R.I.P. CompUSA

Troubled computer and electronics retailer CompUSA will be shutting its doors in January. For a number of years, before Apple stores dotted the landscape, CompUSA stores were one of the few outlets where customers could actually touch the latest Apple products, and were always a handy, if pricey, place to pick up software and computer accessories.

CompUSA has been trying to find its way over the last few years as the marketplace (and competition) has changed. They tried to branch out by becoming an electronics superstore, with HDTVs and other consumer electronics, but the efforts were apparently too little, and too late. Prices on consumer electronics fell faster than CompUSA could move its inventory, resulting in big losses.

The current owners, Grupo Carso SA, bought CompUSA in 2000 and took it private. Over half of their stores were closed last spring, but apparently even down to 103 stores, losses continued to grow and owners decided it simply wasn’t a viable business anymore.

Grupo Carso has sold CompUSA to an affiliate of Gordon Brothers Group LLC, a restructuring firm. They will attempt to sell some of the stores in certain markets, and where they can’t be sold, they will be closed. They are also trying to sell of some of CompUSA’s profitable operations, including their technical services business, CompUSA Tech Pro, as well as their online business, CompUSA.com.

From AP dispatches and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.