Computer City
 |
|
| Subsidiary | |
| Fate | Closed |
| Founded | 1981 |
| Defunct | 1998 |
| Headquarters | Costa Mesa, California, U.S. |
| Parent | Tandy Corporation |
Computer City was a chain of United States-based computer superstores operated by Tandy Corporation; the retailer was sold to CompUSA in 1998 and was merged into the CompUSA organization.
Computer City was a supercenter concept featuring name-brand and private label computers, software and related products; at the height of its success the company had over 100 locations in the United States and five in Europe.
In 1981, the original Computer City was founded by Leonard and Myrna Simon in Costa Mesa, California. Len Simon sat on the original Apple Retail Council while Myrna was in charge of HR. Within the first year, Computer City had added stores in Brea and Pasadena, CA and with the help of managers Mike Mostyn, Gordon Klatt and Greg Gadbois, Computer City expanded to San Diego, Beverly Hills, Encino, Cerritos, and Torrance CA. Computer City was the first independent Los Angeles computer retailers to offer the original IBM 5150 PC along with Sears and ComputerLand.
Computer City was acquired in 1983 by Rick and Joe Inatome and now known as Inacomp became the second largest computer retailer in the US with sales over $500M / year in computer products.
By 1985, market conditions in computer retailing had changed. As computers were less of a mystery to more people, profit margins began to drop. Retailers who offered business-to-business consultative services to sell computer systems could no longer afford expensive salespeople. Taking the name of the Los Angeles retailer they had purchased two years earlier, Rick, Vee, and Joe Inatome gave rise to the first big-box merchandising concept – Computer City. With an investment from Mitsubishi, Joe leveraged his vendor relationships at Inacomp to bring IBM, Apple, and Compaq to their first big-box merchandised store, initially privately held by Inatome and Mitsubishi.
Computer City innovated a number of retail concepts that are now common retail practices. First begun at the Costa Mesa Incomp, the store hosted a professional service bureau called The Graphic Zone, that provided film and graphic services for the nascent desktop publishing industry, the store operated a cafe which served coffee and sandwiches to prolong shopping visits, and the store featured a product training center that included an Electrosonic Video Wall, with 16 32" monitors which served as digital signage for the store, when training wasn't in session. The store also made heavy use of vendor managed inventory, vendor shops, and CO-OP funded retail displays which are now common practice throughout the retail industry.
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