closed in the earlier round and that's exactly what happened at them.

[WJeansonne]

No deals at our local store here either

The items were about 10% off at best. The "fire sale" was a sham!

[fshepinc]

...And It Won't Be Missed

My local stores were bastions of high prices, clueless employees, <br />and poor selection. And heaven help you if you needed repairs or <br />technical support! I'm not surprised at all that the entire chain has <br />gone the way of the dinosaur. Anyone for a chorus of "Ding Dong <br />the Witch is Dead?"

[bob1xxx]

Yes I agree Chimp usa passing is no loss

Yes saddly chimp oops comp usa passing is really no loss. Orignally when they first opened there prices were very good and the had compented sales staff to help.That changed over the years, there prices skyrocketed as the competion declince and there employees got more clueless and rude as the years went by (ie Chimps in the Chimp USA nick name). Then there was this constant fliping of the stores foucs, are the cheap pc parts store, mac store, HP sales madien store, or there last fling (here in So Cal) home enterantment (ie big screen tv) store with horrible prices and insainly overpriced monster cables and acessorys. Comp usa closed all there So cal store year ago and when they did they actually mark some prices UP! Like the Tower records ,Comp Usa with is it high prices and dead chimp assoicated price themselves out of the market were they are lower cost and better service options.

[punterjoe]

It may not have been a GOOD choice

but at least it was a choice. Soon we will be left with no choice &#38; no negotiating leverage.<br />Maybe the last brick &#38; mortar store standing should change their name to "Buy or Go!"

[E McCann]

Maybe at yours,

but down here they're far better than their "competition." They have competitive prices on most things, and knowledgeable sales staff - as opposed to, say, the Best Buy down the street, who had reps telling people "Parity memory has to be put in in pairs," no clue about half of what they sold - they've gotten somewhat better, but CompUSA closing is a loss. <br /><br />Plus, it was quite conveniently located.<br /><br />Ah well. Hopefully one of the cosmos cases will be on sale...

[Penguinisto]

Local stores...

It was the likes of CompUSA, Circuit City, et al. that drove the local geek shops out of business back in the late 90's in the first place.<br /><br />I much preferred the local geek shops. Now mind you it wasn't for the new computers or parts - I can shop Pricewatch just as well as they can, and save the overhead costs. No... the local shops simply rocked when it came to procuring used parts. <br /><br />Back when a new i386-based computer would easily run you $2,000 USD or more, these shops were excellent for grabbing hold of power supplies, RAM chips (for the 286's), and all the bits and bobs that would cost a fortune new, yet cost little to nothing as used parts (in spite of working quite well). <br /><br />They were also great places to hang out for awhile, to talk shop w/o the politics of work, to basically get a peek at some new item and become familiar with it - but not have to buy one first.<br /><br />The megacorps didn't kill them all - there are still a few small computer shops that hang on here and there (mostly serving small businesses w/ parts and support contracts). It would be cool to see them make a comeback, and enough of them to get some good competition going.<br /><br />/P

[s-skerker]

Is Curcuit City next?

Good riddance!!! This chain had some of the worst salespeople I?ve ever seen. They didn?t like assisting customers, and when you did find someone to help they didn?t have any technical knowledge. <br />They carried brands that I never heard of, and the one decent employee of our local store usually said to by-pass those items, as they were junk. <br />I can only wonder if Circuit City is next??? Not enough sales staff on the floor. Only one register open at a time, and technical staff that don?t know how to fix computers. Very similar to CompUSA.

[fred dunn]

CompUSA was always more expensive...

They did have a wide variety but were more expensive than circuit city or best buy.<br />Either way I nomally deal with Newegg anyway.<br />Large specialty "brick and Mortar" are getting hurt bad by their Internet equivalents which you can find almost anything and they are competitive.<br /><br />Also to that person venting about the Extended Warranty from CompUSA, brother you are just S.O.L.<br /><br />Never, never buy an extended warranty from a retailer unless it is the manufacturer's extended warranty. Even then you can wind up losing if the mfr goes out of business but if that were the case then you couldn't get parts anyway.

