CompUSA - #14
CompUSA was the epitome of a big box retail electronics chain. Founded in 1986 as Soft Warehouse by Errol Jacobson and Mike Henochowicz, its first megastore opened in Atlanta, Georgia in 1988.
Changing its name to CompUSA in 1991, it operated almost 230 locations with over $2B in revenues at its peak and was listed on the NYSE.
Competitive pressures, mis-management and a failure to adapt to the online world (amongst other things) led to the deterioration of the brand.
"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." [WSJ]
In 2012, Systemax changed the name of CompUSA (and Circuit City) to TigerDirect and all intellectual properties were sold.
The brand was relaunched online as an affiliate website in 2018 but shut down soon after.
Today there is a compusabusiness.com website that states: "The All-New CompUSA.com has more Computers, Laptops, Televisions, Software, Electronics than ever before!" but doesn't appear to really be in operation and does not have the original domain.
