COMP USA going out of business.

[imported_EmreNU]

The best deal I ever got from CompUSA was Conqueror 1086 A.D. in 1995. I spent an entire summer playing that game when I was 11 years old -- it only cost me $1.88 from the bargain bin (remember those sales?).

It's sad to see them go since they were a fixture of the PC world in the 90's, but everyone had to see this coming. Circuit City is next, from what I can see.

 

[ultimatebob]

Knowing CompUSA, the stores will have been picked clean by the time they get to 20% off, which is right about when their prices just start to become competitive with Newegg :|

 

[rahvin]

Originally posted by: lupi

Originally posted by: rahvin
There won't be any real deals. They hired a liquidator. Liquidators excel at large going out of business sales that don't knock the prices down much. Everything of value will be sold to wholesalers and the rest will get marked down a few percent with lots of advertising to draw people in to buy old equipment at slightly discounted prices. Sure you might find the very rare occasional deal but the fact is there won't be any "hot deals". All the hot ticket items will get wholesaled, often to a competitor.

Not trying to thread cap, just a statement of fact IMO. Liquidators are the enemy of hot deals. They are the people that pay temps to stand out on street corners with signs announcing the spectacular deals (where there aren't any) at the closing store. Frankly I haven't seen a good deal at a Liquidator hosted closing in 10 years, they are often very good at what they do (they buy the chain's inventory out for a fixed price and maximize revenue).

Not to mention that walking through my local store yesterday it seems they haven't had any new shipments since before T-Day.

The liquidator has likely already taken over the warehouses and is moving out the valuable stock via wholesale auctions. Go in 2 weeks before the liquidator takes over the stores and the week they take over and you will see how much merchandise is moved out of the store. Anything of value is moved out and wholesaled. What's left is the junk and old crap which then goes on sale for 5% off. Kinda silly if you ask me but they are good at what they do, and that's bringing in bargain shoppers to buy junk at very slightly marked down prices.

 

[hans007]

Originally posted by: rahvin

Originally posted by: lupi

Originally posted by: rahvin
There won't be any real deals. They hired a liquidator. Liquidators excel at large going out of business sales that don't knock the prices down much. Everything of value will be sold to wholesalers and the rest will get marked down a few percent with lots of advertising to draw people in to buy old equipment at slightly discounted prices. Sure you might find the very rare occasional deal but the fact is there won't be any "hot deals". All the hot ticket items will get wholesaled, often to a competitor.

Not trying to thread cap, just a statement of fact IMO. Liquidators are the enemy of hot deals. They are the people that pay temps to stand out on street corners with signs announcing the spectacular deals (where there aren't any) at the closing store. Frankly I haven't seen a good deal at a Liquidator hosted closing in 10 years, they are often very good at what they do (they buy the chain's inventory out for a fixed price and maximize revenue).

Not to mention that walking through my local store yesterday it seems they haven't had any new shipments since before T-Day.

The liquidator has likely already taken over the warehouses and is moving out the valuable stock via wholesale auctions. Go in 2 weeks before the liquidator takes over the stores and the week they take over and you will see how much merchandise is moved out of the store. Anything of value is moved out and wholesaled. What's left is the junk and old crap which then goes on sale for 5% off. Kinda silly if you ask me but they are good at what they do, and that's bringing in bargain shoppers to buy junk at very slightly marked down prices.

yeah if you look at compusa.com most of the items are becoming out of stock that cant be bought in store already.


the crap that is physically int he stores already is what will be the only really good deals because that stuff is not worth shipping. theyw ill probably just lower the price 10% at a time or something until its all gone. that seems to make the most sense.

 

[VinceDee]

I have no sympathy whatsoever for CompUSA. They made their bed, so they can lay in it.

I went there one morning some years ago to buy something and when I walked in the manager was still giving his salespeople their morning "pep talk". Right in front of us customers he was telling them to make sure to push extra stuff onto the customers when they buy something. It's one thing to tell your sales people stuff like that in a closed door meeting but quite disgusting to say it right in front of customers. When I complained about this via email to their corporate office I got the silent treatment. Ever since then I haven't bought at CompUSA.

Their prices have always been unbelievably high. They are a corporation. They can afford to make better margins than a place like Frys, yet they choose to try to sell everything at retail and beyond.

Don't let the door hit you in the butt, CompUSA

 

[reerun]

Already closed stores near us in Seattle. Nearest one available is around 150 miles away in Portland. Hhmmm, no state tax there plus discounts might be an incentive to take the wife on a short 'getaway' to Portland this weekend...

 

[fleshconsumed]

reerun
I would advise you against it, unless you are going to Portland anyway. Most likely you'll be sadly disappointed with the "sale" and will be $40 out of gas.

 

[hans007]

Originally posted by: VinceDee
I have no sympathy whatsoever for CompUSA. They made their bed, so they can lay in it.

I went there one morning some years ago to buy something and when I walked in the manager was still giving his salespeople their morning "pep talk". Right in front of us customers he was telling them to make sure to push extra stuff onto the customers when they buy something. It's one thing to tell your sales people stuff like that in a closed door meeting but quite disgusting to say it right in front of customers. When I complained about this via email to their corporate office I got the silent treatment. Ever since then I haven't bought at CompUSA.