[GlennW007]

Bye Bye Curcuit City??

Circuit city may indeed be next. Poor selection of software, high price or cheap junk. Can Firedog keep them afloat with service??<br /><br />The co$t of upgrading to Vista means you most likely need a new computer by the time you upgrade the parts. Been there &#38; done that before, remember Win95? Remember the Y2K fiasco? <br /><br />CC has the worst software for their store computers, bad customer service.

[jlopezcnet]

One Word... Vista

One may think tv's are the big ticket items this season but that <br />is not so.<br /><br />The real reason CompUSA is gone is because of Apple's <br />enourmous gains and Vista's lukewarm sells. Not only are box <br />copies not being sold but most people are buying macs when <br />they buy new comptuers. They are buying it from Apple. Need <br />an MP3 player? Apple store for iPod. Zune wha?<br /><br />New phone? Apple Store. Apple is the new Sony with consumer <br />electronics. <br /><br />Who is next? Well it all depends on what Apple has up its sleeve <br />next year...

[Maclover1]

Wow

I love my Macs, but you are nuts. Vista my not be popular to you, but like it or people are buying lots of PC's and they are loaded with Vista.<br /><br />Apple is like the #7 in terms of notebook sales. #'s 1-6 are selling Vista.<br /><br />Wake up brother. CompUsa was always third place. Bestbuy and Cirucuit City are bigger and there was just not room for 3.

[TaintDeli]

Umm... no....

CompUSA is the only large retailer that's been carrying Apple computers for any significant amount of time. Best Buy just started carrying Apple in some of their stores this year. Until they built an Apple store here about two years ago, CompUSA was the only retailer carrying them around here.

[fonejack]

One Word... Vista

The real reason CompUSA is gone is because of their idiotic concepts of customer/employee management which have nothing whatsoever to do with what Apple does or doesn't do. Enourmous gains ? Where ? Last time I checked Apples are Intels with improved esthetics - no more no less.

[Lee Ross]

interesting post

i must say after reading your post ive come to one inevitable conclusion. You are a complete idiot. 1st CompUSA sells apple equipment. As the owner of a computer networking company and an authorized apple reseller i can assure you that the reason CompUSA is closing has nothing to do with no one buying pc based equipment anymore. Its all about margin. the 3 to 6 % margin made on your average pc or MAC computer sale is not enough to make selling computers worth anyones time. The pc retailers make their money on 2 things accessories and service. Ever wonder why a 6ft usb cable at office depot cost $34.95? My cost on that same usb cable thru ingrammicro is $3.50. So as a computer retailer you either have to sell a ton of accessories or you have to provide excellent service and support and have a highly trained staff. Well guess what CompUSA has neither of the above. Theres an old saying, If you dont want anyone to know how stupid you are keep your mouth shut. You might consider this before posting again<br />lross78550

[claytovt]

Another apple boy without a clue

Thats why dumpy O'l Vista already had 7.9% percent of the desktops and macs are still just reaching to break the 5% mark 20 some odd yrs later when they already had a hellva head start. Wake up fan boy!<br /><br />Mac are great and ipods are sweet. That said Vista is as good as the equipment you install it on. Kinda like OSX new cat that wiped out the chance of you even trying to use it on that B&#38;W G3 or even my damn quicksilver. I've tried it on a 1ghz+ with 1gig of ram G4 and it sucked and was buggy acting but on a new dual-core it is killer. The same goes for Vista it sucked on my 1.6 ghz P4 with a gig of ram. On my dual core AMD with a gig of ram it run like a dream. Thats with Apple writing the drivers for there old machines and Vista being a cross between microsoft and the vendors writing the drivers.

[Graylodge]

Save us from Mac weenies...

Apple's market share is now at an all-time high: 8.1%. That means for every Apple computer sold, 11.34 PCs are sold. Only in the mind of an Apple Apostle does that translate into "Most people are buying Macs when they buy new computers". Listen, I couldn't care less if you love Macs and hate PCs. It's no skin off my butt what machine you use. But every time you throw the facts out the window and start making outrageous - and provably false - statements in support of your position you only serve to make Macs, AND their supporters, look real stupid.

