CompUSA Stores to Shut After Holidays

[Ben]

Nuts. Although they obviously don't have the best deals in town, it's my only local option -- no Fry's or similar less than an hour away. The one here is 5 minutes from my house, so it was pretty convenient if I needed something NOW and didn't want to wait for Internet delivery. Plus when I've needed something quick for work, they have the "tax exempt" thing down. It takes the local Staples 30 minutes and three employees to figure that out everytime I go in there.

The one here has always been packed. In fact in the past I've shaken my head to see so many people buy stuff at 25% higher plus tax than they could get it for online (then again, maybe they were all like me and needed something right away).

http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/12/10/plug-pulled-on-compusa-retailer-to-close-by-years-end/

[Manedwolf]

The one here was a ghost town. Ridiculously high prices, inattentive salespeople.

$49 for an SDcard reader? Full price on all games? "Clearance" that consisted of about $10 off an item without a box or half the parts? Yeeeeahno.

[mtnbkr]

They've been closed in this area for some time.  The stores were always dirty, poorly stocked, and overpriced.  We still have Microcenter, which is also dirty and a bit overpriced, but they have a fantastic selection.

Chris

[ilbob]

I used to like the local compusa and bought a fair amount of stuff there.

But as the employees got less skilled and more surly, and the advertised specials were always out, I stopped going.

Plenty of other places to buy things.

[Manedwolf]

The only thing that I think is a shame is that there will be no clearance on their Apple stuff when the stores close. That goes back to Apple.

[HankB]

Comp USA? High prices and ONE guy at the exit - on a crowded day! - who expected me to stand in line and wait for him to check my receipt against the merchandise that I'd already paid for.

He got a might upset when I just walked past him . . . and even more upset when everyone else proceeded to do so as well. 

Haven't gone back in quite a while, and I imagine a lot of other folks felt the same way; hence, they're closing.

The radio announcement said it was a Mexican businessman who owned the chain and made the decision to close . . . hmmm . . .

[MillCreek]

I was always underwhelmed by the CompUSA stores in the Seattle area: overpriced and often out of stock of what I was looking for.  In recent years, they had significantly cut inventory of computer equipment/software in favor of Xbox/Wii games and hardware, so I had even less reason to go.

[Ben]

The one by me must be out of the ordinary (except for the high prices). Always clean and actually has knowledgeable staff (at least to the point of knowing where stuff is and not giving me the blank stare when I ask for a specific item that's not a mouse, keyboard, or monitor).

Possibly because it's really close to and services the local university. The byproduct of which is a good portion of their sales staff is composed of women with that "nerdy hot girl" look.

[Bogie]

The majority of the floor monkeys at the one here were gamerz... Didn't know crap about business needs, and would get upset if you suggested that they go play with their joystick display...

"Yes. I need a system to run XP. No. I do not want Vista. No, I do not care about the the see-through glowing case. Lots of RAM, lots of speed. And XP."

[Cromlech]

If they were serious gamers they wouldn't be recommending Vista. From a gaming perspective, there is no DX10 game out that shows enough in DX10 mode to justify Vista. Even for Crysis you can obtain almost identical results with a .cfg file edit.

As you said, "Lots of RAM, lots of speed. And XP." is where it is at. I want to get a laptop for internet, and classic games that are getting on a bit (Fallout series, System Shock series, Deus Ex, Worms etcetera).

No way in hell would I want Vista for that. 

[jefnvk]

When the one went out of business in Grand Rapids, I paid $4 for a store fixture power cord on clearance, as I desperatly needed one then and it was still much cheaper than an new one from Best Buy 

[Brad Johnson]

Well, maybe the prices at the Going Out of Business sale will finally be .... reasonable.

Our local store is about like those described above.  Sparsely staffed, poorly organized, and not price-competitive.  Seems their reason for existance was to be a brick-and-morter store carrying a selection of components most BigBox stores don't stock (system boards, power supplies, high-end vid cars, etc).

Brad

[MechAg94]

A Fry's opened a few miles from the one I am familiar with.  Bigger, better selection, better prices. 

[atomd]

Good riddance. There was one near where I used to live. I went in and bought something once. On my way out, there was a security guard stationed at the exit. He was dressed in the exact same uniform as the local pd (even the hat with badge and duty belt) except no gun. His job was to pull everything out of the bags, check each item on the receipt, and then allow the person to leave (yes, they used to do that to EVERY customer). He just about lost his mind when I refused to stop. He followed me outside and watched me get into my car, writing down my license plate #.

I sent a letter about it but did not hear back from them. I wasn't the only person who had a problem with that policy I guess. Shortly after they switched their bags to a completely see-through bag and stopped checking people at the exit. I still never bought anything from them after that though. Anyone who treats me like a suspect instead of a customer won't get my business. That's also one of the many reasons why I won't get on a commercial flight anymore either.

[Finch]

I think I've shopped there twice. I made the mistake of asking a clerk about linux drivers. That got me a pitch about why linux is on it's way out and vista will be the most stable resource effecient OS out there - and I had to preorder it NOW!

From a news article on the subject - "On top of the competitive pressures, CompUSA was infamous for its cold-hearted corporate culture. That led to disloyal employees, high turnover, and an unfriendly in-store environment. I don't know anyone who'll cry hard over the departure of the so-called "CompUSSR," except for the current employees. And perhaps not even them." 

So for me it's just NewEgg or Fry's. I hate going to FRY's. It's like walmart for technology. But they do have awesome deals.