As part of its plan to realign the organization, CompUSA has announced a comprehensive strategy to improve the company’s financial status. The realignment includes a cash infusion, store closures, major expense reductions and a corporate restructuring.
As part of CompUSA’s realignment strategy, the company will receive a $440 million cash capital infusion. The financial boost will be designated to improve the company’s balance sheet.
“Based on changing conditions in the consumer retail electronics market, the company identified the need to close and sell stores with low performance or non strategic, old store layouts and locations faced with market saturation. The process began last week with the closing of four CompUSA stores and over the next 60-90 days, the company will close a total of 126 stores in the United States to focus on initiatives that enhance its top performing locations,” said Roman Ross, chief executive officer, CompUSA, in the press release.
CompUSA says these moves will allow the company to focus its efforts and ensure a strong presence in its 103 stores in 39 states and Puerto Rico.
Press release (.doc) here.
First order of business: You CompUSA dunces might want to try releasing news in a format other than the proprietary Microsoft Word (.doc) format. The fact that you do such an ignorant thing speaks volumes.
MacDailyNews Note: To find out the fate of CompUSA locations in your area, click here. If your location is not shown in the list of stores, it will be closed within the next 90 days and applications at your local fast food joints will skyrocket.
Related articles:
CompUSA shuffles management, closes four stores (100 stores may close this year) – February 27, 2007
CompUSA 230-store chain reportedly for sale – September 13, 2006
Apple and Circuit City team up for new Mac pilot program; Apple may pull out of CompUSA – September 06, 2006
Pleased to meet you, Miss AllocationOfCapital.
Sadly, most of the drones that work at CompUSA will be hired by Apple retail stores.
Apple retail quickly becoming more like CompUSA/Best Buy
MDN – Wow got up on the wrong side of the bed. Ah?
something about “deck chairs on the titanic” comes to mind…
@moo
“Apple retail quickly becoming more like CompUSA/Best Buy”
how so? I’ve never had anything but great customer service at a number of apple stores…
.doc is no problem-95% of us in the US are sitting in front of a Doze box anyway, right now.
Good riddance, CompUSA!!! You guys had horrible customer service, horrible selection, and an overall horrible experience!
GOOD RIDDANCE! WE HOPE YOU NEVER COME BACK!
Some CompUSA stores have become the slums of computer shopping. I’ll drive much further to a MicroCenter instead of the more convenient CompUSA store. I can walk to an Apple store in 5 minutes but, that’s not really a computer store.
in my opinion its going to be a apple store halo effect when those compUSA stores shut-down
Hear that?
That’s the sound of millions of Mac users that don’t give a flying monkey.
they’re closing the one in Atlanta, Ga., but keeping the Augusta, Ga. store open. The one in Atlanta did have an “Office Depot” feel to it – check, maybe they all do. If that’s the case, then they should all shut down. Craphole Office Depot can go too!
ChompUSA has always been a disappointment.
I won’t despair over their predictable contraction.
Damn! I took a look and noticed all the stores in my area (Sacramento) are all going to be closed. Hopefully Apple will fill the void with more of their own stores in this area.
As questionable as we/they are with regards to profit margin, a sizable amount of switchers from PC to Mac head to a store where they can look at them side by side, and to listen to somebody who is reasonably knowledgable about both. These stores also have Apple Stores, as poorly as some of them are managed, but they also have Apple Reps in them, which means merchandise and people working for Apple will certainly have to be relocated at some cost and/or time for Apple. Everybody loses. Whether or not it’s a short term loss and a long term gain, is yet to be determined. Hate them or love them, Apple will also be affected.
Anyone know if this will affect Best Buy stores in Canada?
Quite a few years back, you should have heard employee’s at CompUSA in Duluth, GA talk to
people interested in Macs. Buying a Mac there was like jumping off a cliff. I set up all the Mac’s on the floor to start up at opening time and had the trinoids voice say “CompUSA employee’s all suck. Macs rule”. OS 9 allowed such things as that. Those were the days. That place used to be hopp’in bigtime. Now everyone is “hopp’in” over to the Apple Store.
With CompUSA’s demise, look for Apple to be moving into Best Buy stores nationwide before the end of 2007. As great as Apple’s own stores are, they still need a physical presence in a large nationwide retailer. Best Buy will simply take over where CompUSA has left off.
Actually, I totally agree with the fact that buying a Mac at CompUSA was suicidal only because about 5-6 years ago they literally told people that that’s not what you should buy, and switched them over to the PC side. But not, about literally 9 out of 10 of my co-workers love Macs. We try and switch as many people. In fact, we had the biggest Mac sales in the region for the longest time, contributing 15% to the total profit at the store. I guess what I’m saying is that now they’re different. With the release of Vista, many of us who are even remotely familiar with Macs have realized how awful MS imitates. That being said, at least at this store, if we were to close (but we are not), it would be a huge lost to potential Apple Fans, the Apple Fans working there, and the region for Mac sales through CompUSA.
