CompUSA to Call it Quits

My thought is Carlos Slim, wanting to keep his status as (arguably) richest man in the world, has decided to stop throwing money down a hole. CompUSA will shut down after the holiday season.

Slim has owned CompUSA since 2000. It's a subsidiary of his U.S. Commercial Corp S.A.B. de C.V. company. Since owning it, he has $1.5 billion in the chain over eight years, yet failed to turn it around.

Things already looked grim for CompUSA when they shut half their stores within a three month period, starting in February. Competition from stores such as Best Buy, Circuit City, and (who else) Wal-Mart, proved too much.

Restructuring firm Gordon Brothers Group bought the company for an undisclosed amount and will sell or close the remaining 103 stores after the U.S. holidays. Naturally the holiday season is still the biggest for retailers and they will still try to eke out as many sales as possible. Store-closing sales (likely highly discounted) will be held which means you probably ought to check your Sunday ads.

Gordon Brothers Group will also sell the TechPro and CompUSA.com divisions as well.