Their prices have always been unbelievably high. They are a corporation. They can afford to make better margins than a place like Frys, yet they choose to try to sell everything at retail and beyond.

Don't let the door hit you in the butt, CompUSA

uh how can they afford to make better margins than frys if they are bleeding money?

stores sell. they push extended warranties. the reason frys is around is because they serve a clientele that doesnt need extended warranties, and can genreally figure out what theya re doing. plus their volumes are much higher and they have way less overhead becuase they have less retail locations.

they reason compusa failed was becuase they didn't know what they wanted to be. they kept going from a "computer store" to a "poor mans best buy" to their latest strategy of "a brick and mortar store for corporate electronics purchases" (like a b&m cdw which was just plain dumb). they also had about a billion stores with overlapping areas for a long time since they stupidly bought computercity and the goodguy and ruined those companies.

 

[datwater]

I went to the Salem NH Compusa tonight and Processors are 20% off ... which brings them about the same as you'd pay online. Video cards are 10% off ... which makes them still too expensive. Most stuff was either 10 or 20% off. I asked when they would shut the doors. The girl said at the end of January, or when stock runs out - whichever comes first. Hopefully they'll make some deeper cuts after Christmas.

 

[indamixx99]

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: Vajurewi
Carlos Slim passed Gates and Buffett as the #1 billionaire earner in 1 year... but CompUSA still denies rebates with the best of 'em.

How do you think he became so rich?

CompUSA sends out layoff letters: bad service extends to employees, too

Wow, I need to find my layoff letter from the store closures earlier this year. I swear the letter was much more well written than this.

Also makes me wonder if the employees are getting severance packages for sticking around during the closures - since the company is going to be no longer. We were all offered severance packages, provided we stuck around to assist with the entire store closure. The General Manager received a pretty large package, plus a bonus depending on their shrink level (product lost due to theft or whatever) when the store finally closed.

 

[cweil]

Not too many good deals for a store that's going out of business.

 

[tbogstad]

I went to compusa yesterday, and it was 5% to 20% off with most stuff at 10% off, No real deals on anything, except maybe brand new video games that dont go onsale anywhere.

 

[Sesopedalian]

Originally posted by: chizow
If this closing is handled anything like last year's, it'll be months before you see any decent deals. I ended up snagging a copy of Vista Ultimate Upgrade though for $150, so no complaints here. They also had some Home versions for as little as $70-80 IIRC. There were also some pretty good deals on CPUs (which don't last long), along with some nice deals on Cases/DIY components (HSF, fans, PSUs etc).

Sad to see CompUSA go down even though they've definitely degraded over the years. I can't complain too much though, upgraded to a much more convenient MicroCenter where my CompUSA used to be. Here's to hoping Fry's comes to town next!

I waited for the deals and got the same thing at the same price. I think a liquidation company handled the sales for most of the time. Lasted forever.

 

[gpgofast]

Got a Core 2 Quad 6600 G0 stepping for $240. Not a screaming deal, but not bad either...GP

 

[manimal]

Originally posted by: gpgofast
Got a Core 2 Quad 6600 G0 stepping for $240. Not a screaming deal, but not bad either...GP

Thats not too shabby at all nice find!

 

[FTJoe]

Originally posted by: Sesopedalian
I waited for the deals and got the same thing at the same price. I think a liquidation company handled the sales for most of the time. Lasted forever.

It was a liquidation company, I assume they actually liquidated the COMPUSA inventory pretty quickly, but then started rotating in other stuff they must keep in a warehouse for these occasions. I never saw anything I wanted after the first week or two.

 

[uli2000]

Originally posted by: El Norm

Originally posted by: dds14u

Originally posted by: ActiveX
if Fry's came to New York or New Jersey, stores like Best Buy and Circuit City would be in serious trouble.

Stores like Best Buy and Circuit City have not been in seriuos trouble in the bay area...I don't see how it would be any different on the east coast if Fry's moved there.

Yeah pretty much. It's like this... If you know what you want, done your research, don't mind spending a little extra time and dont care about customer service, then go to Fry's. If you want a pleasant experience shopping with somewhat intelligent people that know answers to some of your questions then go to Best Buy.

Customer service might not seems that important but beleive me not everyone is as savy as many of the people here... and it's what has kept many stores like Best Buy and Circuit city open. Not to mention just the general atmosphere of the store.

Your talking about Best Buy? Where is this mythical BB you speak of, because every BB Ive ever been to has horrible customer service. What little 'tech' knowlege they have is severly biased by company reps that throw free stuff at the lemmings to push their products (Monster Cable, Blu-Ray, and Sony). And heaven forbid you dont buy the warrenty or get the free magazines or netflix or whatever else they are pimping at the register.

 

[imported_Newbie]

Stopped by my local (Dayton, Ohio) Circuit City and confimed that they were going out of business - 5% - 20% discounts right now - no liquidators at this time. I spoke to one of the employees and he said that they were planning on shutting the doors in February - they are even selling the display stands, racks and cabinets that everything is sitting on.

