NCIX declares "Supreme Bankruptcy"

[Matu20]

I see brick and mortar dying slowly, e-commerce has grown too large.

[Matt_Lefebvre]

The really sad part here guys, is the fact that NCIX's emploding is having a massive ripple effect on the entire Canadian market.

When they own tens of millions of dollars to distribution partners, and have been apparently moving large sums of money into real estate overseas and trusts for the better part of a year now - instead of paying creditors (Rumor from inside the industry - grain of salt please), it leaves all the other retailers to basically pay the difference.... even though they had nothing to do with NCIX.

 

So, Distribution will raise prices for everyone, to make up for the millions they are going to lose from NCIX declaring bankruptcy... and this uneasiness is even leading to a lot of people making rash, poorly planned or thought out decisions... which will drag some into even more trouble.

 

Lots more to the story here - but like Linus, I need to stay at about a 6/10 on details - but this is far from over and I'm sorry guys - you, the consumer, are going to be the ones stuck paying for it....  Which sucks even more.

[dalekphalm]

9 hours ago, Damascus said:

Nah, the closest thing to MC in canada wiuld be canada computers but they dont even get close to the deals at MC

What are you talking about, exactly? NCIX and Canada Computers are extremely similar stores, when you break it down. They both operate large e-commerce websites (The two biggest PC Parts websites in Canada), and they both operate (heh... well... operated, at any rate) retail stores that provide similar products and services.

 

Granted, CC has a much larger retail footprint. They are able to do that by being a bit more "bare bones" in store, with less choices on product variety. (Eg: Instead of having 30 different toner brands, they carry the OEM and their house brand).

3 hours ago, Misanthrope said:

Part of that restructure should include selling NCIX techtips and some of that talent to LMG, at the very least get them on the floatplane club.

But why? NCIX TechTips is essentially a part of the marketing arm for NCIX.

 

I'm not even sure LTT needs any extra talent, but if they do, you can be damn sure they're already talking to the NCIX TechTips crew behind the scenes.

 

What would be the benefit of turning NCIX TechTips (What would it even be called after?) into a general purpose techtuber? That market is already pretty saturated, and with a branding change, would likely kill the channel anyway.

[dalekphalm]

4 minutes ago, Matt_Lefebvre said:

The really sad part here guys, is the fact that NCIX's emploding is having a massive ripple effect on the entire Canadian market.

When they own tens of millions of dollars to distribution partners, and have been apparently moving large sums of money into real estate overseas and trusts for the better part of a year now - instead of paying creditors (Rumor from inside the industry - grain of salt please), it leaves all the other retailers to basically pay the difference.... even though they had nothing to do with NCIX.

 

So, Distribution will raise prices for everyone, to make up for the millions they are going to lose from NCIX declaring bankruptcy... and this uneasiness is even leading to a lot of people making rash, poorly planned or thought out decisions... which will drag some into even more trouble.

 

Lots more to the story here - but like Linus, I need to stay at about a 6/10 on details - but this is far from over and I'm sorry guys - you, the consumer, are going to be the ones stuck paying for it....  Which sucks even more.

You got any sources for the owners moving large sums overseas, etc?

[Matt_Lefebvre]

Just now, dalekphalm said:

You got any sources for the owners moving large sums overseas, etc?

Just industry rumors - coming from a few vendors i know and trust.

Hence the Rumor/grain of salt disclaimer at the end.

[dalekphalm]

5 minutes ago, Matt_Lefebvre said:

Just industry rumors - coming from a few vendors i know and trust.

Hence the Rumor/grain of salt disclaimer at the end.

Hmm interesting. The story gets more juicy over time, doesn't it?

 

It's a shame, for around a decade, I used NCIX exclusively for all PC Parts purchases. That's changed for a number of reasons:

1. Their website is frankly garbage, and hasn't fundamentally changed much since I started using them in the early 2000's. LOOK AT NEWEGG'S SORTING/FILTERING AND RIP THAT OFF QUICK! (edit: Canada Computers should take this advice too lol)

2. Their prices are no longer guaranteed to be the lowest

3. There's a convenient Canada Computers ( ) location nearby where I can do in-store pickup

4. There's more competition now, with NewEgg.ca and CC, and even Amazon (though Amazon is still a mixed bag in Canada for PC Parts)

 

They never expanded into the Tri-City area in Ontario, so their Ontario retail expansions never benefited me directly.

[PanteaDropper]

1 hour ago, Matu20 said:

I see brick and mortar dying slowly, e-commerce has grown too large.

why do you say that?

 

Talking to an actual person can't be replaced by your favorite youtuber telling you a products good or even a 5 star rating on Amazon. Maybe for some purchases but definitely not all.

