CompUSA Closes more than Half of Stores

From Macworld

CompUSA will close more than half of its retail computer and electronics stores in the next two to three months.

In a statement, CompUSA said it would shutter 126 stores — it currently operates 225 — within 90 days as part of a massive restructuring first unveiled last Friday. The restructuring will rely on the store closings, as well as a $400 million cash infusion and other expense reductions. CompUSA did not specify the source of the cash investment.

“Based on changing conditions in the consumer retail electronics market, the company identified the need to close and sell stores with low performance or nonstrategic, old store layouts and locations faced with market saturation,” Roman Ross, CompUSA’s CEO, said in a statement. Earlier this month, rival Circuit City Stores Inc. announced that it also would close stores.

Of the consumer electronics retail chains, one that seems to be weathering the storm is Best Buy. For the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2006, Richfield, Minn.-based Best Buy posted a 7 percent increase in comparable store revenue and a 15 percent boost in sales overall.

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