[geeks] End of the line for CompUSA

[Shannon Hendrix]

On Dec 15, 2007, at 2:54 PM, wa2egp at att.net wrote:

> -------------- Original message ----------------------
> From: Lionel Peterson <lionel4287 at verizon.net>
>>
>>> From: hike <mh1272 at gmail.com>
>>> Date: 2007/12/13 Thu AM 08:05:06 CST
>>> To: The Geeks List <geeks at sunhelp.org>
>>> Subject: Re: [geeks] End of the line for CompUSA
>>
>> <snip>
>>
>>> the discounts should deepen as the close date gets closer.
>>
>> And the selection will stink very soon - anything with real value  
>> will hold
>> it's value until the very end (i.e. laptops will see minimal  
>> discounts, and
>> most will be "open box", the sealed laptops having been sold off to  
>> a third
>> party (the Mfg.?). What is intersting is the complete garbage  
>> they'll pull out
>> of the back of the store (like old PII desktops, etc.).
>>
>> That is what it was like when the Princeton, NJ CompUSA closed  
>> earlier this
>> year.
>
> I'll agree with this.  Same thing happened in the store in  
> Springfield, NJ.
> The only thing that I got as a real deal was my Canon Rebel XTi  
> camera for
> about $600.  The first one was partially fried and they gave me a  
> new one.
> They tried to dump the busted one and had only one box in the  
> display.  When
> I returned, they had three more in sealed boxes. Gotcha! :)

I went to the local CompUSA earlier, Saturday, and I was shocked at  
how high the prices were.

What discount?

Nearly all of the prices were higher, despite being labeled as 10% off.

Yes, some things like software were discounted over normal, but most  
of their items go on sale every Sunday, and there were no sales at  
all, making the average prices quite a bit higher than normal.

One nice thing, the only one I could see: they store was very well  
labeled and organized.  Before it was always a mess with missing  
labels, poor stock layout, etc.  If they'd operated like this for the  
last few years, they might not be selling out.

Really underwhelmed.

Just for example: 300GB Seagate SATA drive: $190, clearance price.

Next door at Best Buy, 500GB for $180.

Really.

Oh wait... it was always like that... :)

NOTE: that was not an endorsement of Best Buy.  I also went there for  
an hour or so, and endured the usual clueless workers, extreme noise  
level, confusing and cluttered layout, mostly low quality products,  
and weak selection that I've come to expect from "super" stores.

Honestly... I went in several stores, and all I could think of is how  
far downhill they have all gone just in the last 10 years.


-- 
Shannon Hendrix
shannon at widomaker.com