 

The Key to Brick and Mortar is having friendly staff, that are not just knowledgeable about the products they're selling but are also very intune with the industry.
Another key component is building relationships with the customers that walk through the door and make them feel valued.

Amazon doesn't ask me how i'm doing when I visit their site or tell me they will hold an item for me until payday because i'm a frequent shopper.

Brick and mortars are dieing for many reasons but its mainly from self inflicted wounds opposed to the E-commerce revolution.

[dalekphalm]

3 minutes ago, PanteaDropper said:

why do you say that?

 

Talking to an actual person can't be replaced by your favorite youtuber telling you a products good or even a 5 star rating on Amazon. Maybe for some purchases but definitely not all.

 

The Key to Brick and Mortar is having friendly staff, that are not just knowledgeable about the products they're selling but are also very intune with the industry.
Another key component is building relationships with the customers that walk through the door and make them feel valued.

Amazon doesn't ask me how i'm doing when I visit their site or tell me they will hold an item for me until payday because i'm a frequent shopper.

Brick and mortars are dieing for many reasons but its mainly from self inflicted wounds opposed to the E-commerce revolution.

Not to mention, especially for PC Parts, we are the minority here. Most people guying a graphics card don't know shit from shingles. Having someone to talk to and get advice from is important to your average layman (even if that advice is potentially wrong, but that's a different issue).

[Misanthrope]

31 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

What would be the benefit of turning NCIX TechTips (What would it even be called after?) into a general purpose techtuber? That market is already pretty saturated, and with a branding change, would likely kill the channel anyway.

Another channel with 1.1 million subscribers and 244 million views that could potentially be had for a relatively cheap price due to the foreclosure going on. About the crew I wouldn't know about their status and whenever or not that could be part of such deal but even the channel alone and all past content is potentially worth something.

[dalekphalm]

Just now, Misanthrope said:

Another channel with 1.1 million subscribers and 244 million views that could potentially be had for a relatively cheap price due to the foreclosure going on. About the crew I wouldn't know about their status and whenever or not that could be part of such deal but even the channel alone and all past content is potentially worth something.

However, the past content may or may not be able to be kept.

 

That would of course have to do with whatever "deal" was struck with a buyer, but a lot of that content uses NCIX branding and info.

 

If anything, I think NCIX will simply revive the channel once (if) they recover from the bankruptcy and restructuring. Unless NCIX truly goes belly up, I think having the channel is more worthwhile to them then trying to sell it.

[MoonSpot]

For like the past 3 years I've found their pricing to be fairly horrific.  Though I've been checking their site less and less, haven't seen anything I'd jump on for the amounts being requested.  Same thing with Canada Computers.  They need to win on the buy not just the sale.  Get those concessions, and cutback $ in inventory on all those little nic-knacs that no one gives a fig about.

Just look at either ones clearance stores/sections to see just how much garbage is there, and for too much money to boot.

 

It sucks that they're in this mess, but they didn't help themselves either.

[S w a t s o n]

I saw what linus said on the WAN show about the issue being the "Big Box" stores. In my experience it was the fact that the Ontario locations were tiny, understocked, and out of the way (hard to get to relatively). Canada Computers seems to be able to have many locations with good stock levels, I think NCIX could have too.

 

Linus' concept of the NCIX "micro shops" is not what i would want as it basically described the Toronto location, with Toronto being the LARGEST city in Canada it baffled me that their location choice would be on the edge of the city, in a tiny little shop that simply couldnt hold the amount of stock they needed to.

 

This led me to shop at the numerous Canada Computers locations in Toronto. I did get most of my parts for my current build at NCIX but most of them had to be shipped in from BC and it caused numerous delays that left a bad taste in my mouth.

[AshleyAshes]

3 minutes ago, Swatson said:

I saw what linus said on the WAN show about the issue being the "Big Box" stores. In my experience it was the fact that the Ontario locations were tiny, understocked, and out of the way (hard to get to relatively). Canada Computers seems to be able to have many locations with good stock levels, I think NCIX could have too.

 

Linus' concept of the NCIX "micro shops" is not what i would want as it basically described the Toronto location, Toronto being the LARGEST city in Canada. Which again, was tiny, understocked, and very out of the way. This led me to shop at the numerous Canada Computers locations in Toronto. I did get most of my parts for my current build at NCIX but most of them had to be shipped in from BC and it caused numerous delays that left a bad taste in my mouth.

You also have to consider that in the GTA, leasing commercial retail space is exceptionally expensive especially in 'good locations'.  A large foot print store has a large overhead cost and that's a big challenge to justify when you can get an ALWAYS better selection online.  Brick and mortar makes sense for pre-build sales, laptop sales, and key consumer components like keyboards, external drives, screens and such.  But it takes a lot of money to offer a 'full suite' of PC components in a physical building and the kind of people who are likely to build with individual components are also more likely to shop online.

