A representative from CompUSA discussed the history of the company, from its name change in 1995 when it was called Soft Warehouse. The company brought non high technology people into the industry with PC Modems. It made technology approachable. It did not want customers to be fearful of products not working.
A speaker from Fry’s Electronics spoke on its focus on high technology professionals such as engineers. It opened its first stores in Silicon Valley by selling printer cables, potato chips, Jolt cola. It allowed people to touch the products to see if they worked. It bought products from overseas. It bought overstock from computer dealers that went out of business. It transformed inventory from a grocery store model to a ship based on customer sales model. Technology moved fast and the company did not want to be left with obsolete inventory after six months.
These retail companies changed employment with drug testing requirements which came with legal, ethical, and productivity concerns; and kept the computer industry growing with a math charity that got together to solve math problems.
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