Conference 7.286::atarist

396.0. "Shopping is no more just shopping" by PILOU::ANDERSEN (Deallocating my spare time to free) Thu Feb 16 1989 05:56

    Well , its only info from VOGON news the 16-feb-1989
    I found it interesting because I've seen the Radio Shack stores
    mentioned several times in this file.
    
	����Martin
     

 Tandy - Realigns computer sales to big customers
   Tandy Corp. said it is turning over its largest business computer-sales
 accounts to its Grid Systems Corp. unit in an effort to bolster computer sales
 to large companies and eliminate conflicts among salespeople. Tandy said it
 *
    will convert about 61 of its Radio Shack Computer Centers into Grid Systems
 showrooms that will handle sales to government entities and companies with
 either 200 employees or $100 million or more in annual sales. The remaining
 Radio Shack Computer Centers will target small businesses and home computer
 users, currently Tandy's biggest computer market. 
 *   
    The about 300 centers will
 also add to their shelves such office products as facsimile machines,
 telephones, calculators and intercoms. The strategy is expected to streamline
 Tandy's computer marketing efforts. Previously, salespeople at the Radio Shack
 stores solicited big companies business for Tandy's computers while Grid
 salespeople tried to sell laptop computers and other systems to the same
 customers, causing clashes and confusion. Chairman and CEO John Roach said the
 major accounts shifted to Grid from Radio Shack will more than double Grid's
 business and add 100 salespeople to Grid's 70-person sales staff. In addition
 to the realignment, Tandy said Grid will begin selling some of its desktop
 computers to big companies instead of selling desktop computers from other
 makers. Grid, which Tandy acquired last summer, last year sold about $100
 million in its laptop computers and other computer systems through its
 direct-sales force, selling primarily to government offices and field offices
 of large companies. Samuel J. Wiegand, Grid president and chief executive,
 said the unit hopes to maintain an annual growth rate of 30% to 35%. The
 marketing shift will reduce the influence of the business products division,
 which hasn't made significant inroads into the corporate market, but has been
 more successful selling less-expensive computers to single users, small
 companies and schools. Tandy said the change will allow the Radio Shack
 Computer Centers to focus on their strengths. The company said it will add a
 systems engineer to the staff at each store to provide better service.
	{The Wall Street Journal, 15-Feb-89, p. B7}