[S w a t s o n]

4 minutes ago, AshleyAshes said:

You also have to consider that in the GTA, leasing commercial retail space is exceptionally expensive especially in 'good locations'.  A large foot print store has a large overhead cost and that's a big challenge to justify when you can get an ALWAYS better selection online.  Brick and mortar makes sense for pre-build sales, laptop sales, and key consumer components like keyboards, external drives, screens and such.  But it takes a lot of money to offer a 'full suite' of PC components in a physical building.

Canada Computers has 2 locations a street apart in downtown Toronto, not to mention the Scarborough, North York, Etobicoke, and Midtown locations

[Terryv]

I'm the last 8 years of buying parts, NCIX went from my #1 spot to #4. Newegg is my go to now, and very rarely do i go to #2.

[AshleyAshes]

2 minutes ago, Swatson said:

Canada Computers has 2 locations a street apart in downtown Toronto, not to mention the Scarborough location, and I think one more.

Yonge Street, near the old Yonge NCIX location, walkable from from Eglinton Station.  It's also important to note that the adjacent stores on College Street are not two identical stores in proximity, the western one is a special location that sells only consumer electronics like TVs, home theater, and stuff like that.  It's basically a 'Little Best Buy'.  ...Hey, wasn't I just talking about consumer electronics?

 

Also, honestly, I don't see your point here.  Do you think that pointing out that Canada Computers continues to operate brick and mortar locations in the GTA proves that it's sustainable?  Let me assure, it's not, in three years tops you'll see Canada Computers pairing back on it's retail locations while eCommerce from Amazon and NewEgg.ca continues to stomp the life out of them.  I mean geez, my local Loblaws just opened up the function to order online and just pick up your order at the ground floor and deliveries are also coming soon.  eCommerce isn't going to stop coming.

[S w a t s o n]

7 minutes ago, AshleyAshes said:

Yonge Street, near the old Yonge NCIX location, walkable from from Eglinton Station.  It's also important to note that the adjacent stores on College Street are not two identical stores in proximity, the western one is a special location that sells only consumer electronics like TVs, home theater, and stuff like that.  It's basically a 'Little Best Buy'.  ...Hey, wasn't I just talking about consumer electronics?

 

Also, honestly, I don't see your point here.  Do you think that pointing out that Canada Computers continues to operate brick and mortar locations in the GTA proves that it's sustainable?  Let me assure, it's not, in three years tops you'll see Canada Computers pairing back on it's retail locations while eCommerce from Amazon and NewEgg.ca continues to stomp the life out of them.  I mean geez, my local Loblaws just opened up the function to order online and just pick up your order at the ground floor and deliveries are also coming soon.  eCommerce isn't going to stop coming.

My point is Canada Computers has 6 well placed, well stocked locations in Toronto. If NCIX wanted to compete on brick and mortar they couldn't do one little micro shop on the edge of the city up on finch. Newegg.ca is nothing to write home about (their prices are shit now and no free shipping usually) and amazon.ca's part selection is laughable. In a large city like Toronto you want retail shops imo, and Canada Computers bought up the leases for some BC NCIX locations, I think they're doing just fine.
 

[dalekphalm]

23 minutes ago, Swatson said:

I saw what linus said on the WAN show about the issue being the "Big Box" stores. In my experience it was the fact that the Ontario locations were tiny, understocked, and out of the way (hard to get to relatively). Canada Computers seems to be able to have many locations with good stock levels, I think NCIX could have too.

 

Linus' concept of the NCIX "micro shops" is not what i would want as it basically described the Toronto location, with Toronto being the LARGEST city in Canada it baffled me that their location choice would be on the edge of the city, in a tiny little shop that simply couldnt hold the amount of stock they needed to.

 

This led me to shop at the numerous Canada Computers locations in Toronto. I did get most of my parts for my current build at NCIX but most of them had to be shipped in from BC and it caused numerous delays that left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

19 minutes ago, AshleyAshes said:

You also have to consider that in the GTA, leasing commercial retail space is exceptionally expensive especially in 'good locations'.  A large foot print store has a large overhead cost and that's a big challenge to justify when you can get an ALWAYS better selection online.  Brick and mortar makes sense for pre-build sales, laptop sales, and key consumer components like keyboards, external drives, screens and such.  But it takes a lot of money to offer a 'full suite' of PC components in a physical building and the kind of people who are likely to build with individual components are also more likely to shop online.

I'd also like to point out that in the Mavis/Heartland area of Mississauga, the Canada Computers and NCIX stores were practically side by side, so at least in some areas, location was not the problem.

 

Canada Computers has also operated stores in Ontario for years - significantly longer than NCIX. So that would definitely give them an advantage in getting good locations.

