Gateway closing all its retail stores, eliminating 2,500 jobs

Associated Press ^ | 4-1-04

[Oldeconomybuyer]

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.

[anonymous_user]

Probably not an April Fools' joke.

[Williams]

isn't it amazing that a high tech comopany could open 2500 stores with such a failed strategy? I also walked in a Gateway store ONCE because it quickly became apparent that the computer I could get many weeks later would be overpriced compared to the same features available asap next door.

If companies can go so wrong in a competitive economy, now apply that lesson to allowing the government to provide services with zero competition and even less honest feedback going into the decisions.

[Williams]

Oh, only 188 stores and 2500 jobs. Still.

[cmsgop]

You are right about Apple Stores,They are just fun to be in..

[Capt. Tom]

What happened to Gateway? Thee computers are not that bad.

Wal-Mart Sells PCs With Sun's Java Desktop System techweb ^ | March 31, 2004

Posted on 03/31/2004 2:15:44 PM EST by stainlessbanner

Sun has finally found an American partner for its Java Desktop System (JSD), the company's Linux-based alternative to Microsoft Windows: über-retailer Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart on Tuesday began selling low-cost Microtel PCs pre-loaded with JDS, offering several systems at prices ranging from $298 to $698.

Java Desktop System, which runs on Linux, includes the Gnome desktop, StarOffice productivity suite, Mozilla Web browser, and the Evolution e-mail client, and is Sun's pitch as a replacement for Windows and Microsoft Office in both the consumer and enterprise arenas.

On Tuesday, Sun said that it was seriously considering Wal-Mart as the sole PC supplier for JDS-equipped computers.

To prove the point, Wal-Mart's online and retail stores have begun selling systems like the Microtel SYSWM8001, which uses an AMD 1.6GHz Duron processor, comes with 128MB of memory, and a 40GB hard drive for less than $300. The 8001, as well as four other Microtel models, come standard with JDS.

[CatoRenasci]

Back in the 386 and 486 days of Windows 3.0 and 3.1, Gateway was a cheaper alternative to Compaq or Northgate, like Dell and Micron. But, Gateways had some compatability problems in those days, and if you really cared about being able to run everything, you bought a Northgate or Micron, or maybe a Dell. Northgates were very good, but expensive. Best keyboard around, though, I still have a couple of them.

Dell did really well in the laptop market, putting real pressure on Micron, whose notebooks never caught on. I bought several Microns, and they were excellent machines.

The worst computer I ever owned is a Compaq. You couldn't give me a new Compaq!

[Hatteras]

"All of them?? Can you say, "Clearance sale?"

Hmmm... that's what I was thinking. I would love to get my hands on some of that old barn board and knotty pine flooring... That couch in their simulated rec room was pretty comfortable too. And I sure could go for some of those bar stools at each of the demo stations.

Computers? Oh, yeah, well it would have to be an awfully sweet deal.

[tiamat]

I find our local Apple store dangerous....


.... to my checking account!

:-)

Seriously: Everything you said is true.

[birbear]

This sucks.. though I'm not surprised.

Several years ago, my wife bought a notebook... I told her to get a Gateway because there was a Gateway store not too far away. When we have had problems with it, it was nice to go down the block for tech support.

Of course, I've never needed tech support with the Dells I've owned....

hmmmm

[doug9732]

"What happened to Gateway?"

Their fatal mistake was agreeing to collect sales tax for every state that has one. People don't want to pay both shipping and sales tax.

[Hatteras]

Wait a minute... You were telling your husband to buy a plasma TV? Just dang. Do you have a sister?

[PJ-Comix]

Same thing happened to me. They were actually quite rude to me.

You said it! They had computers in their stores where you could surf the net. So one day I logged onto the FR and some Nerd Gateway guy walks over and gave me an annoying lecture. I never went back.

