The Finch Formerly Known As Gold

25 February 2007

AutoZone could use the room

The Consumerist reported this week that CompUSA will be closing about 100 stores, which wouldn't seem like such a big deal except for the fact that CompUSA has only 229 stores, meaning that almost half of their locations are on the chopping block.

I suspect the Oklahoma City store is doomed, for the following reasons:

  • There are other big-box electronics stores close by: Best Buy is five blocks away, Circuit City about a mile.

  • Rather a lot of people you think are store personnel are actually manufacturers' reps brought in to hype their lines, who turn out to be less than helpful.

  • A substantial percentage of the geek community shops at we-build-'em shops like PC Club, which is also close by.

  • And an even more substantial percentage of the geek community says "Why go outside?" and orders the same stuff online.

A Gizmodo commenter adds:

Their marketing model seems to be to charge 10% more than anywhere else, and give you a rebate for the difference, which never arrives.

Nice work if you can get it, I suppose.

Update, 3:45 pm, 27 February: The Oklahoma City store has been spared. This is the new list, pared down. (Via the Consumerist.)

Posted at 1:34 PM to City Scene , PEBKAC


CompUSA still has stores?

(Er, I mean, it's been twelve and a half years since I lived in a town that had one.)

Posted by: McGehee at 6:48 PM on 25 February 2007

The Apple "store within a store" was important in OKC until the actual Apple Store opened about 18 months ago.

CompUSA actually sells some big-name important checklist items at above retail price and hopes you won't notice. I had to get a copy of a FileMaker Pro upgrade on short notice a year or two ago, and while retail price was $149, they had it priced at $179. Even when I pointed out to the store manager that it was $30 above the stated retail price (they had machines on the internets there), they refused to change it even to the overpriced retail price, much less match competitor's pricing of about $135.

I didn't buy it.

Posted by: Matt at 8:22 PM on 25 February 2007