Legit Reviews

CompUSA will close St. Louis area stores
By Gail Appleson
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/02/2007

All three CompUSA Inc. stores in the St. Louis area will close in the next 60 to 90 days as part of the Dallas-based chain's plan to shutter more than half of its locations across the country.

By closing 126 stores, Comp­USA can focus on the remaining 103 stores that are located in 39 states and Puerto Rico. The restructuring plan calls for other cost-cutting measures and a $440 million cash infusion from its parent company, Mexico City-based U.S. Commercial Corp.

The chain's area locations are in Sunset Hills, Ballwin and Bridgeton. However, the chain's website states that it has no stores in Missouri.

A CompUSA spokeswoman confirmed the chain was exiting Missouri, but she did not have figures for how many people would lose their jobs. However, employees estimated several hundred people would be affected in the St. Louis area.

"Based on changing conditions in the consumer retail electronics market, the company identified the need to close and sell stores with lower performance or nonstrategic, old store layouts and locations faced with market saturation," Roman Ross, chief executive, said in a statement.

The company will continue to offer products and services at 1-800-266-7872 and online at http://www.compusa.com.

CompUSA, which sells computers and related products, has faced stiff challenges in the consumer-electronics sector in the last several years as less-expensive online retailers and big-box chains such as Best Buy have taken a larger share of the market.

To improve profits, CompUSA turned to carrying big-ticket consumer electronics such as flat-screen televisions. But that business has been hit by intense gross margin pressures in recent years as competition drove down prices. Last month, for example, Circuit City also announced that it was closing a number of stores.

U.S. Commercial Corp. is a holding company controlled by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helú, who is one of the wealthiest men in the world.

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Apoptosis wrote:Big blow for St. Louis... We are low on retail shops as it is!

I heard most stuff is already 10-20% off.

Apoptosis wrote:Big blow for St. Louis... We are low on retail shops as it is!

I heard most stuff is already 10-20% off.

T-Shirt wrote:

Apoptosis wrote:Big blow for St. Louis... We are low on retail shops as it is!

I heard most stuff is already 10-20% off.

Well kinda.
I went to a local CompUSA yesterday, big sign in front
Up to20% offmost items

meaning a few things were 20% off, some more stuff was 10%, and some was "Normal" price.
even worse I watched as one of the employees switched the shelf tag on a USB hub from $29.95 to $39.95 and then add a 20% off flag! (ie raise the price 30%, then give you 20% off!)
then I watched as another guy trying to sell a customer on an all in one printer carefully cover with his hand the 10%off sign while pointing to the shelf price and insist "you won't find this cheaper anywhere" (it was very obvious to me it was deliberate)
From watching them I don't believe these are regular CompUSA employees, but a crew from some liquidator, even though they were wearing COMPUSA color coded shirts (black is computer/printer sales, blue hourly /check out counter, yellow, something above blue, red tech support/service.

I think (at least for now) prices are higher than ever, and the"discount" is a scam.
Absolutely NO RETURNS (that was in big letters)