TigerDirect
Parent Insight Enterprises | | |
Website | Archived official website at the Wayback Machine (archive index) |
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TigerDirect was an
In 2015, TigerDirect phased out all of its remaining brick-and-mortar retail operations, and
The bulk of the company's business was based on web and catalog computer electronics sales, where TigerDirect has carved out a niche by placing a heavy emphasis on rebate marketing as a way to offer lower prices. The company also operated retail store and business-to-business channels.[1]
History
The company was founded as BLOC Development Corp., a publisher of utility and application software products starting with FormTool, in 1985. The original company was a pioneer in utility software with several top 10 titles. The original founders were: Frank Millman, Jorge Torres, Frank Haggar, Phil Bolin, Stephan Whitney, and Bob Horton. Frank Milman and Jorge Torres conceptualized the first product "FormTool".
In 1989, Tiger Software became a subsidiary of publicly held Bloc Development Corporation. BLOC Development was also the parent company of BLOC Publishing (a sister company of TigerSoftware), which continued the development and publishing of the company's flagship product "FormTool", and 20 other products; and SoftSync, former publisher of the "EXPERT Software" titles and the Macintosh accounting software "Accountant Inc."). BLOC Development later changed its name to TigerDirect.
TigerDirect abandoned the profitable software development in favor of the TigerSoftware catalog by 1991. Unfortunately, the new model under the leadership of Gilbert Fiorentino was unprofitable, and the company was sold in distress to Global DirectMail (now known as
Acquisition of CompUSA and Circuit City brands
On January 6, 2008, Systemax announced the acquisition of the CompUSA brand, trademarks and e-commerce business, and as many as 16 CompUSA retail outlets in Illinois, Florida, Texas and Puerto Rico.[3] On May 13, 2009, Systemax similarly acquired Circuit City's intellectual property, including its trademarks, brand name, and domain names.[4] The deal took effect six days later for a price of $14 million. The defunct CircuitCity.com website was restored after the Systemax purchase. In late-December 2012, both brands were shuttered and consolidated into TigerDirect.com.[5]
Retail closing, sale to PCM
On March 10, 2015, TigerDirect announced that it would close all but three of its retail stores in an effort to focus exclusively on online and business-to-business sales. Canadian operations consisted of 6 stores in Southern Ontario and all closed in 2015 (and replaced by the online distribution centre in Richmond Hill under Acrodex or PCM Canada)[6] The locations left open were located in Jefferson, Georgia, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, and its then-headquarters location at Miami, Florida. The company also closed a distribution center in Naperville, Illinois.[7]
In November 2015,
In late-December 2015, the site began holding a clearout sale with no returns accepted; a company spokesperson stated that the site was liquidating its current stock in preparation for its formal transfer to PCM.[10][11]
Website re-launch and closures
TigerDirect re-launched its electronics e-commerce website on February 15, 2016 under
Legal and other issues
Federal Trade Commission ruling
On November 4, 1999, case C3903, the Federal Trade Commission issued a decision and order against TigerDirect for violations of the Pre-sale Availability Rule, the Disclosure Rule and the Warranty Act.[14] Without admitting any wrongdoing, TigerDirect agreed to "not represent that it provides On-Site Service unless all limitations and conditions that apply are disclosed", "fulfill obligations under the warranty within a reasonable period of time after receiving notice from the consumer", and "cease and desist from failing to make warranty text available for examination prior to sale, failing to disclose what is not covered under any given warranty or the procedures needed to have warranty work accomplished and failing to disclose that certain states may give the consumer legal rights in addition to those provided by the warranty."[14]
Apple Computer lawsuit
In early 2005, the company filed a lawsuit against Apple Computer Inc. (now
InfoWorld report
Dell lawsuit
On April 17, 2009,
State of Florida lawsuit
On September 4, 2009, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum filed suit against TigerDirect, OnRebate, and their parent company Systemax, charging the companies with failing to provide rebates to customers.[21] Systemax responded that a separate class action lawsuit making similar allegations had been filed in federal court in 2007 and was dismissed on August 31, 2009. The company denied the allegations in the Florida Attorney General complaint; the suit was eventually settled for $300,000.[24]
CBC investigation
In 2014, Marketplace, a Canadian consumer advocacy newsmagazine show on CBC Television, TigerDirect was featured in Season 42, Episode 4, 'Faking It,' "Online reviews: When companies edit your review". The show featured a consumer who had purchased several computers from the retailer and subsequently gave a poor review for service. The review was edited by TigerDirect prior to the review being placed on the firm's website.[25] The consumer contacted TigerDirect several times to have the edited review removed but failed until Marketplace contacted TigerDirect, on his behalf.[26]
Founders convicted of fraud
In 2014, brothers Carl and Gilbert Fiorentino were arrested and charged in federal court with scheming to obtain $9 million in kickbacks and other benefits and to hide their gains from the Internal Revenue Service while working as senior executives at Systemax Inc. and its TigerDirect Inc. unit. The government alleged the brothers schemed to obtain kickbacks for steering company business to certain contractors between 2002 and 2011. In one case, the brothers received more than $9 million in cash and other payments for steering more than $230 million in business to an Asian supplier of computer parts and accessories.[27] In 2015 Gilbert Fiorentino pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge, while Carl Fiorentino pleaded guilty to both fraud conspiracy and tax evasion. Carl Fiorentino had faced significantly more time than Gilbert Fiorentino, but U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez decided to sentence them to similar prison terms. Gilbert received 5 years in prison while Carl received 6+1⁄2 years.[28] In March 2016, the Fiorentino brothers were ordered to pay a total of $35 million in restitution to Systemax.[29]
References
- ^ "Systemax Q4 2007 Earnings Call Transcript – Seeking Alpha". Seekingalpha.com. 2008-03-10. Retrieved 2014-01-27.
