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.”
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.