[thomaskray]

Shut up...

Apple themselves reported the following "The computer maker reported 19 million active users of Mac OS X at last year's WWDC gathering -- meaning that Apple's entire user base could fit into less than a single month of Microsoft's most recent OS customers. A reported swelling of the former's ranks to 22 million this month, according to analysts' estimates, would still be overshadowed by Windows"

[garbuck]

CompUSA Sells Macs

They sell Apple gear along with all the other stuff. <br /><br />My next machine is going to be Apple (or maybe Ubuntu). No way am I going to upgrade to Vista.<br /><br />BTW, PC World announced recently that the fastest Windows Vista laptop they've tested is the MacBook Pro!

[imacpwr]

Re: CompUSA Sells Macs

Not sure what your next machine, MacBook Pro, Ubuntu or PC World have to do <br />with CompUSA closing it's doors but here's the link all the same:<br /><br /><a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136649-page,3-c,notebooks/article.html" target="_newWindow">http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136649-page,3-c,notebooks/article.html</a>

[Stating]

Bad For Consumers

I live in the Bay Area, a place that should be a consumer tech mecca. If I need to get computer parts the only place I can get them within a 15 minute drive is CompUSA. When that store closes I will have to drive 40 minutes to Fry's. That is just nuts. Forget Circuit City, you can't get software there and the selection of components is VERY limited. <br /><br />What is this country coming to when there is not even a local store where you can buy tech? Over the years we lost Egghead, Good Guys, and now CompUSA. Radio Shack? Virtually worthless. Ironically, these past few months as fewer sources of tech were left, CompUSA was consistently busy. Lots of people in the store and they were actually buying stuff.

[fred dunn]

They can't compete with Internet sellers....

I buy all my parts from Newegg online. There is also a Wholesale computer parts place here which I have access to but I only use them in an emergency.

[bob1xxx]

Really chimp usa prices Sucked rocks

The only real reason comp usa went under is they sucked, comp usa was the place to got to get rip off on average there prices were 10 to 40% higher than stand alone mom and pop computer brick and morter pc buliders! No lie, Ive priced around. Even if I factored in the gas to go to my local FRY's they still were a better deal for emergancy parts replacement (ie mobo's , hardrives, dvd burners, cables, etc...) than chimp usa. And for memory, video cards, cpu's , flash memory, routers, hardrives, etc... in a planed buy, newegg or mwave or tiger direct, etc... would always kick chimp usa arse. Chimp usa abused the tech ingornated shopper with lousy prices, over priced service contracts and moronic to abusive sales asociates and store policys, bait and switch sales ads . Cant really say Im sorry their gone.

[WADAFUK]

what happens to the extended service plans?

bought the extended service plans. with all stores closing and taken private, are they going to honor it????? this is nonsense.

[imacpwr]

Re: what happens to the extended service plans?

They become very short..<br />An extended service plan is only as good as the company that <br />extended it. <br />No more company.. no more service plan..

[charlweed]

They tried to sell me a service plan YESTERDAY

I cannot believe these guys!<br />I was forced to buy a $300 motherboard from them yesterday, (no idea of the announcement which had already been made) And the sales drone tried to sell me the extedned service plan.<br />I HATE this store.<br />The employees are ignorant lazy jerks. But they are the only components vendor for 30 miles....

[Penguinisto]

Caveat Emptor.

Personally, buying an 'extended service plan' is drop-stupid about 99% of the time. This is because either the part is going to die within the 12-36 month manufacturer's warranty, or by the time it does die, you'll either be able to get parts for it cheap, or it'll be so far gone and obsolete that you'll be ready for a new one anyway.

[poor_yorik]

Extended Service Plans

Look at your service plan. Is it backed by CompUSA or a third party insurer. If it's third party, you are probably OK.

[GroverCleveland]

No loss

Compusa deserved to die. <br /><br />A business thrives when it offers value. CompUsa wasn't offering the best prices; the sales help didn't have much technical expertize; and the quality of service was lousy. The products it did sell were pretty mundane. <br /><br />If Circuit City doesn't clean up its act, it's going to be next.

