CompUSA has thrown in the towel on the hypercompetive US electronics retailing scene.

The store giant has sold itself for an undisclosed amount to Gordon Brothers, a Boston-based restructuring specialist, which will close its 103 retail stores in an "orderly wind-down". The number of expected job cuts has not been disclosed, at time of writing.

Read the full note at:
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/12/10/compusa_shuts_down/

Now the question is:
Where to go in the USA (to a walk in store) and shop a Nokia Internet Tablet ?
Comments ? Ideas ?

Kind regards

NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
my beautiful store.... i buy many things there because of their awsome prices(thats got to be one of the reasons). they sold me a pretty good gaming laptop for only $400

i will miss them...

For what it's worth: J&R Computer (downtown Manhattan in New York City) has had the Nokia's since they first came out, available for testing out, etc. A New York City institution, deservingly so. Non-sale pricing is always competitive (if not better) than other retail stores.

Who knows which other walk-in stores in the USA do carry Nokia Internet Tablets ?

I plan on traveling to the USA next year January or February and was planning on purchasing an N810 at some CompUSA; now I am looking for alternatives. Internet order purchase is not really an option because a)my credit card is from overseas, b) Usually online stores do not like shipping to a hotel, c) I'd really like to feel the device before purchasing....(pretty sure I will fall for it anyway, but I'd like to see it first, then buy).

Thanks for your comments.

Fry's Electronics will probably start carrying it in a few months. You can check frys.com, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it will be available instore--call to confirm. I'd recommend visiting them if you're going to be within reach; they're primarily located in the West / Southwest .

CompUSA was my favorite place to pick up computer parts when it wasn't worth driving all the way to Fry's, or when CompUSA had something on special.

I worked there one summer, and I'm pretty sure they were the most customer service oriented major computer / electronics chain. I'm making some extra money at Circuit City over the Christmas sales rush, and there's less focus on pro-actively helping customers. The sales employees at CompUSA could make some decent money from bonuses for selling service plans, but that's not true at Best Buy or Circuit City.

CompUSA seemed to be missing one mmajor component..... customers. For good reason, perhaps.

I worked for CompUSA a number of years ago. Once computers became a mainstream product, that spelled the end of the specialty computer superstore. When they started carrying consumer electronics and big screen TV's it was just a matter of time. No way they could compete with the sheer volume that Walmart, Best Buy and Circuit City can kick out.

To get customers CompUSA had a strategy of buying it's competition then closing all those stores, thinking customer would have to go to CompUSA.

About ten years ago CompUSA purchased all of ComputerCity from Tandy (RadioShack) and closed every store, then CompUSA bought GoodGuys and closed all those stores. I guess the philosophy is, if you can't beat them, borrow a buttload of money, buy them, and close the stores.

Now CompUSA is closing. No surprise. They were not competitive. They were filled with employees that had little, to no clue of what was being sold there, and most of the employees avoided making any eye contact with a customer for fear that a)they might be asked a question, b)they might actually have to do some work.

If anyone thinks this closure is some sort of loss, think again. It is a non-event from a consumer perspective. I won't miss CompUSA.

After the holidays, there probably won't be much worth picking over, so don't expect to find any great deals on remaining inventory. There won't be much of any. I heard the stores are marked for closure in February '08.

They will keep an online presence (like EggHead)... big whoop.

For anyone coming to the United States from abroad with a desire to look at an N800 / N810, Dell has these kiosks they call Dell Direct in 150 locations. These Dell kiosks are in shopping malls. We have one near where I am located in Victor, New York. They have the Nokia Internet Tablet. The prices are the same as Dell Online. You can touch and feel all the products at the kiosk, and there is a Dell sales rep. there. ( I am not affiliated with Dell ). The link below has a listing of the 150 locations. It is a pdf file.

http://www.dell.com/content/products...dhs&redirect=1

there is a link on that page for the pdf file.

M5

Being Canadian, I've had one CompUSA experience. It was none other than when I bought by 770 in Troy Michigan.

We have an equivalent up here, it's called FutureShop (which is owned by Best Buy, yet they compete with eachother and have different pricing). FutureShop, like CompUSA is full of idiot sales drones who do more to hinder your shopping experience than anything else. I'm not sure if they get commission like FutureShop, in fact I doubt they do. A friend and I, after 4 hours on the road are sitting in front of the two 770s they had in stock and are trying obviously to look around (didn't want anyone else to scoop them from the cabinet). There was one guy helping a blonde cheerleader that said 'like' several thousand times who was looking for a $15 silicone iPod case. (Insert fake boob joke here.) Took us about 20 minutes to get help (I left and scoured the store for a drone after waiting 2 mins at the display case).

I was going to ask what the US competition is, now that I see it's Sprawl Mart, Circuit City, and Best Buy, I feel bad for you guys. Just take solace in the fact that you're the one country on earth that pretty much everyone ships to.