CompUSA takes Another Shot at Retail

[Guest]

The new CompUSA has emerged from bankruptcy and is now slowly returning to the brick-and-mortar retail scene. However, the Systemax-owned company is pushing a new "retail 2.0" philosophy.

CompUSA takes Another Shot at Retail : Read more

 

[fancarolina]

Why not change the name to the TigerDirect Store, cash in on some brand regonition?

 

[tayb]

It doesn't matter about "Retail Experience 2.0" if the prices aren't competitive. I really don't think having the ability to browse the web on a display laptop is going to convince too many people to buy their if it can be found cheaper elsewhere.

 

[LATTEH]

if one opens up by me i will go and apply there so it doesn't get assholes

 

[dconnors]

[citation][nom]tayb[/nom]It doesn't matter about "Retail Experience 2.0" if the prices aren't competitive. I really don't think having the ability to browse the web on a display laptop is going to convince too many people to buy their if it can be found cheaper elsewhere.[/citation]

According to the original interview, the prices @ the physical retail stores will be identical to the prices available on TigerDirect's website. If Systemax stays true to this, the prices we see in the new stores should be on par with other e-tailers like NewEgg and ZZF.

-Devin

 

[Guest]

I use to work for both Compusas. The one prior to the closesure was cool. The staff was excellent, everyone was upbeat. As much as I hated the morning sunday meetings, the staff were like hanging with your bestfriends. All in all the old Compusa was fun to work for.

But after being there when they were bought from System max in 2008, it all went to hell. The management was rude, and inexperienced. Most of the staff who were there with me from the old compusa all either quit or got fired, not because of their behavior but because HR doesnt listen to employee complaints. Senority means nothing. I seen people who worked for compusa for over 5+ years, and being let go like it was nothing. When they let go of me over some bs, I was so happy to leave that place. All the management in the South florida area changed. Hell the district manager quit. I was the guy who everyone in the store would come to if they had a question, and thankfully I was able to answer them.

The only reason I still shop there is because their prices blow the typical BB, Target, Wal-mart, prices in the water. The prices mimic what Newegg, amazon, and zipzoomfly sells their items for. I just bought a 42" plasma panny from Compusa two months ago. BB had that same tv for $450 more then what Tiger/Compusa was selling. I was able to walk in the store and buy it without delivery charges.

 

[hotroderx]

We have a compusa near us and the pricing is extremely good. I have bought parts from them because its cheaper then newegg.com in some cases a special since newegg raised there shipping rates. Not to mention they sell OEM items which is NICE why pay retail for a hard drive or floppy cable or usb cable seriously? They also offer computer parts I mean like parts parts as in built a full PC for a client who needed it asap (mission critical system went down needed it up in less then 24hrs) No way newegg or bestbuy could have done that and mom and pop shops would have cost a mini fortune.

 

[tayb]

[citation][nom]dconnors[/nom]According to the original interview, the prices @ the physical retail stores will be identical to the prices available on TigerDirect's website. If Systemax stays true to this, the prices we see in the new stores should be on par with other e-tailers like NewEgg and ZZF.-Devin[/citation]

I don't see how that is possible without operating with a much smaller margin or even a loss. You have to consider the costs of building the stores, powering them, the losses they took on display units, shipping the items to the store, paying the employees, etc. Maybe they are raking in hoards of money from TigerDirect and can afford to make less money to get the name back out there but I just don't see how it is possible. I know that they can be competitive but matching newegg and TigerDirect online prices? That would be a sight to see.

 

[mamw93]

They are in odd places. They jumped from Florida to North Carolina and skipped Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina. Weird... but it could mean that they will fill the gap at some point. I would love to have one in my area, (Montgomery, Alabama) so I didn't have to order for those weird parts that only they sell.

 

[michaelahess]

[citation][nom]fancarolina[/nom]Why not change the name to the TigerDirect Store, cash in on some brand regonition?[/citation]


Because anyone who knows on-line retailers will know not to buy anything associated with Tiger Direct, course they wouldn't buy anything at CompuUSA either

TigerDirect is the Best Buy of eTailers.

 

[jivdis1x]

The new compusa is great. Prices are very close to newegg. When newegg charge shipping it would be almost identical. The plus side to Compusa, no need to waiting for shipment. No RMA for returns.

 

[dzeric]

I really hope they come back to northern Virginia, they were my favorite brick-and-mortar electronics store. (however now that I've found newegg, I'm not positive I'd go back for everything.)

 

[chief5286]

I'll say this much. I miss the CompUSA store that closed a year or two ago here in Pittsburgh. Especially when I was building my rig a short while back.

The old Compusa had some good sales, but more than that, it was a place where I could go and know there was a decent chance they'd have computer parts, from name brand psus, to gpus, hdds, etc.

 

[B-Unit]

I miss CompUSA because it was the last bastion of a real PC games section.

