papa@pollux.usc.edu (Marco Papa) (07/13/88)
Considering the recent thread on good/bad Commodore dealers, and the amount of the ASCII Group/CBM deal ($ 12 million), I am enclosing a slightly edited version of the article from Computer Software News, July 11, 1988 that gives some interesting details. Hang on to your Commodore stock :-) Enjoy. DEAL WORTH $12M ASCII picks up Commodore Amiga ------------------------------ Washington, D. C. -- The ASCII Group will be offering its 205 member stores Commodore's Amiga line through special agreement with the vendor. The Commodore deal, said ASCII Group chairman Alan Weinberger, is valued at $12 million (at dealer's cost) over the next 12 months. The agreement calls for the offering of "special discounts" to members as well as to 41 DOS Computer Centers, whose franchisor operates Computer Technologies, ASCII's "control warehouse", Weinberger said. Commodore officials were unavailable for comment at press time. Industry observers noted, however, that the Commodore/ASCII Group arrangement is part of Commodore's effort to expand its dealer base with higher-end dealers. The ASCII Group and the DOS network, combined, include multi-store chains and individual stores specializing in niche markets--the higher-end dealers Commodore has been seeking. According to Weinberger, the Commodore arrangement provides ASCII Group members with free shipping of Amigas nationwide, immediate product availability and, "it opens the door to UNIX for them." Furthermore, because of the large commitment the ASCII Group has made to Commodore, the discounts on the Amiga to ASCII Group members will be "slightly better than standard dealer margins," Weinberger said, declining to disclose those discounts and denying it was 43 percent, according to one published report. In exchange for the slightly better discounts, the ASCII Group will provide some value-added services to the dealer on behalf of Commodore. These value-added services include having off-staff experts for the Amiga line and eventually for UNIX, he noted. Initially, Weinberger expects as many as 50 ASCII Group members to add the Amiga to their product mix over the next six-to-nine months. He also expects "a growing number of *Apple* stores joining ASCII to pick up the line." He bases these expectations on the phone requests from these potential members for the Amiga. [ end of quote ] -- 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] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=