During their initial store closings, this was a great opportunity to pick their rotting corpse clean and get unbelievable prices on memory cards! If there's one near you, they typically increase the percentage off items every day until the stores finally close.

I'd look for them to 1) remove all discount stickers on all the items and/or retag them to full list and then 2) "discount" sections of the store at amounts which may sound good but will initially amount to more than the prices were before the fire sale started. With lots of "going out of business, huge discounts" PR hype, they'll then increase the discount amounts slightly about once a week, but many clueless will be taken in by the hype, go into the store looking for fantastic deals having not done their homework and buy up most of the good stuff at inflated prices. Liquidators aren't as stupid -- buyers are-- the liquidators will aggressively attempt to squeeze every last dollar out of the merchandise, and not simply start slashing just to get stuff out-- they've probably got a couple of months to empty the stores, and by the very end there'll be great deals on stuff you couldn't give away, or perhaps store fixtures (though I wouldn't even count on that)...

even at the last day the memory cards at compusa were more expensive then Fry's ... The only good thing was : they were throwing out the microsoft Zune stuff for 50% off ... and still noone bought it.

http://www.edbrill.com/ebrill/edbrill.nsf/dx/then-and-now...

migrating from Notes -> Exchange and then being forced to run two messaging systems can't have been good

Anybody remember a particular song?

I'm heading over there in a few minutes. Maybe I can pick up that new laptop I've been wanting. Their problem here in Austin was that they could never beat Fry's and were only level with Best Buy and Circuit City. And when you can't beat Circuit City, something is really wrong.

Why hasn't El Reg said that CompUSA is the American version of PC World (without the back-up of DSGi)?

I am pretty sure that the Brits would love to see the same axe to PCW.

I get my coat now.

...it was Carlos Slim cause I heard it was Cincinnati Bob.

ah, i never knew.

and yes, i'd love to see that axe go down on that particular store.

I experienced CompUSA in NYC many years ago- truely frightening level of non-service at the time..

was a comfort as well of course, felt just like a DSG store - warm and cuddly a la crocodile

I, for one, am not sorry at all to see this shameful piece of garbage company wound down. In my life, I had never seen a company who's normal business practice was to (basically) "frisk" it's customers as they were leaving the store. They had their security wanabees watch you pay for your items from all of (maybe) three feet away and then demand to inspect your goods and receipt before you were allowed to leave. This is absolutely deplorable!!! Maybe in some third-world countries, such a practice would not strike a cord, but if you treat me like a criminal -- when I haven't ever done anything wrong to you or anybody else, for that matter -- you may be risking your health. I guess enough of their customers felt this way also. We harmed their health. Their "financial" health.

Good ridance to you CompUSA . You sucked, anyway!!!!

100% Correct. I've seen other stores closed by this outfit or similar outfits in the Boston area. (I can remember Lechmere and what a rip-off THAT closing was)

Jack up the price to full retail (or beyond!) and put the coloured dots on the items for the "really big" discounts -- the "discount" price will actually be higher than what the item was selling for prior to the liquidation.

Stay away until they're in the death spiral. That's when you MAY be able to get a "deal."

I choose the ex-vulture for obvious reasons.

The CompUSA store that closed here a while back was the best computer store in this city, the only big retail computer store of it's type, and thus the best by default. I was sad to see it go.

I always liked to pronounced it "Comp-ooh-sah!", which sounded sort of Japanese to me, just for fun.

"I had never seen a company who's normal business practice was to (basically) "frisk" it's customers as they were leaving the store."

Actually, there are quite a few companies that do this---but it's "nothing personal".

This is to prevent the scam where a cashier working with a "customer" doesn't ring up all that is "purchased"; the guy at the door is making sure your items match up with your receipt. It's not aimed so much at you as at their employees, and, yes, they should find better ways to keep them honest. I certainly avoid such stores as much as I can.