 

[megamanx00]

Yup, the old CompUSA had a good PC game section. I also liked the Circuit City PC game section as older games got discounted quickly ^_^. Anyway this isn't exactly new news since CompUSA has been operating for a while since Tiger Direct bought them out. They have a pretty good selection of parts and the prices aren't too bad. Newegg is generally cheaper, but if you need something that day then CompUSA is a good place to go now. I got 22" HP my monitor there because it was on sale ^_^.

 

[falchard]

Bad news for Best Buy if they can keep that pricing.

 

[greliu]

I actually have a compusa right up the street from my home in Fort Myers Florida. It's great, and their prices on many items only cost a couple bucks more at most when compared to newegg. As for best buy... they just suck..

 

[blackened144]

The CompUSA in Deerfield Beach, FL was only closed for a few weeks. After it opened back up under SystemMax I happened to be looking to buy a new TV. I actually bought the Sceptre 46" 1080P for $800 from CompUSA but it looked like crap when i got it home. CompUSA let me return it at no cost and purchase another TV. I ended up getting the LG 42" Scarlett. For $380 less than everywhere else. And all the prices I saw there are indeed the same prices you will find online.

 

[yoda8232]

Just dump CompUSA and make it TigerDirect.

 

[deltatux]

More competition the better.

As for changing the name from CompUSA to TigerDirect, I think there's a reason behind that. The brand TigerDirect is viewed as a computer warehouse while CompUSA (there are none in Canada for obvious reasons) is viewed as a retail chain name.

I usually never shop at TigerDirect, their prices are always higher than electronic stores and Canada Computers (the only brick and mortar computer-only chain I know of).

 

[yoda8232]

[citation][nom]deltatux[/nom]More competition the better.As for changing the name from CompUSA to TigerDirect, I think there's a reason behind that. The brand TigerDirect is viewed as a computer warehouse while CompUSA (there are none in Canada for obvious reasons) is viewed as a retail chain name.I usually never shop at TigerDirect, their prices are always higher than electronic stores and Canada Computers (the only brick and mortar computer-only chain I know of).[/citation]

Yeah Canada Computers is really good, but prices aren't always better then go back and forth.

 

[jaragon13]

Competetion with best buy? Impossible, they don't have 1,000's of stores to show.
Hell, there isn't a store _IN MY STATE_
Meanwhile, there is probably 15 best buys.

 

[shoota]

The CompUSA here only lets you connect to the "internet" page of the specific product you're looking at, that means no price checking in the store. The prices are actually pretty decent but the selection sux. They seriously need to dump the Ultra and Thermaltake products sans cases.

 

[tayb]

[citation][nom]demonhorde665[/nom]simple phrase for you 99.9 % of retials mark stuff up about 200- 300 + percent seriously , i used to work at wal mart as well as a few otehr stores and have compared theirr stock sheets , those 10-15 dollar t shirts walmart sells , cosed the company a meesly 5 cents each shirt, target will pay like 200-300 dollars for a 1200 dollar tv , it's all about bulk and truth , and teh simple truth is things are marked up many times over what it would cost to run the overhead of a store even at online web sites !!!! so it will be NO kiler to buisness for them to offer the web pricing , particularly since they are putting these in malls (ie small stores low employee roster)[/citation]

I've worked in retail before and know that isn't the case. There are a lot of things that are marked up heavily in electronics such as cables and accessories but the big ticket items don't get a huge mark up. Margin on laptops, desktops, and printers is small whereas margin on the RAM, Hard Drive, blank Media, USC Cable, etc is HUGE. There is more margin on a television but still not a lot to work with. Movies are sometimes sold as a LOSS to the store to try and get customers in, video games are sold for practically zero profit as are game consoles, etc. Not everything in the store is a margin machine certainly not 99.9% of it. The things that aren't generally marked down very much are the things that people buy most often and get people into the store.

No one buys a product based on how cheap the accessories are.

 

[RazberyBandit]

I like this idea! In the world of computers, CompUSA was a cornerstone for a very long time. When Dell first started, CompUSA was their window to the world. Such a great window that Dell grew enough to do their own distribution.

I really wish CompUSA had avoided adding all the high-end home electronics and such to their stores. It was a PC store, and as such, they should have stuck to the business the company knew best - PC's. Maybe they'd still be around in their old form if they had.

Anyways, I love the idea of bringing in these smaller stores. Hopefully, these smaller stores will still have a variety of items and selections within each type. It'd be nice to have a place like that around, so I'm hopeful they build one near me. (That's west of Charlotte, NC, in Gastonia or even Belmont.) Durham is almost 3 hours away, Raleigh is 3.5. At that distance, the cost of going there is similar to FedEx or UPS 2-3 day delivery on most items, and it eats up most of my day off. The Charlotte area seems like a logical stepping stone... Are you listening, Mr. Fiorentino?