[TriLUG] CompUSA from the POV of the NY Times' David Pogue

[Ron Joffe]

Please, Please, bring back the StayOnLine stores 

Ron



On Friday 09 March 2007 11:41, OlsonE at aosa.army.mil wrote:
> I totally agree with David Pogue! If there were a Fry's to move in, I
> think I'd go bankrupt! Even worse ...if NewEgg decided to ever have a
> store... TigerDirect would be going down in flames.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: trilug-bounces at trilug.org [mailto:trilug-bounces at trilug.org] On
> Behalf Of tomed at bellsouth.net
> Sent: Friday, March 09, 2007 11:32 AM
> To: trilug at trilug.org
> Subject: [TriLUG] CompUSA from the POV of the NY Times' David Pogue
>
> 1. From the Desk of David Pogue: The Gutting of CompUSA
> ==========================================================
>
> Did you hear? In the next couple of months, CompUSA will be closing over
> half of its 225 stores.
>
> You can find a list of the doomed stores here
> (http://www.compusa.com/locations/closing_stores.asp), if you're
> interested.
>
> But something tells me that if anyone were actually interested, those
> stores wouldn't be closing.
>
> This may sound a little harsh--but frankly, I've never quite understood
> how CompUSA stayed in business to begin with. Most of the stores I've
> visited have been sterile and soulless, and pervaded by a feeling of
> abandonment. You'd think a gearhead like me would get all excited to be
> there, but for some reason, I just can't wait to get out.
>
> Here's the official reason the chain is shuttering 128 stores, as it
> appears in a statement by Roman Ross, CompUSA's
> CEO: "Based on changing conditions in the consumer retail electronics
> markets, the company identified the need to close and sell stores with
> low performance or nonstrategic, old store layouts and locations faced
> with market saturation."
>
> Well, whatever.
>
> I think the real culprit behind the gutting of CompUSA is Internet
> pricing. You can order computers, accessories and electronics from the
> Web for a fraction of CompUSA's in-store prices--and evidently, most
> people are doing exactly that.
> (It's not just CompUSA, by the way. Circuit City is closing 70 stores,
> too. And don't forget the 30-year-old Good Guys
> chain--46 electronics stores in California--which CompUSA bought in 2003
> and then closed in 2005.)
>
> Even among retail shops, though, I've found CompUSA to be overpriced.
> One day last year, I stopped in to a CompUSA to buy an Ethernet cable;
> the least expensive one they had was $25. I found a $6 cable next
> door--at a Home Depot.
> But what about the old argument that local shops offer hand- holding,
> friendly advice and personal service?
>
> Well, there may be CompUSA employees who provide all that.
> But I haven't met many of them.
>
> In 1999, I wrote an article about CompUSA for a computer magazine. I
> visited CompUSA stores in five states, posing as a computer novice and
> asking questions. I tallied up some of the ridiculously misinformed
> remarks made by the CompUSA sales staff. My favorite: "That computer
> doesn't have a level cache." (I believe he meant a Level 2 cache, but
> what the heck--maybe the thing really was a little tilted.)
>
> The company's corporate spokesperson at the time acknowledged, "Getting
> staff is a problem across the board.
> We need specialized talent; finding it can be a challenge."
> Between her lines, you could read the truth: technology experts are in
> demand everywhere. At $6.50 an hour (what CompUSA was paying at the
> time), you're not going to attract many people who, ahem, excel in both
> personal and technical skills.
>
> It's really a shame that CompUSA managed to fritter away its ubiquity
> and name-brand advantages. Despite the Internet's price pressure,
> there's a crying need for local computer stores; the average person's
> sense of technological helplessness is growing these days, not
> shrinking.
>
> Besides, Internet or no, it's not impossible to create a successful
> computer chain. I've never been to a Fry's computer store--it's a
> regional chain with no stores in my region--but it has armies of loyal
> fans.
>
> Maybe a corporate analyst can say what's wrong with CompUSA's business
> model from a spreadsheet standpoint. But it shouldn't take an MBA to
> spot the greater problems; just checking out these forlorn warehouses
> and sullen salespeople ought to make the problems perfectly clear.
>
> Even now, as over half of the stores prepare to shut down, CompUSA
> misses an opportunity to be customer-friendly. Its final offer isn't
> much of a fire sale: 10 percent off everything in the shuttered
> store--and no returns.
> -----
> Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company
>
>
>
>
>
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