XENOPHONZ opened this issue on Jan 06, 2008 · 11 posts
XENOPHONZ posted Sun, 06 January 2008 at 3:45 PM
I've purchased a few things there at up to 40% discounts so far -- so I thought that I'd pass it along in case if anyone else might be interested.
I haven't checked the website over, so I'm not sure if all of the close-out prices apply there, but they probably do.
((Finding a copy of Poser 2 on the shelf at my local CompUSA -- one of the locations that's going out of business now -- was the thing which originally turned me on to Poser.))
XENOPHONZ posted Sun, 06 January 2008 at 3:48 PM
Heh --- it could be that 40% discounts makes CompUSA's merchandise come in at about the same prices as Newegg 
Then again -- the discounts might continue to get deeper as they go.
ockham posted Sun, 06 January 2008 at 5:11 PM
That's surprising! I figured CompUSA had the "right recipe" for
a successful big-box store. Usually a business that fails will
show more indications of fading out before it crashes.
Penguinisto posted Sun, 06 January 2008 at 5:23 PM
So they're finally selling USB cables at only a 200% markup instead of their usual 9000%? ;)
Dunno myself... I only buy stull in a physical store nowadays when I'm stuck offline due to a busted part, or if it's a small local store where I can get used parts for a kick-arse price (for anyone living a bit south of Ogden, Utah - that place would be Prime Computers).
Now when they beat Fry's, I'll prolly go take a peek :)
/P
Cage posted Sun, 06 January 2008 at 11:48 PM
I got some nice deals at the one in Indianapolis, a few weeks back. I was surprised and kind of bummed out when I found out what was happening. I always liked the place. :( They were selling Anime Studio there, which surprised me, but no sign of Poser.
Does anyone have any idea what happened to cause them to close? Is this a sign of the state of certain sectors of the economy, or just a failed business model for the company, or what? And are there any other stores of this type out there, to take the place of CompUSA?
===========================sigline======================================================
Cage can be an opinionated jerk who posts without thinking. He apologizes for this. He's honestly not trying to be a turkeyhead.
Cage had some freebies, compatible with Poser 11 and below. His Python scripts were saved at archive.org, along with the rest of the Morphography site, where they were hosted.
XENOPHONZ posted Mon, 07 January 2008 at 12:56 AM
Here's a link to an article on the close-out.
[ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/08/BU3ETQI3S.DTL
](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/08/BU3ETQI3S.DTL)
It appears that it's simply a case of lower-priced competition driving them out of the market.
Yeah, I always liked the place, too. Their prices never were the best -- but you could always walk in and look things over before you bought them. Online......you don't usually have the option of physically trying something before you purchase it.
It looks like local brick & mortar PC stores are going to either be limited to non-PC-specialty chains like Best Buy and Office Depot, or else to local mom 'n pop computer stores. Otherwise, everything will be online. Which is an arrangement that has its advantages & disadvantages, IMO. I'm still sorry to see this one go.
At least you might be able to get a good deal or two out of the situation in the meantime.
Paloth posted Mon, 07 January 2008 at 1:18 AM
The CompUSA in my city went under months ago. This made me sad because I had good memories about the place. It was where I bought Bryce 3, Poser 3 and RayDream.
Download my free stuff here: http://www.renderosity.com/homepage.php?page=2&userid=323368
SamTherapy posted Mon, 07 January 2008 at 7:14 AM
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/01/06/systemax_compusa_acquisition/
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
XENOPHONZ posted Mon, 07 January 2008 at 12:52 PM
Thanks for the link to that article, Paul. With that news it's even possible that the store near me might survive.
One of the workers at the local store told me that his particular location was one of the few CompUSA outlets which had been consistently operating in the green. If true, that might make it a desirable target for aquisition. He was also concerned about losing his job, which is certainly understandable.
But in any case, it sounds like the Tiger Direct folks are looking to take a smallish regional piece of the physical CompUSA stores + their online business -- but not the whole thing.
Interesting, though.
pakled posted Mon, 07 January 2008 at 6:15 PM
I haven't been there since the 90s, they were selling 1.44 floppy drives for $50, whene everyone else had them for $15...(hey, it was the 90s, they were still useful back then..;)
I wish I'd said that.. The Staircase Wit
anahl nathrak uth vas betude doth yel dyenvey..;)
wolf359 posted Tue, 08 January 2008 at 6:25 PM
They once tried to sell me a Mac VGA monitor adaper for $78
but I went to the "oh they are overpriced" Apple store and Got the same item for $15
the Compusa that closed here in northern virgina last summer shipped all the macs and decent specced PC's elsewhere and tried to dump off some way over priced portable
DVD player s and inkjet printers that nobody ever boought
but they did "mark down" thier pallets of #20 bond copy paper
Good riddance!!!