West coast brick-and-mortar computer store PC Club announced
new ownership last week, days after the company suddenly closed its doors and
filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection. A telephone interview with a PC Club
store manager confirmed that all of the company’s 38 retail stores opened their
doors again last Thursday, and resumed business as usual.
The chain’s sudden reopening can be attributed to its
acquisition by Los Angeles-based capital firm NAOC Holdings, which
purchased the company at the last minute on undisclosed terms.
PC Club’s two online stores, PC Club.com and ClubIT.com, reopened
Thursday as well, appearing as if they never went down to begin with.
“Brick-and-mortar accessory computer stores are still a
valued commodity in the US,” said NAOC Holdings spokesman Alan Hunter. “We know
PC Club with its long history, quality technical service and computer accessory
assortment will continue to have strong potential for continued business
operations. A technology retail outlet is the next logical addition to our
portfolio, and we expect this will be a mutually beneficial relationship.”
While the exact reasons as to why PC Club nearly went out of
business are unknown, many stores have experienced a continual slide in sales
over the past few years, as the bulk of computer parts purchases move to online
stores and larger, Big Box retailers like Best Buy or Fry’s Electronics.
Company insiders have long attributed a variety of company problems to the loss
of its founder and visionary, Jackson Lan, who died at the end of 2005.
An anonymous PC Club employee confirmed that trouble was in
the midst for several weeks prior. He described a number of component
manufacturers sending FedEx trucks to clear stores of inventory sold on
consignment. Despite the signs, however, both the unnamed employee and several
others said that they did not expect such a sudden closure, and anecdotal
reports around the internet reveal that staff as high as the regional
manager-level were unaware of the severity of the PC Club’s inner turmoil.
On the day of the bankruptcy announcement, repair technicians
pleaded with customers to pick up their
computers, as the liquidation process could tie up customers’ property for
weeks or months. A
commenter on Digg, who self-identified as a technician at
a Southern California-area store, said that he and his coworkers contemplated
taking customer computers home in order to safeguard them from the liquidation
process, but ultimately decided against it.
“Our new relationship with NAOC Holdings will give us an
opportunity to grow our market share and expand beyond the western and central
U.S.,” said PC Club Senior Sales Manager Kim Chu. “In addition, we'll now have
the ability to reorganize and to work on expanding our compelling product line.”