Miami - Systemax has opened its first TigerDirect.com store and plans to add two more locations this year.

The move comes about a year after the IT manufacturer and CE retailer converted its seven former U.S. TigerDirect stores to CompUSA sites.

The first TigerDirect.com store, a 35,000-square-foot site, soft-opened last week in Chicago. According to Lonny Paul, the company's marketing and strategic initiatives VP, a second store will open within the next two months in Dallas, and a third TigerDirect.com location will open before the end of the year in Jefferson, Ga., where Systemax is building a new distribution and B-to-B call center.

At the same time, Systemax has added TigerDirect branding to its CompUSA stores and e-commerce site to help drive customers and traffic between the two properties. All 33 CompUSA locations, along with the website, are now co-branded with a "Powered by TigerDirect.com" logo and the promise of "significantly lower ... prices, on par with online deals found on TigerDirect.com."

The former TigerDirect stores were located in Delaware, Illinois and North Carolina, although the company continues to maintain the storefront badge in Canada.

Sytemax's CircuitCity.com e-tail site is unaffected by the changes.

In a statement, Gilbert Fiorentino, chief executive of Systemax's technology products group, said, "The all new CompUSA is thrilled to now be powered by TigerDirect.com, the online powerhouse and consumer electronics e-tailer. Our customers have spoken, and we look forward to providing shoppers not only with great deals on computers, HDTVs, components and other consumer electronics, but offering them the chance to experience a completely new approach to retail shopping with Retail 2.0," the latest iteration of CompUSA's interactive retail format.

Systemax highlighted the co-branding effort with a chain-wide "grand opening" sale this past weekend,  which included the opportunity to win a Sony 3D TV bundle including Bravia 55-inch LED 3D TV, Blu-ray home-theater system, two pairs of active-shutter glasses and a 3D sync transmitter.