BizStratBlog2

If Rochester, Michigan can do it, why can't we?

Rochester, Michigan - a smaller city that shares our name in Michigan, has decided to make their downtown a "winter wonderland" - lighting every building downtown for the holiday season.  As we "enjoy" our dead downtown this holiday season - think of what doing something like Rochester Michigan has done, in combination with free downtown holiday parking and a strong police presences to ensure and maintain safety could do to improve the vital retail and business environment downtown...

http://www.ledgenlighting.com/slideshow3.php

CompUSA going out of business

CompUSA has decided to close or sell all their bricks and mortar stores after being sold to an investment firm that intends to liquidate it's assets.  They are attempting to sell stores in major retail markets, and close them in markets that are not profitable.  The local CompUSA in Rochester is already starting it's going out of business sale with discounts of 5-20% on everything in the store.  Popular and expensive products like Apple, HP, Audio Visual etc. are at the lower end of the discount range while products that have typically carried higher margins such as power supplies and computer cases are closer to the higher end of the spectrum.  Since they are selling fixtures I'll assume the local store is to be closed.

So what does this mean for the average consumer?  Well for one thing - if you know EXACLTY what you want and are happy with the manufacturer's warranty on it you can save some dollars buying during their "close-out sale".  No doubt discounts will deepen as the end approaches, and some real bargains can be had (current discounts just bring the price of the retail products down to roughly what you'd pay online for them).  But these discounts come at a cost.  Every receipt is tagged "no refunds, no warranty service" - you cannot trade the item back in if it's the wrong thing or not what you expected.  In addition, there will likely be no one on the other end of the phone to assist you if you have problems installing it or configuring it with your system.

It also means anyone who bought extended warranties from CompUSA directly will likely be out of luck. Once they close their doors - there will be no one left to fix anything.  Similarly if you have an item in for repair - better be sure you get it back within the next week or two - whether it's fixed or not.