[EagleMamaMT]

I hate to hear this. The Gateway store in Springfield, MO, gives great service and has some of the nicest, most helpful sales staff I've ever met. I bought a computer system for my home-based business from that store about 2-1/2 years ago and it was great to walk in there, pay for it and walk out with it.

About a month ago, my CD rom drive got messed up and I had to have a new one. I went down to the Gateway store in Springfield, they ordered it and it was delivered to my house the next day. They told me, since my computer was still under warranty, to bring it down to them when the CD rom came in and they would install it. I walked in the door with my computer, gave it to the guy at the repair desk and it was installed in 15 minutes. I was out the door and on my way and it works great.

I've only had to call tech support one time with my Gateway (about 2 months ago) in the 2-1/2 years I've owned it. I spoke to an American computer tech and he solved my problem in 10 minutes (including time spent on hold).

I'm a VERY satisfied Gateway customer!

[MD_Willington_1976]

No big surprise here: Texas Instruments, HP, Gateway, Intel,& AMD are going to get there pants sued off by Intergraph for IP infringment...The hardest hit will probably be the Intel retailers...HP & Gateway. Dell got "off the hook"...see below.

AMD has filed a countersuit against Intergraph

Intergraph gets a $225,000,000 (yep thats almost a quarter billion) payout out of INTEL...

Now Intergraph is gunning for the INTEL OEM's...

As part of the settlement, Integraph will grant a licence to Dell to use some of its technologies, and drop it from a case it's pursuing which also includes HP and Gateway. That trial is set to start on August 2nd next.

What's Dell got to do with the Intel case? According to Intergraph, Dell filed a counterclaim against Intel last year.

[Dane]

In 1989/1990, Gateway had a chance to really sit on top of the computer market ... and then their quality just went downhill ..

My first computer that I bought was around Labor Day 94. It was a Packard Bell with a 420MB hard drive and a 486 DX/2 66 MHz processor(monitor and printer included) from a Circuit City for around $1200.

The second one was from an ad in the Computer Shopper.

[Paleo Conservative]

Their 'retail' stores were more like new car showrooms, without the inventory. Bad marketing move.

We had a Gateway store for about 6 months several years ago. The funny thing was you couldn't even order high end workstations from them. Those had to be ordered directly from their website or from the salespeople over the phone. Why bother? The low end machines were comparable to various computers in stock in various store within a half-mile radius.

[Alberta's Child]

I bought a Gateway right out of school in 1993 -- it was the best machine I've ever owned. Lasted me about seven years before it became functionally obsolete, but I still keep the monitor and keyboard around in case my Dell breaks down (which it has done a couple of times).

[MD_Willington_1976]

Did you buy your Gateway at a Radio shack in Alberta?...thats where my mother in law got hers...

[chilepepper]

Their EARLIEST computers (486 vintage) were not bad. I bought a 120 MHz Pentium from them and i can't begin to count the ways i was ripped off, from the low performace motherboard (they left out the pipe-line burst cache in the memory and then tried to tell me EDO memory would make up for the increased access times), to the monitor that burned up a year later, to the woofer that burned up a year later, etc etc

i bought the 120MHz based on their reputation from the earlier machines, but they had already started to cut corners, and boy did they cut corners...

whoever convinced them to open stores throughout the US just as the dot-com boom was peaking and heading south was a *real* genius (not)...

good riddance gateway -- i dislike dell *ALMOST* as much but they are much more savvy and will ride things out, but their stuff is so-so IMHO...

[Recovering_Democrat]

My first computer was a Gateway...way way back in '94 or '95. I loved it. Bought a new one in 2000, and it didn't work right...big big big problems with the CD-R drive. I called several times in the first 2 weeks, and ran into a BRICK WALL. Bad attitude, who-cares-we're-Gateway, and they kept stonewalling me.

So, I called 'em and told them it was coming back. Suddenly, they gave a damn. But it was too late.

I returned the Gateway, and bought a Dell. I love the Dell, and plan to buy another sometime in 2005 or 2006.