papa@pollux.usc.edu (Marco Papa) (12/07/88)
Another half a page in Computer & Software News about the growing number of dealers and chains picking up the AMiga 5000 and 2000: "THREE SOFTWARE CHAINS ADD AMIGA 500 TO LINE Three leading software specialty chains are adding hardware to their product mix. Software Etc., Waldensoftware and Electronics Boutique -- representing about 400 locations -- have reached an agreement with Commodore to carry the Amiga 500. All three chains have carried personal computers before, but until this recent deal only Electronics Boutique had stocked hardware. Last month, the West Chester, Pa.-based chain decided to reenter the hardware arena picking up Amstrad [a British PC clone]. The deal with Commodore marks the first time Software Etc. has taken on the Amiga. But it is not the chain's first attempt at selling microcomputers. Software Etc. took on Vendex last year. The line was subsequently dropped. At the present time, the chain is concentrating on selling the Amiga for the holiday selling season. The company divisional merchandising manager, Gary Sousa, recently sent an internal memo to all stores specifying the Amiga 500 be discounted 26.2 percent, according to sources. The memo calls for Software Etc. stores to sell the $799.95 CPU for $589.99. The memo also calls for a 15% discount off list price for the $399.95 Amiga monitor and a 10% discount off the list price of a special software bundle. Software Etc. plans to position the Amiga 500 both as a game machine and as a personal computer for both home and business use. "The Amiga 500 is not only the ultimate game machine, but it also offers tremendous graphics, video and music capabilities for a wide variety of home and business applications," said Software Etc.'s marketing vice president Jordan Levy in a prepared statement. Electronic Boutique, the 140-store West Chester, PA.-based chain, has been carrying the Amiga line since 1986, according to Jeff Griffith, vice president and general merchandise manager. He decided to drop the line earlier this year when sales of the Amiga and Atari STs became disappointing and margins on the hardware were below 10 percent. When Commodore lowered the chain's inventory investment requirements, Electronic Boutique decided to again sell the Amiga. Waldensoftware added the Amiga to its product mix in 27 stores because of *CUSTOMER DEMAND* for the product, according to Brian Hill, a buyer for the 27-store Stamford, Conn.-based chain. "By selling both the computer and the titles, we plan to increase both our customer base and software sales," he said. In the past year, the chain had experimented selling laptops from Sharp and Toshiba. According to Commodore President, Max Toy, the number of software applications for Amiga has increased 240 percent from 500 a year ago to more than 1,700 titles today--38 percent of which are business application software packages. The addition of these chains brings the vendor's dealer base to 1,600, double what it was a year ago. ------ Later in the magazine, in a PAID insert of the ASCII Group, a major 235-store chain,the following is said in a section entitled "UNIX: the ASCII difference": ".. With regard to cost effective alternatives, certain ASCII group members are looking toward the Amiga 2000 and future products planned by Commodore. The Amiga's attractive price and planned products open the door to UNIX for them". ------ Enjoy, -- Marco Papa 'Doc' -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= uucp:...!pollux!papa BIX:papa ARPAnet:pollux!papa@oberon.usc.edu "There's Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Diga!" -- Leo Schwab [quoting Rick Unland] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=