CompUSA

[riffjim4069]

I am hearing a rumor that Circuit City will be rebranded "The City" over the next year. For computer parts and supplies, Crcuit Cities prices suck.

But for TV's their prices are not bad if you get them on sale.

This is actually old news. My wife got stuck doing a strategic audit on the floating turd known as "The sh!tty". As much as we dislike Best Buy, they are 100x better than any of our experiences at Circuit City. The only time I ever shop at CC is when they screw-up their promotions and accept a coupon at the same time. I picked up two Tivo HD DVRs earlier this month for $199 each...which was barely worth the pain & suffering I experienced dealing with their goof-ball staff.

Recent Circuit City Shopping Experience:

I noticed a 5-hour deal on the CC website soon after reading about a $40 coupon offer at Tivocommunity.com. I tried to order this online and via phone operator, but their system wouldn't accept the $40 coupon. I ran over to a local Circuit City and got the a Tivo HD for $199.99 ($239.99 5-hour deal minus $40 coupon). It was such a such a good deal I went back and bought another one after loading my car. Two THDs for $399.98. My only complaint is Circuit City's unprofessionalism and complete inability to service customers. I walked around the store three times and nobody broke away from their smoke & joke sessions to ask if I needed assistance. When I finally cornered an associate who was elbow-deep into tucking his shirt back down his pants in the middle of the store, he pointed in the direction of three associates, who were busy slapping/pinching one another, and said, "I am just a trainee...you will need to talk to one of those goof-balls." Sorry to say, my speaking to associates Moe, Larry and Curly was was the highlight of my CC visit since customer service was an even worse experience. It was a painful reminded of why I quit shopping at CC long ago.

Yep, the customer service desk (often unmanned for several minutes at a time) was a 30 minute fiasco. And the manager, who raided the candy and soda-pop isle behind the checkout counter...TWICE...during my wait, didn't even bother to see why people were standing in line. I glared at the chubby-bastard twice while standing in line with my Tivo HD. Afterwards, when I went in his office to inform him or my horrible shopping experience, he didn't seem one bit surprised or concerned...and he certainly didn't take ownership of the problem nor give me the impression that my shopping experience was more important than his stuffing more fat pills down his yap.

 

[Van]

What do you expect guys making slightly above minimum wage to do, be professional? Theres no diference between retail stores and fast food other than a uniform and the size of the building, training usually takes less than 30 minutes and getting 4o hours is a pipe dream at best.

 

[navychop]

"CompUSA is closing stores in Tysons Corner, Fairfax, Alexandria, Woodbridge, Rockville and Gaithersburg as part of a restructuring under which 126 stores nationwide will close. The realignment will leave the Dallas computer-store chain with 103 stores in 39 states." Well, those are all the closest ones to me. I noticed that the one in Woodbridge was gone a few weeks ago. I remember when they were SoftWarehouse...they were the greatest thing around back then.

At least we have MicroCenter!

 

[Bob Haller]

At least we have MicroCenter!

do note ALL comp usa are closing nationwide, another retail failure

 

[IcEWoLF]

The only CompUSA in Reno,Nevada is closing.
There are some good deals going, I think I am going to take advantage of this!

 

[IcEWoLF]

An item in today's (2007-03-01) Washington Post noted that CompUSA is closing over half of its stores:



Is this the beginning of the end for CompUSA? I'd hate to see it go.

Consumer electronics store CompUSA is sold; will close all stores
<SCRIPT LANGUAGE='JavaScript1.1'>if (document.layers) {document.write('<SCR' + 'IPT language=JavaScript1.1 SRC=/Global/ad.asp?type=single&cls1=News&src1=loc&spct1=100&sz1=wnsz_20&callType=script />'); document.close();}</SCRIPT>

Associated Press - December 7, 2007 11:43 PM ET
DALLAS (AP) - Consumer electronics retailer CompUSA says it will close its stores after the holidays.
The announcement follows the sale of the company to an affiliate of Gordon Brothers Group, a restructuring firm.
CompUSA operates 103 stores, which plan to run store-closing sales. It says discussions are under way to sell certain stores in key markets. Stores that can't be sold will be closed.
Dallas-based CompUSA has struggled for nearly a decade with falling prices on personal computers, its most important product, and competition from big-box retailers such as Best Buy.
CompUSA closed more than half its stores this spring.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Link: KTVN Channel 2 - Reno Tahoe News Weather, Video - Consumer electronics store CompUSA is sold; will close all stores

 

[TheForce]

Have not seen any evidence their "Everything Must Go" sale is working. The shelves are packed and only a few people buying. Their prices are still just too high to get anyone excited. I wonder what they will be doing on 12/31 if the store is still stocked full of stuff. Stay open?

There are a couple of things I wnat to get but I want to see those 75% off signs go up first.

 

[jtn]

I don't think there are special closing sales before new years. The stock goes back to the vendors for reassignment.

 

[jwfgeol]

CompUSA in Knoxville has everything marked down "up to" 30%. Most of the big items are 10%.

 

[yaz96]

"CompUSA is closing stores in Tysons Corner, Fairfax, Alexandria, Woodbridge, Rockville and Gaithersburg as part of a restructuring under which 126 stores nationwide will close. The realignment will leave the Dallas computer-store chain with 103 stores in 39 states." Well, those are all the closest ones to me. I noticed that the one in Woodbridge was gone a few weeks ago. I remember when they were SoftWarehouse...they were the greatest thing around back then.

This is the old press release info from Feb-March when they closed half the stores. They are now closing ALL the stores. There will be no more CompUSA.

As to the stores closing Dec. 31st, this was never the plan, they will close when everything is sold out, including fixtures. The estimate is late January to mid-February. When they closed the first batch of stores, they(Gordon Brothers liquidators) never went below 40% off.

 

[IcEWoLF]

I don't think there are special closing sales before new years. The stock goes back to the vendors for reassignment.

It would cost them way more money to send the items back to the vendors.
Now, I believe they will send the real expensive stuff back to the vendors, but I don't think items that are @ mid price range would be sent back.

 

[ChrisPC]

All you guys with Fry's, Microcenter, etc., are lucky. We don't have anything here but CompUSA, BB and CC.

The local CompUSA is pretty decent. It's bigger than most of their stores, so it has more selection. I just got an $800 5.1 speaker setup for about $500!