Yawn. And in other news it has been discovered that whales shit in sea water.
“how so? I’ve never had anything but great customer service at a number of apple stores…”
I’m glad to hear that. However, Apple retail’s hiring standards have dropped significantly as they need more warm bodies to fill their staffs.
They are hiring some people who have never even used Macs before. Don’t know spit about the company, the legacy or the brand, and some resort to giving the wrong info just so they don’t look silly, which is one of the things I always hated about CUSA and BB. Their people don’t know squat and make crap up thinking you are dumber than they are.
I did a search for what was close to Long Beach CA (Long Beach currently has two CompUSA stores) and it told me the closest one to Long Beach (in Los Angeles County) was Bakersfield, 123 miles away!
Wow
A few years back I had the option of buying my new Powerbook online or at the local CompUSA. Sales tax versus shipping was pretty much a wash, so I went with CompUSA. I walked in, pointed to the Powerbook I wanted, and said, “I’d like one of those, please.” The salesman tried to convince me that, no, I really wanted one of these Windows laptops – that was an Apple laptop, it didn’t run Windows, it didn’t run Office! I reiterated that I wanted that model, and would he kindly get one from the storeroom? The salesman tried to sell me a different, higher-end Windows laptop, and pointed out that it ran *games*! At that point I went to the store manager, who was good enough to retrieve the key and get me a Powerbook.
My local store isn’t closing, but even if it were, I don’t think I’d miss it much.
You’re not gonna hear me badmouthing CompUSA. For the six years that I’ve lived in Albuquerque, CompUSA has been one of the only places in town you could buy Macs, and their Apple section has always been well maintained. We have an Apple Store now, but I had to go to CompUSA just a couple days ago to buy a Logitech Webcam (since the iSight is no longer available and there’s no replacement in sight). No one else in town carried it, but CompUSA had Logitech’s entire line. I’m happy to see that the ABQ store doesn’t appear to be closing.
Dude!
Too much coffee today? Irritable?
News release in a word doc is a non issue. Proprietary? – Maybe, except almost anything will open it.
Find something better to complain about.
The Other Steve: I’ll take your Long Beach and raise you a Seattle. All CompUSA’s in Washington except the store in Spokane are closing. 280 miles. Is it a coincidence that they seem to be going where Apple Stores aren’t?
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Another shit-seller closes up shop. Looks like my closest locations will be in Portland, since the ever-surly Tacoma Mall Blvd. location will fold. I’ll always remember fondly the times I spent in there, cleaning the pop and chips off the Apple displays, getting hit on by staff, and giving strangers accurate information about the Mac OS. That place always made me feel like I was being exposed to food-borne illness, but it was the closest Computer Convenience Store around.
Good luck, future former CompUSA employees. See you at Chuck E. Cheese.
-c
MW: ‘will’ (I ever play the accordion again?)
And so CompUSA shows that “pile ’em high, sell ’em cheap” actually does have an endpoint.
Gateway has already been down this road.
And Dell appears to be committed to following them both.
Meanwhile, Apple – selling a supposedly over-priced brand – is experiencing phenomenal retail success with its inviting stores. An experience that also saved Bang & Olufsen from near-bankruptcy over a decade ago.
Isn’t there a quote which says that those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat the same mistakes?
@ Darkness –
Have you been to the Fry’s in Renton? Place is gi-gahwdam-gantic. I started going there instead of Chump’s a while back.
I must stress, I’d never buy a Mac there (Fry’s). Not with the beautiful U-Village store right up the road.
While you can buy a Mac there, CompUSA is primarily a PC vendor and like most PC vendors, it’s having a tough time. On the other hand, the Apple stores are flourishing, doing great trade and still expanding.
Notice any sort of trend ?
i don’t think the location nearest me (rockford, IL) is closing, but if it did, i’d have to drive almost two hours to the chicago area to reach an apple store. if apple put up a location in rockford, i’d never have a reason to visit compusa again.
I bought a new MacBook at our (now closing) CompUSA just 2 weeks ago. I much prefer the Apple Store, but when CompUSA had it on sale for $100 less, I had to go with their deal. So while I will shed no tears for CompUSA, I will miss the occasional deal I was able to get there.
@ JL
I’ll feel the same way when Guitar Center finally collapses. >.<
Whew. Dodged a bullet — my local CompUSA is sticking around. I’d hate to have to drive 40 minutes north to the area’s only Apple store if I want to buy any Apple product other than an iPod.
So does that mean we might get all those Good Guys stores back that CompUSA bought and shut down? Or does this process continue until there are NO CompUSA stores around and we have to buy from Best Buy? Or worse, what if Best Buy buys CompUSA and then shuts them all down, and the cuts their story inventory in half?
