While retailers like Best Buy and Walmart continue to drive healthy brick-and-mortar activity, online shopping hasn’t been so kind to dearly departed tech bastions like Circuit City, Radio Shack and a once-lauded computer supermarket: CompUSA. Throughout its heyday in the 1990s, CompUSA was THE place to buy everything from desktop and laptop computers to circuit boards, RAM, peripherals, software and much more.
CompUSA’s humble origins date back to 1984, when the first store (then known as Soft Warehouse) opened in Dallas, Texas. Renamed CompUSA in 1991 – when “personal computing” was all the rage – the retailer became a hub for all things PC and PC-adjacent. But things began to fall apart as the company entered the new millennium. Not only have competitors like Best Buy doubled down on their computer business, but sites like Amazon and Newegg have also made it much easier and less expensive to become a DIY PC builder.
Once the first recession hit, things weren’t looking good for CompUSA. Sales declined as foot traffic steadily declined, and CompUSA executives were unable to develop a coherent strategy for a healthy future. It seemed the writing was on the wall, and by 2007, CompUSA closed more than half of its 126 physical locations.
From Bad to Worse, or How CompUSA Fell From Its Mighty Throne
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The same year that CompUSA closed the doors to most of its brick-and-mortar stores, the company was acquired by Systemax, the parent company of TigerDirect. Systemax planned to keep its remaining CompUSA stores open while also expanding online sales. But even a complete acquisition could not prevent CompUSA’s demise, and over the next six years all remaining stores would eventually close.
Is there anything left of this once-thriving business in 2026? Yes, sort of, but it’s a painful sight. CompUSA’s current website leaves a lot to be desired (it looks and works like it was built in 2007 and has never been updated), and most of the links to the pages don’t even work. Our advice is to be clear, because if you’re looking for great deals on PCs, the best monitors, and other office tech, there are plenty of reliable places to shop, both online and in-store (Micro Center is one of the first that comes to mind). Perhaps CompUSA will have a chance at a resurgence, but for now, it seems unlikely that the company will ever return to its former glory.
