After my last dealings with them, where they announced soon after that almost all the stores in my state would be closing, all I can say is good riddance.

Yeah, their in-store help sucks. I was trying to get someone to help me with a modem and all they wanted to do was stand around and joke.

Last night, I had to replace my mouse. I went in and looked at the price and then went next door and got it cheaper at Office Depot.

anyone else looking forward to SERIOUS liquidation sales?

ohh thats unfortunate. im going to have to charge them a 15% restocking fee on that closure. thannnks.

karmas a bitch!

I forsee the salesmen offering BIG discounts on extended warranties.

Matto: Nope, because the deals to be had at the liquidating stores weren't really good deals, and huge risk on the as-is nature of everything.

i'd glad i left corporate 6 months ago.

Granted, it's marked as "Unverified", but is there no source for this info at all? What's different from posting this and me saying, "Rumor has it that Walmart could be closing down for good immediately following the holidays"?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to cry if CompUSA goes away, but I'd at least like to see some responsibility in journalism. I expect better from this blog.

Excellent... I can't wait for the liquidation sales where I can get a 120 GB hard drive for $299.

I REALLY hope this is true. I did not have a pleasant experience for working with them. The pay was horrible and their unrealistic expectations were pathetic. I wonder, have they even begun to recover from closing more than half of their stores down?

So what will happen to all existing warranties from CompUSA? I know I'll be in line for my money back

I call first dibs on all left over stock.

Glad I grabbed a good BF deal from them this year.

Does Consumerist make any effort to attempt to verify these rumors? You're practicing a form of journalism, so do you act as a responsible journalist and pick up the phone, call the media relations department at CompUSA and ask the simple question, "Is there any validity to the rumor that you're closing down after the holidays?"

It really disturbs me to see an unattributed rumor posted here. Where'd you here the rumor? Is any other responsible media organization also reporting it? Shouldn't you at least give your readers some additional facts--like who's making this claim--so we can decide on our own whether the rumor has any validity? And don't you owe it to CompUSA--before you wreck their holiday season--to at least give them the opportunity to rebut this assertion?

C'mon folks, this is basic Reporting 101.

Is this a rumor or a fervid wish?

"Just click your heels three times..."

@MattO: I went to one of their liquidation sales when they were closing in CA. All they had was a bunch of broken TV's being sold as is, expired or expiring printer cartridges, and dusty floor models. I got a ream of HP paper for $1.99, it was literally the only thing that could provide any use. Trust me, anything that's worth anything, they either sell to other businesses or wholesalers.

@chgoeditor: so where would you like rumors posted? Should there be another tier of even less verified journalism below blogging?

If you want it first and dirty, come here. If you want it late and sanitized, go to your newspaper.

If the price we pay for hearing it first is some chicken little stories, fine with me. I'm a big boy.

I've still got a $50 gift card that I need to spend there.

So, consumerist has now become the rumor mill?

Come on, provide some sources or original information, not "i heard about this from my aunt's second cousin's husband's boss"

Walmart isn't bleeding money like CompUSA (owned in large part by Mexican Billionaire Carlos Slim - ohhh the irony) They've already gone through the liquidation dance at the least profitable stores and it hasn't stopped the hemorrhage of cash - so one might presume that a logical next step would be to close down even more stores (further diluting brand value) and the next step after that to close entirely. I suspect if you called the PR dept of any company in as dire financial shape, the best you'd get would be a lie or no comment (if you were an established news source) and likely hung up on if you identified yourself as a blogger. If you have a 3rd party extended warranty read your fine print - but you're probably ok. If you have a CompUSA replacement plan.... well.. sucks for you...

Spotted at the Atlantic Terminal Mall in Brooklyn: Top Model contestant Heather's ad for Carol's Daughter.

You know, this is a good reason why President Bush needs to kick the rest of the Republicans into gear about immigration reform. Temporary work visas really are the answer. That way, Carlos Slim would be able to come in and make CompUSA just as efficient as TelMex.

(Until just very recently, Carlos was the world's richest man. Because the peso's tied so close to the dollar [and we know what's happening to that], I think he lost out just because of currency devaluation.)

Who cares if it's true. Blog away baby. Don't let truth ever interfere with a good rumor.

@public enemy #1: yes.

@chgoeditor said: Where'd you here the rumor?

How ironic you wrote "here" instead of "hear" when you're blasting on someone's journalistic integrity.

COMPletely USeless Asses. Textbook case of how not to run a retail chain.

I work for Comp-USA. I heard Circuit City will be closing down right after the holiday's. Don't buy before XMAS! That will help this rumor become fact [lol].

Six months ago one of their payroll liabilities told me my local store (his store) would be closing in three months. I'm still waiting for them to keep their word.

@iamme99: There's a big difference between Comp and CC. The latter has a lot of cash on hand, low debt, and owns a good amount (but not all) of their real estate. Not to mention more locations and better market share. That said, at this rate CC will be going out of business within five or six year, but the fall won't be that fast for them. They're still too big. Comp isn't.

@5h17h34d: You might want to look up the definition of "ironic." (If I could make a suggestion, don't take grammar lessons from Alanis Morrisette.) It would be ironic if I plagarized someone else's comments to blast Consumerist's journalistic integrity. But a typo? Careless, but has absolutely nothing to do with journalistic integrity. (FWIW, some of the best journalists I've ever edited couldn't spell for sh*t. But no one would accuse them of having no journalistic integrity.)

@MattO: Don't hold your breath. When CompUSA closed near me, the liquidation sucked. The liquidation prices were still higher than you'd see at Best Buy, Circuit City, Wal-Mart, and any online retailer. All the stuff worth buying was gone in a few days. When I went in two weeks into the liquidation, all that was left was beat-up floor model stuff and printing supplies. CompUSA was hot stuff in the 90s but quickly became mediocre. I remember looking for a CF card there a year ago. This 70-yr-old (no kidding) associate thought I wanted a USB thumb drive. Ugh. Clueless. It was nice to have a computer hardware store nearby, but I don't miss CompUSA. What's nice is that I have a Fry's and two TigerDirect stores within an hour of me if I want to buy computer parts.

I know someone who works there and gives it 50/50 odds. BTW, they've gone back to commission for salespeople.

Consumerist posted the same rumor earlier this year, saying they'd be closing stores in six months. That was seven months ago. Eventually, they'll be right.

The lesson is: If you get gift cards for Christmas, use them right away.

I wouldn't mind seeing CompUSA close. Having a large chunk of stores go is one thing, they can just shift the stock that isn't sold to another location (if cost is justified). However, if the entire chain sinks they have to liqudate as much as possible.

Can't wait to get me some of those sweet CompUSA shelves!

The fact is they will announce Friday. Tiger Direct will buy the commercial side of their business along with the tech business. All but 25 stores will close.
Fired team members get sixty days pay and no insurance benefits. Tiger Direct will burn and turn the remaining team members. Gordon Brothers is doing a mass hiring now for the liquidation sale. A lot of good, hard working people are on the street.

And it's official!

[www.reuters.com]

Buh Bye

PS: the Buh Bye is for CompUSA - not the poor employees out on the street, I feel for anyone loosing their job, especially during the "Holiday" season.

All the managers got the conference call today. A lot of my friends are out of a job now. However, it's not a big shock to them. Half of them are disappointed, and the other half are actually relieved.

That's probably why I didn't get hired (after a bit of time went into the interviewing process).