Complaints of Blacks Spur CompUSA to Act

After a 10-week campaign by black consumers to compel CompUSA to advertise with black-oriented media, the president of the computer retailer is promising to hire a black-owned advertising agency and offer 10% discounts to protesters.

“I tell you I wish it hadn’t taken so long,” CompUSA Chief Executive Jim Halpin said Tuesday in an appearance on the syndicated black radio program “The Tom Joyner Morning Show.”

Show co-hosts Tom Joyner and Black Entertainment Television commentator Tavis Smiley galvanized the drive, which included listeners sending the company cash register receipts to graphically illustrate black buyers’ impact on CompUSA’s bottom line.

The two said they targeted CompUSA after an advertising firm identified the company as one that gives short shrift to black media.

Throughout the campaign, CompUSA refused to publicly discuss the situation, but responded after scores of listeners called the company last week.

“I got bad advice, but it wasn’t intended,” Halpin said. “It’s a shame this took us off track for a while. I want to sell computers to anyone who walks in the door.”

Halpin said the company never intended to neglect minority consumers. “We’re using urban radio. Just not to the extent we should be,” he said.

Efforts were under way to advertise in black and Latino media, and the company plans to enlist the help of a black-owned advertising firm, Halpin said.

Additionally, listeners who mailed in receipts will get a 10% discount on their next purchase, Halpin said.

The drive came at a time when the Dallas-based retailer is trying to recover from a difficult year. For the quarter that ended June 26, the company posted a loss of $14.9 million, or 16 cents a share. The company said in August it was laying off 1,800 salespeople and reassigning many of those who remain.

“We had a tough year last year,” Halpin acknowledged in the broadcast.

Smiley and Joyner have used the radio program before to speak out about concerns of their black listeners. They were pivotal in the recent awarding of a Congressional Gold Medal to civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks and a decision to remove slave memorabilia from a scheduled auction at Christie’s in New York.