http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...ryID=473017 7
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Gateway Inc. (GTW.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Thursday said it would close its 188 stores and eliminate about 2,500 retail positions, the biggest move the personal computer and consumer electronics maker has made since it bought eMachines Inc. last month.
Poway, California-based Gateway said it was also pursuing wider retail distribution of its PCs, digital cameras, flat-panel TVs and other products in the United States and abroad. The company, which had embarked on remodeling the stores before buying eMachines, was not more specific.
Gateway, which is also moving its headquarters north to Orange County, California, completed its acquisition of eMachines last month. Buying the profitable rival doubled Gateway's market share in the United States to about 7 percent, and it forecast it will return to sustained profitability in 2005 as a result of the acquisition.
Gateway's stores, which will be closed on April 9, have long been criticized by analysts and investors as an expensive drag on cash flow because of lease costs and the difficulty of managing inventories.
Also, with eMachines, Gateway doesn't necessarily need the added distribution channel the stores gave the company. In addition to selling Gateway's wares over the phone and via the Internet, eMachines PCs are sold at major retailers such as Best Buy Co.