Defunct retailer of consumer electronics
CompUSA, Inc., was a retailer and reseller of personal computers, consumer electronics, technology products and computer services. Starting with one brick-and-mortar store in 1986 under the name Soft Warehouse, by the 1990s CompUSA had grown into a nationwide big box chain. At its peak, it operated at least 229 locations. Crushed by competition from other brick-and-mortar retailers, corporate oversight which was out of touch with evolving market realities, and a failure to make a strong transition to online sales, CompUSA began closing what they classified as "low performing" locations in 2006. By 2008 only 16 locations were left to be sold to Systemax. In 2012, remaining CompUSA and Circuit City stores were converted to TigerDirect stores, and later closed. As of 2023, the CompUSA online website redirects to an error page.
History.
Founded in 1984 as Soft Warehouse in Addison, Texas, a northern suburb of Dallas, Texas, by Errol Jacobson and Mike Henochowicz, the company began national expansion in 1988 with its first megastore opening in Atlanta, Georgia.
In 1991, the company's name was changed to CompUSA, and the company became publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. While under Nathan P. Morton's leadership, CompUSA grew to over $2 billion in revenues. Morton resigned in 1993.
Formerly headquartered in Miami, Florida, it was a wholly owned subsidiary of U.S. Commercial Corp S.A.B. de C.V. associated with Grupo Carso and indirectly controlled by a common shareholder, Carlos Slim.
On December 7, 2007, an affiliate of the restructuring and disposition firm Gordon Brothers Group, Specialty Equity, bought the company. Systemax purchased the CompUSA name, 16 retail locations and other company assets in January 2008.
Systemax operated CompUSA retail stores in California, Florida, Texas, Maryland, Georgia, Illinois, Delaware, New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia, Washington and Puerto Rico, as well as CompUSA.com, a retail website and a dedicated catalog site for businesses.
On November 2, 2012, Systemax announced that it would drop both the CompUSA and Circuit City storefront names, consolidating their businesses under the name, TigerDirect. On December 4, 2013, CompUSA intellectual properties were sold to JASALI 645 Realty LLC. On October 25, 2018, the intellectual properties of CompUSA were leased to DealCentral, and has announced to relaunch CompUSA.com in that same day.
Closings and sale to Systemax.
On or immediately before February 28, 2007, CompUSA retained the services of Gordon Brothers, a company that specializes in asset recovery and restructuring, for the purposes of closing 126 stores nationwide. The closing locations were chosen based upon their overall performance, profitability, and proximity to competitors such as Best Buy, Fry's Electronics, Micro Center, and Circuit City. This first round of closings reduced the number of stores to less than half of its previous number.
During the liquidation process, the stores typically offered discounts starting at 5 to 30 percent off of retail prices, ending at up to 95 percent. Liquidation was completed on May 14, 2007.
On December 7, 2007, CompUSA was sold to Specialty Equity, an affiliate of Gordon Brothers Group.
On January 6, 2008, a month after CompUSA was sold to liquidators, Systemax, Inc. (TigerDirect's then-parent company) announced its purchase of 16 CompUSA locations as well as the brand, trademarks, e-commerce business, and technical services.
Systemax also had announced that the eleven existing and three TigerDirect-branded retail stores that were under construction would be converted to the CompUSA brand over the spring of 2008.
On November 2, 2012, it was announced that Systemax would drop both the CompUSA and Circuit City storefront brands by consolidating their businesses under the TigerDirect brand and website. That officially marked the end of the heritage CompUSA brand name as used by Systemax. Customers of both businesses were informed via e-mail on November 7, 2012.
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