CompUSA is closing both its Snohomish County locations as part of a nationwide wave of store closures and restructuring for the electronics retailer.
The seller of computers and related equipment is closing 126 stores in the U.S., leaving 103 open, by summertime to improve its financial condition.
“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 chief executive, said in a statement.
In Mountlake Terrace, the retailer has been at 6007 244th St. SW, just east of I-5, about 13 years, according to city permit records. It’s been at Lynnwood Square, at the intersection of 196th Street SW and 44th Avenue W., since taking over the Good Guys electronics store there. CompUSA acquired Good Guys in 2003.
In addition to CompUSA’s two local stores, the retailer is pulling out of Kirkland, Bellevue, Tukwila and Tacoma. The chain’s Spokane store is the only one being spared in Washington state, said spokeswoman Jessica Nunez.
The company didn’t specify how many employees will be affected by the closures. Liquidation sales are beginning soon at the affected stores.
The restructuring will leave Dallas-based CompUSA with 103 stores in 39 states.
Electronics retailing has become increasingly competitive, with even The Home Depot Inc. offering televisions for sale over the holidays. And Best Buy Co. Inc., which dominates electronics retailing, has begun a push for small-business customers, one of CompUSA’s mainstays.
The privately held company is owned by U.S. Commercial Corp., which will be making a $440 million cash infusion as part of the restructuring, Nunez said.
Circuit City, another consumer electronics retailer, announced earlier this month the closure of dozens of stores in Canada and a handful in the U.S., though none locally.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
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