Could there be more Apple Stores than CompUSA and Best Buy combined some day? The trend is that direction!
So does that mean we might get all those Good Guys stores back that CompUSA bought and shut down? Or does this process continue until there are NO CompUSA stores around and we have to buy from Best Buy? Or worse, what if Best Buy buys CompUSA and then shuts them all down, and the cuts their story inventory in half?
Could there be more Apple Stores than CompUSA and Best Buy combined some day? The trend is that direction!
So does that mean we might get all those Good Guys stores back that CompUSA bought and shut down? Or does this process continue until there are NO CompUSA stores around and we have to buy from Best Buy? Or worse, what if Best Buy buys CompUSA and then shuts them all down, and the cuts their story inventory in half?
Could there be more Apple Stores than CompUSA and Best Buy combined some day? The trend is that direction!
In Sacramento, the existing CompUSA Alta Arden location is not listed in the store locator Search Engine on this corporate Web page, so I wonder if it could be one of those closing within 90 days:
http://www.compusa.com/locations/default.asp?storetype=stores&loctype=zip&locvalue=94203#stores
So, I just called the local store and spoke to a manager. He said, “We have not been told if we are staying open or closing. I don’t know.”
When informed that his store is not listed on the corporate Web page above, he said, “Oh, really?”
Yikes! Talk about corporate communications!
Oooh – speaking of Fry’s – they’re much, much worse from a customer service standpoint – makes CompUSA employees seem like veritable geniuses. Size does not necessarily equal quality (insert bawdy comment here).
At any rate, I’ll miss being able to go into the CompUSA at Park & 75 in Dallas, then walk right next door to the Best Buy to compare prices – don’t see that much anywhere else in the Dallas area.
That manager is full of it. CompUSA held a national conference call for all stores yesterday at 2pm CT and announced their plans. Every store found out then if they were going to be staying open or would be closing. Sacramento is one of the ones closing by the way.
Wow… I did a search for all the locations in Tempe, AZ, with the zip code 85285, and the closest one ends up being in Tucson, which is over 100 miles away. All those stores in Phoenix are gone? OMG.
In the meantime those CompUSA’s that are closing will be a great place to get Macs at a discount. Starting tomorrow all Hardware is 5% off and most everything else will be upto 20% off. Don’t wait too long though. The Apple products will go quickly! Store in my area (Bloomington, MN) had a great Apple guy I’ll miss him!
While I have no love lost on CompUSA, I always feel bad about the employees who will lose their jobs, even if they weren’t Geniuses, they need a job like everyone else to pay the rent, put food on the table, keep the shirt on their back, etc.
It’s too bad the employees have to pay for mgmt’s bad decisions. And didn’t CompUSA buy the Good Guys, audio-video chain? I feel bad for all their former employees who went from working for the “Good Guys” to working for the ‘bad’ guys.
MW: ‘quality’ as in, you get what you pay for w/ Apple
ndelc and LordRobin,
I’m with you both. I’ve had nothing but good experiences at my local CompUSA store (Akron, OH). As a matter of fact, they’re the ones who first steered me to my first Mac in Sept. 2001!
the Syracuse CompUSA had a great Mac section…very missed…the Apple store here is tiny with a few knowledgeable staff, but many, not so much.
Wow – I just checked the list of those remaining stores – there are exactly TWO that will be left open in the Dallas “area” once all the others have closed – and that’s counting Frisco, TX as part of that “area” – feel sorry for anyone west of the Trinity river or south of 635. And CompUSA HQ is in Richardson, TX in a not-so-small building. Bet you’ll be able to get rental space cheap!
They run a crap chain of poorly staffed stores full of poorly trained people. Good Riddance.
I’ll see you at the going out of business sale for the markdowns on supplies.
big liquidation sales at the closing locations?
More like modest liquidation sales at the closing locations. 10-20% off to start off with, but only 5% off on the big ticket items like Macs and PCs. Then after 2-3 weeks they’ll bump the discounts up a notch. It’s nothing worth getting too excited over.
From the CompUSA website:
We know you’ll be wowed.
Purchase Windows Vista™ or Microsoft® Office 2007 with in-store or on-site installation. We guarantee you’ll enjoy your Windows Vista experience or we’ll reinstall your original operating system and refund your purchase.
Anyone want to take them up on it?
Looks like both locations in Columbus, OH will be closing (they are no longer on the store list on the website). Guess I’ll be watching for some clearance deals, but won’t hold my breath for finding anything good.
.doc is a big problem BECAUSE so many people use it and it isn’t secure! How do you know that file isn’t infected? Are you assuming that it’s ok because it came from CompUSA, the same company that couldn’t figure out how to send it as a pdf or put it on their website and provide an html link? Even if it isn’t infected, it sets a bad precedence. A company that’s supposed to know better should lead by example.
