News Inside Micro Center's new North Carolina superstore

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Seriously, why can't we get one of these in Oregon? We've got the silicon forest, and guess what? Intel's HQ is right here! Bestbuy sucks for the newest tech. We had a frys, but they seemed more like a huge radio shack. Please, Micro Center!!!!
 
Your story made me think of the Comp USA store that was in north Raleigh in the 90's, and Incredible Universe that was a collaboration with I believe Radio Shack and some other brands trying to compete with Circuit City, Rex and other stores. Anyone remember Egghead software stores? Because electronics became commodity, all of these types of stores died out, with Best Buy a holdout.

I think a Frys and Micro Center would do very well in the RTP area.
 
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IME unless you live close by the no online orders policy for popular merchandise is a royal PITA. I'll actually pay the same or a few dollars more to not be forced to drive an hour or more in each direction to make a purchase.
 
zoneman30 said:
Seriously, why can't we get one of these in Oregon? We've got the silicon forest, and guess what? Intel's HQ is right here! Bestbuy sucks for the newest tech. We had a frys, but they seemed more like a huge radio shack. Please, Micro Center!!!!
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Yes put one in Portland so I can drive down from Seattle and abuse the no sales tax.

Its clear though that Micro Center is being very conservative in their expansion plans.
 
chaz_music said:
Your story made me think of the Comp USA store that was in north Raleigh in the 90's, and Incredible Universe that was a collaboration with I believe Radio Shack and some other brands trying to compete with Circuit City, Rex and other stores. Anyone remember Egghead software stores? Because electronics became commodity, all of these types of stores died out, with Best Buy a holdout.

I think a Frys and Micro Center would do very well in the RTP area.
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Oh yes!! I remember that CompUSA. It was on Capital Blvd, right off the beltway IIRC.

Where do you think would be a good location for a Micro Center here? Crossroads in Cary is already packed. Maybe Brier Creek, or possibly some place close to RDU?
 
Didn't realize how lucky we were to have so many here in NYC. There are five within an hour's drive from me right now. 😉
 
Jeremy Kaplan said:
Didn't realize how lucky we were to have so many here in NYC. There are five within an hour's drive from me right now. 😉
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Brandon Hill_TH said:
Oh yes!! I remember that CompUSA. It was on Capital Blvd, right off the beltway IIRC.

Where do you think would be a good location for a Micro Center here? Crossroads in Cary is already packed. Maybe Brier Creek, or possibly some place close to RDU?
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I would think somewhere more central to RTP in general, like around Morrisville or east Cary. Maybe by Davis or Harrison? Or even by Airport Blvd. close to RDU since that has inexpensive plazas.
 
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RTP would have made more sense, Charlotte may be a bigger city though, im sure MicroCenter did its demographic assessment and came to that conclusion based on population
MicroCenter > BestBuy
 
Eh, Best Buy carries some decent stuff. Just hit or miss if it is same price as everyone else. You need a Corsair something in a hurry, not a bad place to get it.

Just avoid the cables and accessories if you don't want to get gouged.
 
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chaz_music said:
Your story made me think of the Comp USA store that was in north Raleigh in the 90's, and Incredible Universe that was a collaboration with I believe Radio Shack and some other brands trying to compete with Circuit City, Rex and other stores. Anyone remember Egghead software stores? Because electronics became commodity, all of these types of stores died out, with Best Buy a holdout.

I think a Frys and Micro Center would do very well in the RTP area.
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Frys went out of business a while ago. Most Incredible Universe locations were taken over by Frys. That is why a lot of them had that distinctive layout and entrance.

Replied to the wrong one, oops.
 
chaz_music said:
I would think somewhere more central to RTP in general, like around Morrisville or east Cary. Maybe by Davis or Harrison? Or even by Airport Blvd. close to RDU since that has inexpensive plazas.
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Now I realize that I’m misremembering. CompUSA was on Glenwood near Duraleigh. Close to where the Tesla dealership is now.

Tiger Direct was on Capital Blvd off the beltway.
 
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I wish I had one near me. Would love to be able to walk around in one of those stores. I'd be in heaven! I live between Savannah & Jacksonville FLA and there are none anywhere close to me. There are 2 locations up around Atlanta, but I ain't going to Atlanta unless I absolutely have to! 😛
 
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TechieTwo said:
IME unless you live close by the no online orders policy for popular merchandise is a royal PITA. I'll actually pay the same or a few dollars more to not be forced to drive an hour or more in each direction to make a purchase.
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I worked there as a cashier for a while (pre-pandemic) and got a peek behind the curtain, and the margins on the things that I'm guessing you want shipped really are AWFUL. CPU and GPU pricing was used as a form of marketing to draw people into the store, where they'll try to get you to buy a motherboard or PSU or something that's more profitable while you're there, since you already made the trip. If you can drop one item into an online cart and easily have that shipped to you and it's almost frictionless to go elsewhere for the rest of your build, that model doesn't work.
 
jlake3 said:
I worked there as a cashier for a while (pre-pandemic) and got a peek behind the curtain, and the margins on the things that I'm guessing you want shipped really are AWFUL. CPU and GPU pricing was used as a form of marketing to draw people into the store, where they'll try to get you to buy a motherboard or PSU or something that's more profitable while you're there, since you already made the trip. If you can drop one item into an online cart and easily have that shipped to you and it's almost frictionless to go elsewhere for the rest of your build, that model doesn't work.
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They price match legitimate sellers. So you can make it a one stop shop and not over pay for anything.

But yes, aside from the specific deals they often have a high markup on other things.

Similar to Best Buy over charging for cables and accessories and having sales people push them. I was once buying a sound bar and they tried to sell me a $30 HDMI cable. Even did the gold plated spiel for crisper audio...
 
I love my local Microcenter in Tustin California. I have never lived more than 45 minutes from it. If I had to criticize anything at the store it would be product variety is hit or miss on certain products like CPU coolers, specific kits of RAM, and notice of product availability on their website is almost always incorrect. 99% of the time you have to drive out to the store to see if they actually have something in stock or not, seems that they are not diligent in keeping their website inventory numbers accurate day to day. They will price match pretty much anything online from Newegg, Amazon, et cetera as long as its in stock and sold by the platform itself.
 
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