December 18, 2007

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. 

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September 02, 2007

Pulse of the City, September 2007

In our September Issue, we posed the question "What do you wish you had learned in business school?" to the members of the local business community. Their answers, are again, provocative appear in the September Pulse of the City. Post your answer here.

July 31, 2007

What technology are you waiting for?

In our August issue, we posed the question "What technology are you waiting for?" to the members of our editorial advisory board. Their answers, whimsical, futuristic, and provocative appear in the August Pulse of the City. Post a comment here and tell us what technology you are waiting for. For example...

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