The closest one to me got the Axe.
🙁
CompUSA had such thin profit margins that they could not afford to hire/train/retain a good staff of folks — if they had raised their prices enough to cover such a business model, then folks likely would have shopped at Fry’s or Best Buy for the cheapest price — after picking the brain of the better-trained CompUSA staff — can’t have both cheap prices AND well-trained staff — no free lunch, etc.
Niffy
It figures — Compusa was the only store in my area to carry the full line of Epson paper. And they just opened up a store down the street from me. Yes, the service was non-existant and I’m not surprised they’re circling the drain but… According to their store locator they are closing all their stores in Metro Detroit — if those stores are not making money it is not because of location. They are dolts and have no hope of survival.
Can anyone else verify anything about stores in Phoenix, Arizona? I can’t get CompUSA’s store locator to show any store in Arizona staying open.
I picked up several bargains when a Phoenix store closed last year and I managed to snag a copy of Final Cut Studio HD at 50% off.
Didn’t get any Apple hardware deals, as for some reason nothing made it to better than 10%-15% off before some poor sucker bought it. Just as well, however, as it mostly seemed to be scratched-up, older model display stuff that, even with discounts, was still more expensive than current model stuff at the local Apple store.
I did get several external firewire drives for backup purposes. This time I’ll be going for internals for that MacPro and a raid unit I’m planning for in the not-to-distant-future.
@ leodavinci
I tried looking myself with a Tempe zip code (85285), but nothing. I used to live there and would visit the one in Mesa frequently. I guess it’s kind of sad to see the Phoenix area without one. I would have atleast kept one around for a city with over 9 million people.
Have to agree about not all Apple stores being created equal. The one in my state is very much like those other stores. Personally I’m savvy enough to know what I’m looking for without much assistance, but for the less savvy, the local Apple Store experience could be loads better in my opinion. Ah well. I’m just grateful to be able to easily get what I need. There was definitely a time when that wasn’t the case!
What?? You mean the Vista PC sales surge can’t rescue the likes of CompDOA?
Can’t say this is really a surprise. Deserted stores, skeleton staff, customers having to flag down someone to run the checkout counter. K-Mart at its worst was better than this.
HMMM we do realize this leaves 126 relatively well-located storefronts for Apple to potentially buy, don’t we?
This is a wonderful example of the triumph of the free market. CompUSA is learning that you have to serve the customer, or you lose money. I look forward to the shrinking of Microsoft over the next few years as well.
-jcr
They are only keeping the best performing stores open. There are multiple cases of all the stores in major cities closing – Seattle, Sacramento, Phoenix, etc… Are they just closing the bottom 50% in sales? What about markets that have multiple stores that poach from each other but which could support fewer stores at very healthy sales levels? Like Seattle, Sacramento, Phoenix, etc.
It looks like they haven’t put a lot of thought into this contraction.
just thought I’d give my 2 cents…
attention: CompUSA of SAN MATEO, California…
GOOD RIDDANCE — remember, when you guys tried to get over me on some bogus pricing?! — lol…You guys suck….typical.
It looks like they haven’t put a lot of thought into this contraction.
Agreed. 50% seems like a very out-of-ass number, and closing half your stores in one fell swoop seems like a very knee-jerk reaction.
Why the “Bottom 50%”? Why not start with the big money losers?
Unless of course 50% of their stores are unprofitable, which IMO also red-flags management’s abilities. You NEVER want to wait around until things tumble into extreme crisis.
Apple, I hope you’re learning from this.
I just came from one of the stores that was closing in the Chicago area. ALL stores in Chicago are closing, but for whatever reason, the Rockford store, 80 miles west of Chicago, is staying open – the only one in Illinois!!
But these store closings are just a prelude to the inevitable. Most employees at the store I visited told me that by the end of 2007, CompUSA will be COMPLETELY LIQUIDATED. No more stores, period. If you look at the remaining stores, it amazes everyone that many small markets got to keep their stores, while many larger markets lost all of their stores. How the hell are they going to stay afloat in these small markets? Rockford? Rochester? Tucson? Lansing? Des Moines? C’MON!!! CompUSA is gone, gone, gone.
Hopefully this will lead to more Apple stores to pick up the slack of these closed stores.
I will miss CompUSA…… NOT
A terrible excuse of a retail chain
The ultimate mismanagement and customer disconnection
Good bye Comp
Oddly, in my area there are 3 CompUSA stores and they are fairly close together and it appears they are all staying open. One of these stores is much smaller than a normal CompUSA and is hidden on a side street. I would have thought that would be target #1.
Just a thought to CompUSA, without stores, you can’t sell merchandise!
Wait!
Closing now?
With all the retail traffic being generated by Vista?