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Rising from the ashes, CompUSA has a new, less-geeky plan

Staff photo by JAY NOLAN

Maricela and Dan Langelier shop for a new laptop computer with help from CompUSA salesman Joseph Mitrani at 701 N. Dale Mabry Highway.

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By RICHARD MULLINS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 13, 2009

Updated: 11/13/2009 03:00 pm

TAMPA - Like unstoppable zombies, some retail stores keep crawling their way back from the dead to ask "How can I help you today?"

This is the story of a real-life resurrection at CompUSA stores in Tampa, just in time for the holidays. CircuitCity is coming back to life, too, but more on that in a minute.

There are now three, freshly repainted and restocked CompUSA stores opening around the Tampa Bay area. One in Clearwater at U.S. 19 and County Road 576, one in Brandon at Causeway Boulevard just east of Interstate 75, and one in South Tampa at 701 N. Dale Mabry Highway.

And compared to CompUSA's legacy as a geeky haven, this incarnation could have something new to offer shoppers – lots and lots of TVs and real-time price comparisons of TVs, computers and other gadgets, right there on the TV screen.

So if you're staring at a 60-inch Samsung HDTV and want to know how it stacks up against TVs at BestBuy, there's a keyboard right there, and the 60-inch screen turns into a Web browser to check out the sales at other stores. Need to know what mounting system goes with the TV? There's a list on the screen right there, with prices.

Each aisle has bar-code scanners and display screens. Swipe a digital camera box past it, and up pops information about the camera, with demonstration videos and the like, plus rival store prices.

"We found that so many people were coming to the store, then leaving, and doing their final research at home before making a decision," said Lonny Paul, a retail executive at the remade CompUSA. "This way, they can do that research without leaving our store."

So who is running this reincarnated store?

Way back in late 2007, CompUSA was one of several spectacular retail implosions as the electronics economy fell into a big, deep hole. Hundreds of CompUSA stores closed up suddenly, including several in Tampa, and for months they were only open for liquidation status – selling everything including the shelves, like a big electronics estate sale.

Then in January 2008, a company little known to most consumers, Systemax Inc. of Port Washington, N.Y., assumed 16 existing CompUSA leases through its TigerDirect division. (Hundreds of other CompUSA stores weren't part of the deal.) Systemax already had 20 years of experience selling computer equipment and other gadgets through catalogs and about a dozen TigerDirect retail stores.

Systemax set about reviving the CompUSA brand, and picked a select few store locations to keep open. It was a big job. The liquidation meant virtually everything was gone.

Along the way, Systemax also bought the intellectual property and brand of CircuitCity, another victim of the downturn. That brand is coming back to life. Systemax is operating CircuitCity as an online-only merchant, in some respects competing with Amazon or other Internet retailers.

Amid the remake, Ghosts of the past kept showing up. One day, a kitchen equipment company telephoned Systemax and asked "How many fryers do you want this year," Paul said, an odd question for a store that sells TVs and computers.

Turns out, CircuitCity sold fryers online before its collapse, more than 3,800 of them one year. "So we sell fryers, too, that was news," Paul said.

CompUSA was always a good place for real computer people to get oddball hardware or doodads to amp up their PCs – a graphics card, a new motherboard, etc. And much of that will stick around. There's a large service desk for PC repair and upgrades.

Recently, the store hosted "Overclock" contests, where true propeller-head guys open up demo PCs, and retool their innards to run at a higher pace – kind of like ramping up a four-cyclinder Toyota to absurdly high RPMs.

"We had one contest where people were cheering and chanting 'Overclock! Overclock!' until the hardware snapped," Paul said. "We'll still have things like that."

But now, TVs take a much more prominent role, with more than 65 different models from 19 inches to 73 inches, something never seen in an old CompUSA.

As for how CompUSA will compete against other electronics giants, Paul said he expects store managers to make more decisions locally about how to help customers work through their problems. Something akin to a neighborhood electronics shop, but with the deep resources of a national chain.

Reporter Richard Mullins can be reached at (813) 259-7919.

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