CompUSA Pwnd Itself
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I still remember the first time I walked into a CompUSA - it was in Des Moines, Iowa. For the first time in my life, I felt like a store had been made just for me. Granted, I couldn’t afford anything inside (but that wasn’t the point).
Best Buy satisfied several needs at once - entertainment, computing, etc. Remember when they had an aisle full of minidiscs sitting across from the cassette tapes? Those were the good ol’ days.
Can’t say I was surprised to hear that CompUSA was closing its stores - it’s always been overpriced, and I don’t remember ever being completely keen on its brand (over all others). Mind you, I took a winter job at Best Buy once (and was almost fired from that position when I refused to sell Packard Bell machines).
I hit the Bellevue CompUSA a few weeks ago, just to see if I could snag any deals (and wound up scoring 20% off a business-class Linksys Gigabit Ethernet wireless G router which I’ve yet to install). This weekend, Ponzi and I spotted a sign for a 90% closeout sale on software still on the shelves - so we stopped by and found… nothing.
Click the image to see a larger version of the sign. Ironic?
Some pundits might argue that this turn of events was due to a market downturn, or increased competition. I’d argue that CompUSA pwnd itself. Like I said before, it was far from the cheapest option in town - and I’d only use it as a last-ditch effort, or when I needed to get something and it was convenient.
[tags]bestbuy, compusa[/tags]
5 Comments
marc klink
May 18th, 2007
at 7:21pm
Forgive my nescience, but ‘pwnd’?
Ron Kladzan
May 19th, 2007
at 6:19am
About CompUSA
Didn’t ya ever get the Sunday paper and they’d have like a whole page of stuff that would end up being free after rebates and you’d get to the store 30 minutes before it opened and there’d be a line waiting to getting in. When they finally opened the doors it was like a cattle stampeed.
Granted, I’d spend 200 bucks or so. But over the next 3 months I’d end up getting it back in dribs and drabs…5, 10, and 20 dollar checks
I miss the good ole days
Ron
ps Most of it was crap that I never used anyway…It was just the fact of getting something for nothing. I usually gave the stuff away
Larry Tullos
May 19th, 2007
at 10:05am
The original incarnation of CompUSA was a little store in Addison, TX called SoftWarehouse, and had to be one of the first retail software stores in the US. I don’t remember the year, I do remember my first visit one Saturday morning. The store was basically one small room with software stocked on the four walls and you stood in line as it moved it’s way through the room and out the door. The checkout was a card table and single cash register (or maybe even cash box - I don’t remember). Prices were cheap and the place was magical for the moment! Then after a couple of years they sold the place, started the expansion and it sadly became CompUSA.
Kevin
May 19th, 2007
at 5:41pm
Apparently not all stores are closing. The one in West Des Moines is open and as far as the manager knows there is no intention of closing it. I know that big business has a tendency of informing the employees last, but please have the facts right before telling us CompUSA is closing all it’s stores. I know the piece does not specifically say all the stores are closing but it is implied.
B. Lyons
May 20th, 2007
at 5:53pm
Hey Chris,
I worked asa repair tech in the Paramus,NJ store of which we had 2 stores in the same town. We did over $30,000.00 a week and they closed both stores but they kept a store in Manahawkin open which had only OLD people of which I am one (66). I blame incompetent upper management on this cluster@#%#%%. I do agree that we were over priced nad the sales mostly were a joke although you could get a GREAT DEAL once in a while. Of course the store has been replaced by a new “MICRO CENTER STORE” 2 towns away and it is a real dream store. A gamer’s delight and also a BYO (build your own) dream store. It carries at least 5 different raid cards including one which is for PCIe. Amazing!
I can’t wait to get another job so I can spend some of it there.