- ^ "Systemax.com". Systemax.com. Retrieved 2014-01-27.
- ^ Savage, Sam (2008-01-06). "Systemax Announces Definitive Agreement to Acquire Selected Assets and Retail Stores From CompUSA". RedOrbit. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
- ^ "Firm buys defunct Circuit City's brand, domain names". Syx.client.shareholder.com. 2009-04-13. Archived from the original on 2017-12-05. Retrieved 2014-01-27.
- ^ Smith, Steve (2012-11-02). "Systemax To Cut Circuit City, CompUSA Brands, Exit PC Manufacturing". Twice.com. Archived from the original on 2013-11-05. Retrieved 2014-01-27.
- ^ Hucker, Wally (2015-03-16). "TigerDirect to Close All But Three Stores, Focus on B2B Sales". Wifi Hifi Magazine. Archived from the original on 2017-01-26. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
- ^ "Systemax Reports Fourth Quarter And Full Year 2014 Financial Results". MarketWatch. 2015-03-10. Archived from the original on 2019-10-16. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
- ^ Burke, Steven (2015-11-18). "Blockbuster Deal: PCM Buys North America Systemax B2B Business, TigerDirect Brand". CRN. Retrieved 2015-12-29.
- ^ Novinson, Michael (2015-11-23). "Systemax To Lay Off 500 As It Shuts North American Technology Business". CRN. Retrieved 2015-12-29.
- The Consumerist. Retrieved 2015-12-29.
- ^ "TigerDirect Clearing Out Inventory with Sitewide Sale, Future Uncertain". MaximumPC. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
- ^ "TigerDirect Canada is closed". TigerDirect. 2019-11-25. Archived from the original on 2020-05-26. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
- ^ "TigerDirect.com will be retired on March 31, 2023". 2023-03-14. Archived from the original on 2023-03-14. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
- ^ a b Case C3903 at FTC website
- ^ Jade, Kasper (2005-05-13). "Court sides with Apple over "Tiger" trademark dispute". AppleInsider. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
- ^ Cringely, Robert X. (December 29, 2006). "Microsoft tech support swoons, Google promises the moon: When 21st century software meets 12th century bureaucracy". InfoWorld. InfoWorld Media Group, Inc. Retrieved November 28, 2009.
- ^ Cringely, Robert X. (December 1, 2006). "Microsoft and Novell go kablooey, Second Life gets gooey: Sometimes even $440 million can't buy you happiness". InfoWorld. InfoWorld Media Group, Inc. Retrieved November 28, 2009.
- ^ Weirick, Chad (2008-01-29). "Florida Attorney General To Investigate TigerDirect". HotHardware. Retrieved 2014-01-27.
- ^ Albright, Mark (2008-02-12). "TigerDirect Snags Three CompUSA Outlets". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on 2008-12-05.
- ^ "TigerDirect BBB Report". BBB Southeast Florida. Retrieved 20 December 2006.
- ^ a b "State sues TigerDirect, OnRebate". South Florida Business Journal. 2009-09-04. Retrieved 2014-01-27.
- ^ a b Dell, Inc. v. TigerDirect, Inc., Case No. 09-CV-3879, S.D.N.Y., 17 April 2009.
- ^ Kovar, Joseph F. (2009-04-27). "Dell Sues Tiger Direct, Alleges Old Computers Sold As New". CRN. Retrieved 2014-02-12.
- ^ "Attorney General Reaches Settlement With Systemax". Office of the Attorney General of Florida. Archived from the original on 2010-11-02. Retrieved 2011-06-15.
- ^ "Jeff's reviews before and after, and TigerDirect's response". CBC News. CBC. 2014-11-14. Retrieved 2014-12-24.
- ^ "Online reviews: When companies edit your review". CBC. Retrieved 2014-12-24.
- ^ Brannigan, Martha (2011-11-20). "Coral Gables brothers charged in TigerDirect kickback scheme". Miami Herald. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
- ^ "Brothers guilty of fraud at Systemax computer company sent to federal prison by Miami judge". Fox Business. Associated Press. 2015-05-26. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
- ^ Kunert, Paul (2016-03-02). "Former Systemax execs ordered to repay $35m to the biz". The Register. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
- "Apple successfully defends itself in TigerDirect lawsuit", MacObserver.com. (May 16, 2005)
- Murrell, John. "Mr. Jobs, you have TigerDirect holding on Line 1 and someone from Kellogg's on Line 2", SiliconValley.com. (April 29, 2005)
- Cohen, Peter. "More details emerge on TigerDirect lawsuit", Macworld. (April 29, 2005)
- Kawamoto, Dawn. "Lawsuit could grab Tiger by the tail", CNET News.com. (April 29, 2005)
External links
- Official website (Archive)