[GroverCleveland]

oops

make that "expertise". How about a spell checker around here?

[jlopezcnet]

You just proved my arguement

Yes they sold macs but the retail outlets directed at consumers <br />aren't getting the business they once did because Apple directly <br />competes with them. They are opening stores everywhere.<br /><br />One key fact you guys are missing is that in recent months <br />CompUSA tried to return to their barebones computer <br />components strategy. They thought returning to their roots and <br />core business would save them. The sad truth is, those who buy <br />components will buy from NewEgg. Consumer computers are <br />being picked up at an Apple Store. People will buy laptops from <br />other chains but have you seen their sales numbers? Vista has <br />scared many people from buying a new computer.

[jay.butler]

Speculation and anecdotal evidence

Interesting world you live in. You seem to understand what people are buying, why they are buying it and who they are buying from. <br /><br />Many hobbyists might buy from NewEgg, but you would have a hard time convincing me without a citation of some sort that a majority of people buy components from them.<br /><br />You keep stating that there are more Apple machines being sold to consumers as it repeating it is going to make it true. It is simply not. Here is my speculation: if you limit the target market to prior Apple owners, I would bet that you will find you majority. Across the entire consumer market, Apple sells a fraction of what XP and Vista sell. Apple has grown tremendously, but they are still a smaller player.<br /><br />I will retract my comments completely if you can provide some source for your claims.

[socerplayer391]

THEY ARE STIL SELLING GIFT CARDS

I was just on COMPUSA.com and they were still selling giftcards with no mention that the store was closing. Is this an oversight or are they intentionally trying to trick people into getting gift card they will never use.<br /><br />BTW Glad to see them go

[fred dunn]

The Employees Didn't Even Know....

Unless they read the same publications you and I do. One CompUSA employee in the forum said that no announcement was made and that a meeting was to be called the next day (meaning today).<br />But anybody buying one had better cash in on it soon.

[travlrsteven]

This is being done by numerous financially strapped companies. The reason is they can take your money for the card and then when they close, your card is worthless but they do not have to refund your money. This was discussed last holiday season on a news program as a number of companies closing were going out of business after christmas but selling cards through the season.

[flormac]

The real terms

The won't disclose the terms of the deal, but I'll bet it includes <br />about a $100 million mail-in rebate, which they'll probably lose the <br />form for or screw up somehow and not receive.

[ralfthedog]

Why would anyone buy a company to shut it down?

That would be like purchasing a car so you can drive it into a lake. The Comp USA name is not worth that much money (As an online store). Something must be going on under the table.<br /><br />I hated Comp USA as much as anyone, however they were useful when you needed something hard to find.

[jeremyblaze]

they paid very little

When they sell out to a company like Gordon Bros, its because they are only selling the value of the inventories owned and possibly any real estate holdings available. Gordon is an expert at pulling remaining value out of these situations.

[punterjoe]

Watch the movie Wall Street

It's more like what a chop-shop does to a car. The parts are worth more. Also - not that I'm in any way implying so in this case... there is a liquidation model where you buy a 'Brand' with a well-respected name, and - since it will be gone soon anyway - fill the shelves with the kind of shoddy junk the old (real) place wouldn't go near... at incredible profit margins, knowing by the time the thing falls apart, there will be no place to return it to. In addition to cannibalizing the inventory, even the name &#38; rep can be profit fodder. Again, I'm not saying that's what will happen in this case, just that it IS a proven business model for liquidation/shutdown of a business. That's a few ways to make money off a corpse of a business.

[roket]

Why Would Anyone Buy A Company to Shut it Down?

Quite the opposite, sometimes the liquidated value of a company can generate considerable liquid assets not to mention tax refunds/credits. If a company is so laden with debt that you can?t find investors of any kind your options are few, either default on obligations or liquidate. In these situations, a full accounting or value analysis will yield the truth. If the asset numbers are good enough then the new owners will want to liquidate CompUSA as they are confident that they can achieve a substantial ROI. Or, in the worst case the CompUSA?s creditors have determined that it is better to take a ?haircut? now at (x) cents on the dollar as opposed to receiving nothing as time moves forward e.g., compulsory liquidation.