 

[hans007]

Originally posted by: uli2000

Originally posted by: El Norm

Originally posted by: dds14u

Originally posted by: ActiveX
if Fry's came to New York or New Jersey, stores like Best Buy and Circuit City would be in serious trouble.

Stores like Best Buy and Circuit City have not been in seriuos trouble in the bay area...I don't see how it would be any different on the east coast if Fry's moved there.

Yeah pretty much. It's like this... If you know what you want, done your research, don't mind spending a little extra time and dont care about customer service, then go to Fry's. If you want a pleasant experience shopping with somewhat intelligent people that know answers to some of your questions then go to Best Buy.

Customer service might not seems that important but beleive me not everyone is as savy as many of the people here... and it's what has kept many stores like Best Buy and Circuit city open. Not to mention just the general atmosphere of the store.

Your talking about Best Buy? Where is this mythical BB you speak of, because every BB Ive ever been to has horrible customer service. What little 'tech' knowlege they have is severly biased by company reps that throw free stuff at the lemmings to push their products (Monster Cable, Blu-Ray, and Sony). And heaven forbid you dont buy the warrenty or get the free magazines or netflix or whatever else they are pimping at the register.

I live in the bay area and have been to a few best buys here.

union city = good
mountain view = good

emeryville / oakland = worst best buy i've ever been to in my life.

 

[ProfJohn]

Visited the one in south Orlando today.

Nothing worth talking about. Just a bunch of know nothings buying everything at a 10% discount thinking they are getting a good deal.

Used my phones browser to looks up the net price on a Samsung display and found they were still higher than Newegg, and that was before Newegg rebate.

May go back near end of year and looks for Epson printer.
Nice wide format one has a $50 rebate from Epson and I counted the number in stock. Might get lucky and get it near half price and get the $50 back.

Until they hit 40 or 50% off it is not worth the effort in my view.

 

[djnsmith7]

I don't know what their service levels were like in other parts of the country, but they had 2 stores here in San Jose that were close to me...One had pretty good customer service (Blossom Hill) & the other one was absolutely horrible...I mean, I went there once & never even considered going back...(Stevens Creek Blvd)...I'd seriously place that store at the very top of my ABSOLUTELY WORST STORES TO SHOP AT list...

I'm not surprised nor sad to see them leave...That Stevens Creek store had no business being open...All of their staff on the day I was there (pretty busy Saturday), but no excuse for completely ignoring about 10 of their customers...We all stood in line waiting for something or another while the employees huddled up behind a register for a customer's issue...Never once said they'd be right with us, never once apologized, never once even acknowledged a line of 10 people...

Anyway, they closed months ago...

 

[RKS]

When I got my spanking new 486DX2 and after getting a trial membership to AOL loaded I headed straight for a awesome CompUSA to get a copy of Myst. IIIRC it was close to Christmas and I loved being in that store. It was like a geeks' North Pole.

At that point online vendors didn't seem too prevalent and there was only a MIcroCenter in the area and both stores had high prices. While I'll never patronized that CUSA I am still saddened to see them go out of business but not enough to get ripped off by their prices (unless there is a shelf/display stand that might be cool in the garage).

 

[Glavinsolo]

Is it 10% off the compusa warranties too?

 

[tracerbullet]

Originally posted by: ProfJohn
Visited the one in south Orlando today.

Nothing worth talking about. Just a bunch of know nothings buying everything at a 10% discount thinking they are getting a good deal.

Used my phones browser to looks up the net price on a Samsung display and found they were still higher than Newegg, and that was before Newegg rebate.

May go back near end of year and looks for Epson printer.
Nice wide format one has a $50 rebate from Epson and I counted the number in stock. Might get lucky and get it near half price and get the $50 back.

Until they hit 40 or 50% off it is not worth the effort in my view.

Well put

When the Minnesota stores closed, it was the same thing. I don't know what they were basing 10% or 20% "off" prices on, but even at that it was barely equal, sometimes not even equal, to shopping online and in some cases just driving to BB or CC. The shelves started to clear out anyways though, somebody thought they were getting a deal apparently.

By the time things were at 40% or 50% it was just a bunch of crap no one wanted like CD wallets, cell phone cases, nickel and dime stuff that wasn't worth a trip.

I was in Knoxville TN this weekend and just scoffed when I drove by the guys hired from the local temp agency to stand out on Kingston Pike and hold up the signs. I've have been to a C-usa several times, about once a week for a month during their "closing sale" and it was a complete waste of time.

 

[foolish501]

Went to my local store yesterday, and what a mess ! Was hoping to get some deals on some blank disks, but the online price is not being honored in store any longer. Saw somebody pay $380 for a Geforce 8800GTS 320mb, and was going on to his friend about it being a steal, and yet the 8800GT was $110 cheaper and he wouldn't listen to me when i told him the 8800GT was faster. Also was the only store in my area that had Rock Band in stock, and was selling for $150, had to keep my wallet in my pocket