Technology & eCommerce Frank Ross on 02 Mar 2008 09:53 pm
The Strange Case of CompUSA
CompUSA - memba them? Well they’re still around, sort of. CompUSA was once one of the top electronics retailers in the US but fell on hard times. Last March, they announced the shuttering of stores in many states (including Washington where I live). Then late last year, they announced they were just calling it quits.
However, Systemax (the parent company of TigerDirect) didn’t want to let that name go to waste. They must have believed there was some value left in the brand because soon after that towel was tossed in, they announced they were buying the name, 16 of the retail stores and of course, the eCommerce website of CompUSA. The eCommerce part of CompUSA has always been a seperate entity than the physical storefronts.
You can read the announcement here. Just today I checked to see if the CompUSA website was still there and this is what it looks like.
So it appears Systemax will keep the brand as is rather than overlay TigerDirect on top of it. Will customers continue to buy there? That remains to be seen but in the world of eCommerce, if there is power in a brand, it would be worth hanging on to.
Tags: CompUSA, Systemax, TigerDirect, CompUSA Closure