[mike721ct]

Because thats what Gordon Bros do

Because thats what Gordon Brothers do they are not in the business of actually running companies they are a liquidation company. When a company is about to go bankrupt they sell all their assets to a liquidation company (obviously for less than they are would be worth after selling them off) and the liquidation company then takes controll of the assets and proceeds to liquidate them in turn making a profit. This is done because companies like Gordon Bros specialize in doing this. This also allows the bankrupt company to close up opperations quickly without incurring any more debt. I suspect it also aleviates them of a lot of liablities or responsiblities they may have because Gordon Bros is not obligated to make good on any of these. Gordon Bros does not have to honor gift card, return policies, etc. unless this was part of the deal made with compusa. once the sale to Gordon Bros happens compusa stores basically cease to exist as a company. Gordon Bros retain the right to use the compusa name on the stores throughout the sale but it at this point is now a different company. Same thing happend a few years ago with Bradlees, Caldor and Ames.<br />What people dont seem to understand is that when they are shopping at the liquidation sale they are technically shopping at Gordon Bros; not the name on the building. A lot of the merchandise and even store equipment will be sold off to companies like Ocean State Job Lot.

[homsar221]

Former employee...

...and if you thought going there to buy something was miserable...try working there.<br /><br />First of all, they pimped all of us as being "experts" on computer stuff but the only real training people got was standard retail stuff. Technical training did exist, but they just put it out there and nobody said much if people didn't keep up on it.<br /><br />Second, sales people got NO commission for big sales. For a while, they got a little bit extra for getting someone to buy the extended service plan, but as the company got more desperate, that turned into "sell the plans or you're fired."<br /><br />Everybody who worked at my store knew we had the worst prices in town so we felt like idiots trying to keep the customers happy. If my bosses knew how many times I sent somebody to Radio Shack or Circuit City...<br /><br />Everybody who worked there also knew, before there was any news about closings or bankruptcy, that the store wasn't going to be around for very long. We used to joke about how any day now there were going to be a bunch of people in suits coming in and measuring stuff.<br /><br />CompUSA was the worst retail job I ever had.<br />Maybe even the worst place I ever worked for.<br />Good riddance.

[ralfthedog]

RE: Extended service plans.

I went into a Comp USA a few years back to get a specific laptop that was not offered anywhere else where I live. When I walked up to the sales person and said, "I want that laptop", he said, "Cool, how about the extended warantee?".<br /><br />When I said no, he sent for another sales person. I said know again, they sent for a manager. The only way I got away with my laptop was to say," I will buy this laptop today. I can get it here, or I can drive 75 miles and get it somewhere else. I am not getting your stupid warantee." They stopped me as I was walking to the door and brought me my computer.<br /><br />If I have an alternative, I will buy from anyone but Comp USA, however they did have the strange things you could not find anywhere else. It will be a bit sad to see them go.

[PortVista-19095313035016904102]

commission

I was just at Comp-USA and an employee was telling me how excited he was that after 9 weeks he will get to earn commission. He didn't seem to know anything about the store closing.

[unaged12]

I work for compUSA and here is what I know

First of all I have been thru the first round of stores closing, they just liquidated those stores. This time is different as they have sold the online site, and the Tech Services seperately. There are posibilitys some of the stores will remain in buisness, but under new ownwership of another company (tiger dierect is one name thats been poping up for years). The extended services are still honored, and your items will be repaired, most likely you will have to call an 800 number to have those item Facilitated (Assurance is the underwriting company). This was a buisness decision by Carlos Slim who has invested millons of dollars in this company to recieve little in return. There have been a few rumors that Some of the bigger chains might purchase CompUSA stores to enter certain markets, and retain some employees. I only have limited information, so this is all i can offer at the moment.

[ittesi259]

Don't retain the employees

They are the biggest reason CompUSA should have been wiped out years ago. I only let them work on my computer once....and when I had to fix what he reassembled wrong I vowed never to go back.<br /><br />Carlos Slim...is a horrible investor in electronics companies....first Good Guys now CompUSA.