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Diploid
Cuban



Registered: 01/09/03
Posts: 19,274
Loc: Rabbit Hole
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CompUSA Closing Down
#7732131 - 12/08/07 07:24 AM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Dec. 8 (Bloomberg) -- CompUSA, the computer retailer that Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim owned since 2000, will shut its doors after 23 years, succumbing to competition from Best Buy Co. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Restructuring firm Gordon Brothers Group LLC bought the chain for an undisclosed sum and will sell or close its 103 stores after the U.S. holidays, CompUSA said yesterday. The 67- year-old Slim, Latin America's richest man, failed to turn around CompUSA after investing more than $1.5 billion in the chain over eight years.
``An orderly and expedited wind-down and asset sale process is the best option for CompUSA and its creditors at this juncture,'' Bill Weinstein, a principal at Gordon Brothers, said in a statement. Weinstein will serve as interim president of CompUSA.
Founded in 1984, CompUSA focuses on computer-related products for small companies and individuals. The chain, acquired by Slim in 2000, shut more than half of its stores earlier this year.
CompUSA was a unit of Slim's U.S. Commercial Corp. SA, which had sales last year of 37.8 billion pesos ($3.5 billion).
Richfield, Minnesota-based Best Buy, the biggest U.S. consumer electronics retailer, had revenue of $35.9 billion last year. No. 2 Circuit City Stores Inc. had sales of $12.4 billion.
Boston-based Gordon Brothers' DJM unit helped Discovery Channel Stores, Bombay Co. and Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. sell properties. It plans to sell CompUSA's TechPro technical services division and CompUSA.com as well.
CompUSA will discount items this month to get rid of inventory, Alex Stanton, spokesman for Gordon Brothers, said in an interview. He declined to comment further.
Arturo Elias, a spokesman for Slim, didn't return a call seeking comment.
23-Year History
CompUSA was founded as Soft Warehouse in Dallas in 1984 by Mike Henochowicz and Errol Jacobson. The chain opened its first retail store in 1985 and the company changed its name to CompUSA in 1991.
In 2000, Slim's Grupo Sanborns SA agreed to purchase the company for $797.7 million after holding a 14 percent stake since 1999. Slim invested at least $700 million more in recent years to shore up the retailer's finances.
Slim is honorary chairman of Telefonos de Mexico SAB, which runs 90 percent of Mexico's 20 million telephone land lines. In 2003, he tried and failed to buy Richmond, Virginia-based Circuit City for $1.5 billion.
Slim hired Credit Suisse Group last year to put CompUSA up for sale. Earlier this year, he said he would sell the chain ``if anyone will buy it.''
``We made a mistake with management,'' Slim said at a news conference in Mexico City in March.
Law firms Cooley Godward Kronish LLP and Kelley Drye & Warren LLP were hired to represent creditors and landlords, CompUSA said.
bloomberg.com
-------------------- Republican Values: 1) You can't get married to your spouse who is the same sex as you. 2) You can't have an abortion no matter how much you don't want a child. 3) You can't have a certain plant in your possession or you'll get locked up with a rapist and a murderer. 4) We need a smaller, less-intrusive government.
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TheCow
Stranger

Registered: 10/28/02
Posts: 4,790
Last seen: 15 years, 6 months
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Re: CompUSA Closing Down [Re: Diploid]
#7732135 - 12/08/07 07:26 AM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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hell yes, i hope i can snag some cheap stuff from them
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero



Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 2 months, 20 days
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Re: CompUSA Closing Down [Re: Diploid]
#7732737 - 12/08/07 11:11 AM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Too bad it isn't Circuit City... I am still boycotting them from the DIVX crap they pulled back when DVD technology was struggling to become standard.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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HappyTripping
Tranceformer
Registered: 04/16/06
Posts: 119
Last seen: 14 years, 8 months
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Re: CompUSA Closing Down [Re: Seuss]
#7732915 - 12/08/07 11:56 AM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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This explains, maybe, why the external hard drive I purchased online two weeks ago from CompUSA (with next day shipping) still hasn't shipped.
-------------------- (Everything written here is the work or genesis of my best buddy's girlfriend's dog's-friend's cat's owner. If it has been written in the first person, the reason has been for clarity.)
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Ythan
ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ



Registered: 08/08/97
Posts: 18,774
Loc: NY/MA/VT Borderlands
Last seen: 47 minutes, 56 seconds
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Re: CompUSA Closing Down [Re: Diploid]
#7732960 - 12/08/07 12:12 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Ahhh CompUSA. My second job ever and the first time I got myself fired. Note to self: asking the store manager if it says I'm his bitch on my forehead is not considered professional behavior. Good riddance I say.
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DieCommie


Registered: 12/11/03
Posts: 29,258
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Re: CompUSA Closing Down [Re: Diploid]
#7733366 - 12/08/07 01:55 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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I never bought from there. I kinda think that place sucks, New Egg and the like FTW.
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disturbed
Poutine andSodomy



Registered: 10/15/02
Posts: 1,877
Loc: O-H-I-O
Last seen: 14 years, 3 months
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Re: CompUSA Closing Down [Re: DieCommie]
#7736261 - 12/09/07 11:43 AM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Yea I hope I can snag some good deals after the holidays. My buddy picked up a really nice giant flat screen apple monitor for about half price
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11/25/07 first time entrant ban lottery champion
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Sillicybin
Registered: 02/14/05
Posts: 2,134
Loc:
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Re: CompUSA Closing Down [Re: disturbed]
#7744459 - 12/11/07 10:44 AM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Retailers are starting to fall to E-tailers.
The revolution has not only begun, it's running full steam.
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Robo
R Series 66Y
Registered: 05/08/07
Posts: 14,861
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Re: CompUSA Closing Down [Re: Sillicybin]
#7745001 - 12/11/07 01:15 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Fuck my ipod warranty was with compusa, now I can't get a never ending supply of 50 dollar ipods by working the system!!!!
Damn. Looks like I'll have to go renew my warranty one last time and get a new pod, only this time I'll sell it brand new on ebay for profit
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Robo
R Series 66Y
Registered: 05/08/07
Posts: 14,861
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Re: CompUSA Closing Down [Re: Robo]
#7745024 - 12/11/07 01:21 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Maybe I can snag a deal on that macbook I've been wanting now too
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DieCommie


Registered: 12/11/03
Posts: 29,258
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Re: CompUSA Closing Down [Re: Robo]
#7745025 - 12/11/07 01:21 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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No wonder they are going out of business!
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Robo
R Series 66Y
Registered: 05/08/07
Posts: 14,861
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Re: CompUSA Closing Down [Re: DieCommie]
#7745164 - 12/11/07 01:50 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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I know 
maybe I worked the system a little bit too much...?
I've owned like 12 or 13 ipods, I kid you not
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snoot
look alive ∞




Registered: 01/30/05
Posts: 9,640
Loc: 45º parallel
Last seen: 5 hours, 23 minutes
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Re: CompUSA Closing Down [Re: Robo]
#7749073 - 12/12/07 12:05 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Good riddance. I'm surprised the walton family didnt acquire this corporation.
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∞ I am incapable of conceiving infinity, and yet I do not accept finity. - Simone de Beauvoir -
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