Computer City 3.5” DSDD Floppy Disk, RARE / ODDITY, Used

Appearance: Used,may have label and/or writing on diskFunctionality: UntestedDescription:============Similar to pictured,a Computer City 3.5” DSDD Floppy Disk. Double Sided Double Density. Disk appearsin good shape, but untested – sold as a collectible.About Us:=========The ComputerPreservation Group is dedicated to the preservation of historical computers. Tohelp fund ongoing operations, select items are made available. To learn more,please visit our website: www.computerpreservation.com. Thank you for your support!Warranty andReturns:=====================We understand thatthere may be compatibility issues, space constraints, or it just doesn’t lookperfect. This item can be returned within 14-days for ANY reason. However,shipping to and from is not refundable. Shipping:=========- Local pickup isalso available at no cost.- Most orders placedbefore 9am will ship the same day.Stock#:3545Details from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_City:Computer City was achain of United States-based computer superstores operated by TandyCorporation; the retailer was sold to CompUSA in 1998 and liquidated.Computer City was asupercenter concept featuring name-brand computers, software and relatedproducts; at the height of its success the company had over 100 locations inthe United States and 5 in Europe.HistoryIn 1981, theoriginal Computer City was founded by Leonard and Myrna Simon in Costa Mesa,California. Len Simon sat on the original Apple Retail Council while Myrna wasin charge of HR. Within the first year, Computer City had added stores in Breaand Pasadena, CA and with the help of managers Mike Mostyn, Gordon Klatt andGreg Gadbois,[1] Computer City expanded to San Diego, Beverly Hills, Encino,Cerritos, and Torrance CA. Computer City was the first independent Los Angelescomputer retailers to offer the original IBM 5150 PC along with Sears andComputerLand.Computer City wasacquired in 1983 by Rick and Joe Inatome and now known as Inacomp [2] becamethe second largest computer retailer in the US with sales over $500M / year incomputer products.By 1985, marketconditions in computer retailing had changed. As computers were less of amystery to more people, profit margins began to drop. Retailers who offeredbusiness-to-business consultative services to sell computer systems could nolonger afford expensive salespeople. Taking the name of the Los Angelesretailer they had purchased two years earlier, Rick, Vee, and Joe Inatome gaverise to the first big-box merchandising concept – Computer City. With aninvestment from Mitsubishi, Joe leveraged his vendor relationships at Inacompto bring IBM, Apple, and Compaq to their first big-box merchandised store,initially privately held by Inatome and Mitsubishi.Innovative retailpracticesThis article needs additional citations forverification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliablesources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2014) Computer Cityinnovated a number of retail concepts that are now common retail practices.First begun at the Costa Mesa Incomp, the store hosted a professional servicebureau called The Graphic Zone, that provided film and graphic services for thenascent desktop publishing industry, the store operated a cafe which servedcoffee and sandwiches to prolong shopping visits, and the store featured aproduct training center that included an Electrosonic Video Wall, with 1632" monitors which served as digital signage for the store, when trainingwasn'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 practicethroughout the retail industry.Acquisition by TandyThis article needsadditional citations for verification. Please help improve this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved. (August 2014) Ultimately, Tandybought the Computer City concept and store in 1991 and launched Computer Cityas a national chain (as well as Incredible Universe). Alan Bush, a Radio Shackexecutive, was named president of the new company.The stores resembledCompUSA's super center concepts, but lacked the financial backing CompUSA had.CompUSA, having a larger market share, bought the company, and in the process,shut down one of its smaller competitors. Two types of store models existed,one was a full size store with an in house Tandy Repair Center similar to afreestanding Tandy Repair Center that still service RadioShack stores today,now called RadioShack Service Centers. These stores had sub departments forbusiness sales that would just handle business orders for companies and otherorganizations, they also offered in store customer training classes forsoftware such as Microsoft Excel, Word, and Powerpoint. Some of these locationswere as big as some Best Buy Stores. They also operated Computer City Expressstores which had no service center in them, nor did they offer classes. Theywere closer in size to a large RadioShack store.In itsWestbury/Garden City New York location, Computer City opened right next to itsmain competitor CompUSA. In King Of Prussia, PA, Computer City was directlyacross the street from CompUSA, and was in plain sight from CompUSA's mainentrance. However, Computer City's entrance opened toward an off-street parkinglot.As both ComputerCity and Tandy's other venture Incredible Universe were both having financialissues, the computer departments of Incredible Universe were changed toComputer City.The Westbury, NYIncredible Universe was also within 3 miles of the above-mentioned CompUSA andComputer City. This may have hurt both of these Tandy divisions.One hallmark ofComputer City's retail concept is that the store operated much like a grocerystore; customers could not only browse, but select and purchase almost allmerchandise without the assistance of a salesperson. Furthermore, untilmid-1996, the floor staff did not have revenue quotas and were not paid oncommission, though bonuses were applied for selling either the extendedwarranty Computer City Service Plan (CCSP) or in-store training classes. Inretrospect, this model was seen as creating a competitive disadvantage, ascomputers were still new to many customers in those days and a lack ofqualified and knowledgeable salespeople, who had no incentive to self-improve,led to frustrated customers and high return rates.Compared to CircuitCity, a main competitor at the time, Computer City's operations andpoint-of-sale terminals were severely behind the industry. Individual storeshad no control over the inventory they were shipped, and the computer systemswere not linked between locations. Further, the POS system was not equipped tohandle multi-item package promotions; cashiers were required to manuallycalculate and input adjusted prices for each item in an advertised package.This led to severe customer service issues, causing serious delays duringcheckout and for exchanges/returns.Acquisition byCompUSAOn June 22, 1998, CompUSAannounced that it was purchasing the Computer City chain for $275 millionUSD.[3] Upon completion of the takeover in September 1998, CompUSA shutteredfifty of the stores outright, and transitioned the remainders into CompUSAlocations.[4]In some states,warranties on items that had been purchased at Computer City were taken over byCompUSA, in other states they were taken over by Radio Shack.In Canada, ComputerCity Canada stores were sold from CompUSA to Future Shop of whom in the endliquidated all Canadian Computer City locations.Current uses of thenameThere was an activestore in Bermuda by the same name; it was independently founded in January 2000and closed in December 2012. It was never related to the US or Canadianstores.[5] Also the web address http://computercity.com/ is running but has norelation to the US or Canadian stores.In Denmark (10stores) and Sweden (2 stores), Computer City still exists using the originallogo. There are also active stores by this name in other parts of the world.