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Gateway closing all its retail stores, eliminating 2,500 jobs
Associated Press ^ | 4-1-04

Posted on 04/01/2004 2:28:38 PM PST by Oldeconomybuyer

Edited on 04/13/2004 2:46:16 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

POWAY, Calif. (AP) -- Troubled computer maker Gateway Inc. announced Thursday it will shutter all of its retail stores next week, eliminating 2,500 jobs.

The company, based in the San Diego suburb of Poway, said its 188 stores will close on April 9 and workers will be let go as the store operations wind down.


(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Technical; US: California; US: Iowa
KEYWORDS: gateway; layoffs; retail
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Comment #101 Removed by Moderator

To: Oldeconomybuyer
I have been to the local Gateway store,service sucks.
102 posted on 04/02/2004 7:21:33 AM PST by linn37 (Have you hugged your Phlebotomist today?)
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To: Publius6961
"First and last Gateway I ever bought."

My sentiments too. Never again.
103 posted on 04/02/2004 7:58:27 AM PST by Rebelbase
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To: The South Texan
What happened to Gateway? Thee computers are not that bad. Was this retail store concept part of their demise?

It had to be, look at Dell, they're still going strong. Computers are a tough product to sell in retail outlets, the savvy people already know you get the best prices buying online, the really savvy people know how to build their own, and that pretty much leaves the retail outlets with the dumb people who will drive the store buggy with returns and silly questions.

Another poster had it right, Americans are an instant gratification society, we expect to walk into a store, and be able to walk out with what we came for. Retailing computers seems to be pretty risky, all your merchandise is like produce, you have to move it quickly, or it goes obsolete in a hurry.

Look how many small independent computer shops have opened, then folded. Sure, a lot of it is from geeks who have no idea how to guarantee customer satisfaction, but its a low-margin business at best, requiring massive amounts of handholding for people who are goofy enough to load an AOL disk into a perfectly good computer.

104 posted on 04/02/2004 8:17:18 AM PST by hunter112
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To: MineralMan
Oops! I knew this was going to happen. When the stores first opened, at least the one in my area, you couldn't walk in, buy a computer, then walk out. Next door to the Gateway store was a Best Buy, where you could do just that.

My daughter tried to buy a Gateway laptop before a recent trip. There were none to buy. We walked across the street to Office Depot and bought a Avertec laptop off the shelf. Four pounds, Lithium ion battery, DVD player, CD burner, 30 gig drive, AMD 1700 CPU, XP Professional, modem, Ethernet, Wireless Ethernet, $995. Perfect for taking on a trip, keeping in touch via email and IM, downloading digital camera pics, burning CDs to mail home. Worked like a charm.

105 posted on 04/02/2004 8:25:34 AM PST by js1138 (In a minute there is time -- for decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.)
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To: hunter112
Computers are a tough product to sell in retail outlets, the savvy people already know you get the best prices buying online, the really savvy people know how to build their own, and that pretty much leaves the retail outlets with the dumb people who will drive the store buggy with returns and silly questions.

It may be possible to buy the parts and assemble them myself, but I usually buy computers with the latest technology for graphics intensive applications. Just because one can buy parts, doesn't mean those parts will work together correctly when assembled together. It is much easier to buy a computer from Dell. They sell lots of computers every day and can evaluate all the latest hardware and sell already assembled computers whose components work together correctly. Dell will even gurantee that their workstations will work with particular applications which is important when running applications that cost tens of thousands of dollars to buy and a significant fraction of that for annual support fees.

106 posted on 04/02/2004 9:11:21 AM PST by Paleo Conservative (Do not remove this tag under penalty of law.)
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To: Paleo Conservative
I'm with you all the way on Dell, my last computer was from them, and I'm still very happy with it. I often steer people in their direction who want fairly new technology, when I can't supply a used machine that will do the job for them. I've taken apart hundreds of computers, both desktop and laptop, and Dells are the most sturdily built, that's for sure.

Those retail outlets were surely bleeding Gateway dry, at least the BestBuys and the Staples have other products to make a profit on, and can afford to have computers as loss leaders.

107 posted on 04/02/2004 10:06:14 AM PST by hunter112
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To: hunter112
I've taken apart hundreds of computers, both desktop and laptop, and Dells are the most sturdily built, that's for sure.

Another reason to like Dell is how easy it is to open their computers to open up and add or remove parts. You hardly need a screwdriver. It also takes less time which saves on support costs. My old dual Pentium Pro Micron Pro2 (upgraded to Pentium II Overdrives) has lots screws to remove just to open the case. It's even worse trying to get to the drive bays to to add or delete a drive.

108 posted on 04/02/2004 10:22:02 AM PST by Paleo Conservative (Do not remove this tag under penalty of law.)
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