CompUSA
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| CompUSA Inc.
<tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align:center; padding:16px 0 16px 0;">Image:Comp logo wgwg.gif</td></tr> | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1984 (Dallas, Texas) |
| Headquarters | Dallas, Texas
<tr><th style="text-align:right; padding-right:0.75em;">Key people</th><td>Carlos Slim Helú, Owner; Roman Ross, CEO; Todd Whitbeck, CFO; Mark Walker, Executive VP and General Counsel; Ellen Miller, Executive VP and Chief Marketing Officer; Brian Woods, Executive VP and General Merchandising Manager</td></tr><tr><th style="text-align:right; padding-right:0.75em;">Industry</th><td>Retail</td></tr><tr><th style="text-align:right; padding-right:0.75em;">Products</th><td>Electronics</td></tr><tr><th style="text-align:right; padding-right:0.75em;">Revenue</th><td>US$4.7 billion</td></tr><tr><th style="text-align:right; padding-right:0.75em;">Employees</th><td>14,000</td></tr><tr><th style="text-align:right; padding-right:0.75em;">Slogan</th><td>"We got it. We get it."</td></tr><tr><th style="text-align:right; padding-right:0.75em;">Website</th><td>www.compusa.com</td></tr> |
CompUSA, Inc. is a retailer and reseller of consumer electronics, technology products and computer services. CompUSA serves consumer retail, small-to-medium businesses, corporate, government and education customers. Founded in 1984 and based in Dallas, Texas, CompUSA currently operates 229 stores in markets across the United States and Puerto Rico.
CompUSA, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of U.S. Commercial S.A. de C.V. which is indirectly controlled by a common shareholder (Carlos Slim Helú). U.S. Commercial trades on Bolsa Mexicana de Valores (Mexican Stock Exchange) as USCOMBI.
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[edit] History
- 1984 - Founded as Soft Warehouse in Dallas, Texas, selling direct to business customers.
- 1985 - Opened first retail store
- 1988 - Soft Warehouse opened its first Computer Superstore.
- 1991 - Name changed to CompUSA.
- 1993 - Began offering technical services at customer locations.
- 1996 - Launched retail sales on CompUSA.com.
- 1998 - Acquisition of Tandy's Computer City Subsidiary
- 2000 - Became privately held company under Mexican retail company, Grupo Sanborns.
- 2003 - Acquisition of Good Guys<ref>"CompUSA To Buy Good Guys", About.com, September 29, 2003</ref>
- 2005 - Converted three CompUSA stores and 13 Good Guys stores into "megastores;" closes all 46 Good Guys locations; begins marketing all California and Hawaii as CompUSA with Good Guys Inside in response to Best Buy's new marketing campaign with Magnolia Inside.
- 2006 - Announces the closing of 15 stores across the United States including several locations in California. These stores are being used to liquidate discontinued items from other stores across the nation until the end of October; Roman Ross, a former Phillip Morris executive, replaces Tony Weiss as president and CEO after only four months in office;<ref>"CompUSA Names New CEO", Yahoo! Finance, September 1, 2006</ref> press reports that CompUSA's Mexican parent Grupo Carso is interested in putting CompUSA up for sale.<ref>"CompUSA seeking buyer, paper says", CNN Money, September 13, 2006</ref>
[edit] Product rebate offers
On March 11, 2005, the Federal Trade Commission settled charges against CompUSA on the issue of rebate problems. The FTC alleged that CompUSA engaged in deceptive and unfair practices relating to rebate offers made for both its own branded products and QPS products.<ref>"The Rebate Debate: Why Were They Late? FTC Settles Charges Against CompUSA", Federal Trade Commission, March 11, 2005</ref>
The terms of the settlement were highly favorable to CompUSA. CompUSA paid no additional fine and only had to pay out any cash rebates that it owed, unless it had substantiation for errorenous rebate claim.[citation needed]
[edit] The CompUSA Network
In 2005, CompUSA started a customer loyalty program called The CompUSA Network. For every dollar spent at any CompUSA store, the customer receives 13 points. Rewards include an Epson photo printer and a Canon Digital Rebel SLR digital camera. However, in June 2006, sales of The CompUSA Network membership cards were suspended pending further investigation onto the operation's effect on customer retention and "program awareness among low-visit customers."
On August 24, 2006, CompUSA announced the end of the Network Reward program. All customers were notified of this and issued coupons for the remaining reward value, as well as their original purchase price. They were also offered a refund of the original purchase price in the original form of payment, however this option removed any remaining reward points.
For an unexplained reason, CompUSA in Puerto Rico is overcharging on all items, from 7-30% more expensive than the rest of the USA. This is even after the recently instituted island wide sales tax which should have resolved the rampant issue of businesses overcharging their customers.
[edit] CompUSA-owned brands
- Norwood Micro
- Master Power
- CompUSA PC
[edit] Slogans
- "The Computer Superstore." (1997-May 2003)
- "Where America Buys Technology." (May 2003-July 2005)
- "We got it. We get it." (July 2005-Present)
[edit] Puerto Rico slogans
- "Where Puerto Rico Buys Technology." (May 2003-July 2005)
- "Lo Tenemos. Lo Entendemos." (July 2005-Present)
just what you needed ?
[edit] References
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