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.

[chainsaw]

Look for gateway computers in Best Buy stores. Gateway just purchased e-Machines last month, so I expect to see gateway machines there shortly. This may be what gateway was implying when they said they were "exploring other retail distribution options for its products in U.S. and foreign markets."

[MD_Willington_1976]

They better watch their backs offering Linux...SCO may come gunning for them (Walmart)...

[CasearianDaoist]

I just asked them to see a computer - just look at it. They got a bit testy with me ehrn I wanted to sit down and use it. The funny thing is at the time I was running a software company where we had a couple of hundred programmers. I did not even explain that to them, I just walked out thet door I was probalbly good for 30 or so boxes at the time. I had to chuckle. It was in New York so i just wrote it it off to snottiness. I did not realize that it was enfemic to the firm. I believe it now though. They did make good machines for a while.

Ignore basic decency at your peril, in business and your life.

[wbill]

I started out as a PC tech. First server that I built was a P-100 with 64 MB of RAM and a 4.3 GB hard drive. We're talking serious bucks....this was back when 16MB memory sticks were $400-$500 a pop. I think that the whole box wound up costing around 7 grand.....before the software. This was the workhorse that powered a pretty big realestate business.

Now, MP3 players have 10x the power, memory, and storage. They cost a couple of hundred dollars each, are only used to play music, and you can stick them in your pocket. And all this in less than 10 years. Simply amazing.....

\reminice off

[CatoRenasci]

I also have an IBM Thinkpad which is long in the tooth, but still works pretty well - I just bought a wireless card for it to use with the new home network. It is probably the best machine, overall, that I've ever had as well. I bought the daughter a Dell laptop for college, but that's because I was too cheap to buy her an equivalent IBM!

I liked it so much, I bought an IBM NetVista where the guts of the computer are on the back of the Flat Panel monitor. I figured IBM was cashing in on their expertise at miniaturization and laptops. That's been a good machine as well. I'm not sure why they didn't catch on, other than the difficulty upgrading.

I know that compaq is no more, but I still hate them. HP makes good printers and other peripherals, like my scanner, but I was never very impressed with their desktops or notebooks.

[Psycho_Bunny]

Yep. They make such a good product--I mean, it absolutely blows everything else out of the water.

lol

[lelio]

First the stores which put them in direct competition with Circuit City and Best Buy

Adding to that: Gateway's new CEO is a former Best Buy exec and Best Buy sells the eMachines line, which Gateway just purchased.

They'll probably setup a Gateway store inside of Best Buy.

[Luis Gonzalez]

"Their sales reps suck and are arrogant Gen Z types for the most part."

Outsource them.

[olde north church]

My first desktop was a Sony Vaio 90 purchased "Black Friday" 1996. My father still uses it.
I made the switch to a PowerBook Titantium in July 03, changed over to the PowerBook 15 Aluminum, have not looked back.

[annyokie]

I think they have outsourced themselves.

[Paleo Conservative]

Not only that, Don't those creeps at Gateway support Daschle? I hope he's deeply troubled.

While Michael Dell is a Bush supporter, big time. The day after the 2000 presidential election Governor Bush held a press conference at the Dell Jewish Community Center in Austin.

[GreenLanternCorps]

Sorry to hear this. Gateway lost their way when they left Sioux City. They were outsiders with good ideas and were hard competition when I worked at Midwest Micro back in the early 90's.

However, now thay have nothing that sets them apart from any other company. It's sad, I hope my Dad dumps his Gateway stock.

BTW, My dad went to high school with the Waite bros. father in Sioux City, Iowa.

[Lael]

Probably another factor in Gateway's retail failure. Look for the Apple stores to follow. They wont be able to sustain it with their market share being so little, whats it now 6%?

I'll be buying my first Apple from the Apple Resellers in the next couple of weeks.

There is a lot of activity in both the Resellers stores and the Apple Direct stores.

Seems that people are FINALLY realizing that when you buy an APPLE, you leave the whole India-Russia-China-Philippines thing behind!!!

Buy a Gateway, Dell, HP, E-Machines [sale not final], Acer, etc., and you BUY 2 BILLION competitors, many of whom...

WILL WORK FOR RUPEES!!!

[Pappy Smear]

You worked at Midwest Micro? I bought one in 2000 and it was a great maching until my house got hit by lightning last fall. Where did MM go?

Running a Gateway now to replace my piece of charcoal, I'm happy with it so far.....

[LADY J]

"Gateway just purchased e-Machines last month, so I expect to see gateway machines there shortly."

I understand the CEO of eMachines is going to run the show as part of this deal.

[HAL9000]

Gateway lost their way when they left Sioux City. ... However, now thay have nothing that sets them apart from any other company.

Yes, I remember the time I was about to buy several Compaqs, but I decided to buy Gateways instead because they were in Sioux City. Then they moved to California and I vowed to never buy another Gateway.

BTW, My dad went to high school with the Waite bros. father in Sioux City, Iowa.

Everyone I meet from Iowa seems to know the Waite brothers, or at least one of them.

[Fury]

Same here with Gateway experience. A couple of folks asked me to go along with them to help them pick out a computer at a Gateway store. I found their staff helpful and polite and the product was priced well.

Was just in one store last week. It seemed a bit empty (crowd wise), but I was talking to the manager and he said that their sales were trending up over the last several months. They seemed optimistic.

[GreenLanternCorps]

I left them in '95 but Midwest Micro got bought out by Global Computer, Who in turn got bought out by Tiger Direct just recently.

I believe they cal this industry consolidation...

[chilepepper]

I bought a refurbished eMachines Celeron 366, expecting the worse from some comments i heard on the net (it was really cheap is why i bought it)

i was amazed with it. it looks like at that time eM was a 100% KOREAN effort. the enclosure was tank like, all the components were Samsumg or LG. everything was was very solid and nicely put together...

bottom line is I was impressed. was my kids machine for a couple of years & i sold it for about what i bought it for... (even though it was only 366, it still had a DVD and did a pretty good job playing it -- generally you need a faster machine than a Celeron 366 in order to play DVD.

My one disappointment w/ the e366 ?? i couldn't overclock the beast -- i wanted to run in a 550MHz and the BIOS wouldn't let me...

[Publius6961]

I thought Gateway was the best in the early 90's.

I thought so too, until the one I bought died suddenly, and it was a motherboard issue, just about warranty expiration time. I simply wanted to know who the motherboard manufacturer was and they wouldn't talk to me. And the computer back then was around 4k. First and last Gateway I ever bought.