Twick,
Thanks for the kind words.
Here's the article it appeared in the Computer Retail Week. Also the address.
207.240.177.145
Industry News
Wal-Mart Takes Rocky Road to BTO
Aaron Ricadela
Colorado Springs, Colo.
5:29 PM EDT, Thurs., Aug. 06, 1998
Wal-Mart has tapped an unlikely partner to introduce custom-configured PCs on
its Web site.
Clone maker ACI Micro Systems, based here, yesterday announced it will serve as
Wal-Mart's exclusive build-to-order PC supplier. The mass merchant's
electronic-commerce site, Wal-Mart Online, began selling BTO desktop, tower and
notebook configurations under ACI Micro's Avail brand name about three weeks
ago, the supplier said. Consumers can choose from Intel Celeron and Pentium II
processors in the PCs, and specify the systems' peripherals, drives and memory
configurations. ACI Micro ships to Wal-Mart customers.
ACI also sells Avail PCs on its Web site at www.availpc.com and operates a retail
store in Colorado Springs. But the manufacturer traveled an unlikely course to
reach Wal-Mart's virtual shelves.
Parent company American General Ventures, originally a biotechnology firm,
bought PC maker ACI in 1985 to service its expensive brain-scanning equipment,
according to Chris Walker, chief operating officer for ACI. But the
Harvard-developed technology didn't catch on in Colorado's conservative medical
community, and American quickly decided to make selling computers its full-time
vocation, he said.
Ten years later, ACI landed on shelves at eight Wal-Mart stores in Colorado. The
following year, 70 Wal-Mart locations carried Avail computers. But returns were
making the retail business expensive, and Walker said the company withdrew its
off-the-shelf program at Wal-Mart to focus on Internet sales.
"We knew being a public company, we had to do something sexy to attract the
interest of Wall Street. We knew we couldn't do that being a local mom-and-pop
computer shop."
It may be a long road to Wall Street enthusiasm. American General stock closed
down 3/32 yesterday to 3/8.
But ACI is confident that the Wal-Mart BTO program can help revive sales that
were halved last year to $675,105, after the company exited Wal-Mart stores. With
yesterday's announcement, Avail's online Wal-Mart orders jumped more than 20
percent, Walker said. "This is just a much tighter way to keep track of inventory,"
he said.
Have a good one.
John |
