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

[OlsonE at aosa.army.mil]

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





-- 
TriLUG mailing list        :
http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug
TriLUG Organizational FAQ  : http://trilug.org/faq/ TriLUG Member
Services FAQ : http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/