As part of a broad restructuring CompUSA said today that it will close 126 of its 229 U.S. stores in the next 2-3 months, including all but 8 in California. All 4 stores in San Diego, where I live, will soon close, as they apparently were among the poor-perfomers. As part of the restructuring, CompUSA will receive a $440 million cash infusion, which may strike some as throwing good money after bad.
Some of you are probably wondering what this has to do with HDTV since CompUSA is mostly a computers/networking shop. And therein lies part of the problem. About three years ago the retailer made a move to enter the consumer electronics market, stocking its stores with plasma TVs and the like in an effort to better compete with Best Buy, Circuit City and Fry's.
That effort has been a dismal failure. I don't know anyone who's ever bought an HDTV at CompUSA; indeed with the name of the store, most people wouldn't even think to look there. The CE and PC retail market segments are so competitive that this company is going to have to seriously rethink its strategy if it has any hopes of keeping the remaining 103 stores open for any length of time.
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2 comments:
There isn't a CompUSA any place close to here. When I lived in St.Louis I went to one...pretty expensive.
Keith
http://www.eHDMI.com
I loved my CompUSA...they had the little computer parts that you couldn't usually find in other big box stores. If I needed a new CPU fan or a new case and I couldn't afford to wait 3 days to Newegg it, I always went to CompUSA. Sometimes they even beat a Newegg deal. I got my Antec P180 case for $100 after a $60 instant rebate. Newegg wanted $120.
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