CompUSA Says It Plans to Fire 1,500 Workers

CompUSA Inc., which was bought last month by Mexico’s Grupo Sanborns, said it plans to fire about 1,500 employees, or 7.5% of its work force, as part of an effort to reduce expenses. The company is eliminating 2,150 back-office and other support staff while adding 650 in sales and customer service. Some of the employees whose positions are being eliminated will get new jobs, a company spokeswoman said. Dallas-based CompUSA has 218 stores and also sells its own custom-made personal computers. An average of four or five positions will be cut from each of its stores, the company said. In the last year, CompUSA has tried to refocus business on its stores while cutting back its direct-sales force. Since being acquired by Grupo Sanborns, CompUSA has pulled the plug on its Cozone.com Internet sales site, merging it with the CompUSA.com site. Grupo Sanborns, which is controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim Helu and relatives, operates more than 300 stores in Mexico. Its other U.S. holdings include 7% of department store company Saks Inc., 8% of OfficeMax Inc. and 4% of CDNow Inc.