[S w a t s o n]

5 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

 

I'd also like to point out that in the Mavis/Heartland area of Mississauga, the Canada Computers and NCIX stores were practically side by side, so at least in some areas, location was not the problem.

 

Canada Computers has also operated stores in Ontario for years - significantly longer than NCIX. So that would definitely give them an advantage in getting good locations.

Location is the problem when you only have one store in Toronto proper, with the next one being in Mississauga. Why would you build one right next to your competitor in Mississauga when you could build out stores in Toronto that would actually make money. No one wants to go out that far to buy computer parts. For CC a 'sauga location makes sense because they have Toronto covered already.

[AshleyAshes]

4 minutes ago, Swatson said:

My point is Canada Computers has 6 well placed, well stocked locations in Toronto. If NCIX wanted to compete on brick and mortar they couldn't do one little micro shop on the edge of the city up on finch.

I uhh... Don't think you exactly understood Linus' idea...  He was talking about the REST of Canada.  You're likely too young to remember but Sears Canada ran a similar scheme; In many communities across Canada, sears operated locations that basically only had a desk, catalogue, order forms, and a warehouse.  It wasn't feasible to run a 'full fat' Sears location in these communities so you effectively would order what you want, pay, and wait for it to be delivered to the warehouse for pickup.  I grew up in Labrador so this is something I know full well about.  Of course Sears itself ENTIRELY failed to leverage it's entire logistics system effectively into eCommerce and that was a core element to it's demise but still, Linus premise is a modernized version of that concept with the addition of a 'Radio Shack Lite' like local selection.

[S w a t s o n]

3 minutes ago, AshleyAshes said:

I uhh... Don't think you exactly understood Linus' idea...  He was talking about the REST of Canada.  You're likely too young to remember but Sears Canada ran a similar scheme; In many communities across Canada, sears operated locations that basically only had a desk, catalogue, order forms, and a warehouse.  It wasn't feasible to run a 'full fat' Sears location in these communities so you effectively would order what you want, pay, and wait for it to be delivered to the warehouse for pickup.  I grew up in Labrador so this is something I know full well about.  Of course Sears itself ENTIRELY failed to leverage it's entire logistics system effectively into eCommerce and that was a core element to it's demise but still, Linus premise is a modernized version of that concept with the addition of a 'Radio Shack Lite' like local selection.

Except that building out a bunch of micro locations and then the required logistics systems (not cheap to build out) in rural Canada that work like order points wouldn't have made them as much money as a proper downtown Toronto location would have, I can almost guarantee it.

[AshleyAshes]

 

Just now, Swatson said:

Except that building out a bunch of micro locations and then the required logistics systems (not cheap to build out) in rural Canada that work like order points wouldn't have made them as much money as proper downtown Toronto location would have I can almost guarantee it.

I think that you've made yourself willfully ignorant to the struggles facing all brick and mortar electronics retailers including those in dense urban areas.  It's bad enough for consumer electronics (Look at what happened to Best Buy) but it's worse for PC components.  Speaking broadly, people don't buy PC components at retail.  They order them online.

Because when I can get Amazon to deliver me a GTX 1080 for $595 on a Sunday, why the heck should I put on pants and go outside?

[S w a t s o n]

2 minutes ago, AshleyAshes said:

 

I think that you've made yourself willfully ignorant to the struggles facing all brick and mortar electronics retailers including those in dense urban areas.  It's bad enough for consumer electronics (Look at what happened to Best Buy) but it's worse for PC components.  Speaking broadly, people don't buy PC components at retail.  They order them online.

Because when I can get Amazon to deliver me a GTX 1080 for $595 on a Sunday, why the heck should I put on pants and go outside?

Amazon (Canada Post) almost never delivers on a Sunday you got lucky there lol. I disagree, they Canada Computers locations in Toronto are usually relatively busy, as is the one in Waterloo and Kingston. If NCIX had built a nice big store in K-W, oh man they would have been rolling in college student money like CC is. Lots of people like the convenience to get the shit right away.

[AshleyAshes]

Just now, Swatson said:

Amazon (Canada Post) almost never delivers on a Sunday you got lucky there lol.

Amazon employs it's own logistics service 'Amazon Logistics' for Prime deliveries in most urban Canadian areas and they run 7 days a week now...

[dalekphalm]

11 minutes ago, Swatson said:

Location is the problem when you only have one store in Toronto proper, with the next one being in Mississauga. Why would you build one right next to your competitor in Mississauga when you could build out stores in Toronto that would actually make money. No one wants to go out that far to buy computer parts. For CC a 'sauga location makes sense because they have Toronto covered already.

I think you underestimate the potential sales from Mississauga - it's one of the wealthiest parts of the GTA. Around 800,000 people there. Having a single Mississauga location is awesome for the few million people outside Toronto Core. That way you don't have to drive further into the goddamn clusterfuck that is Toronto Core driving.