That's sad. Their Markham, ON store was really convenient, clean and priced competitively. You could do online order pickups at that store too. Its hard for B&M stores to survive in Canada where the rent and overheads are very high but the foot traffic and population density is really low. There's not many tech stores left anymore, just canada computers and Best Buy I guess.
Yeah. I feel the same for the store in Ottawa. I ordered online from them before we had one, but I really liked the B&M with decent prices and stock, and pickup.
B&M is slowly crumbling. We need to embrace the future of ecommerce. Opening physical stores is too expensive, and leads to inflated pricing. It may be convenient, but it clearly is not the way to go anymore.
I think B&M stores can have a specific niche or purpose. Take an Apple store - clearly their B&M store is surviving & doing well. The key, like everything retail, is having something people want to buy.
its only doing well because they are the only store that can legally and authentically service apple products.. Don't get me wrong, i'm sure it would still have a lot of foot traffic but they would not get people in the door window shopping without the service department. Its in apples best interest to keep fighting "Right to Repair" legislation to keep the status quo going.
Apples to oranges. Apple built a brand. Difference. Take an apple product and slap Dell on it and nobody is gonna wanna buy it even if its half off. Once you build a brand and differentiate yourself then sky's the limit. you can sell s**t and people will still buy it. Look at Starbucks. These guys had no chance, and the reason why they lasted this long is most likely because they are not based in the US. these guys remind me a bit of Circuit City. It didn't end up well for them either.
It's no different down here in the US. There's Best Buy for general electronics, and in some areas you may have a Fry's who have a much larger computer component selection, though i wouldn't recommend shopping there. That's about it. If you're REALLY lucky you'll have a local shop that might at least stock a few parts you need in a pinch but you pay twice as much as just ordering online.
im fortunate to live about an hour away from a microcenter. by far the best b&m store ive ever been to. not sure whereabouts you live, but if theres one nearby, check them out. they usually run great promos and combo deals. back in august i got my r7 1700 and asus x370-f strix from there for $270 and $160 respectively
besides cpu/mobo combos , some open boxes and maybe a couple sales, there is not much to get excited for when it comes to Microcenter. Nearly everytime newegg has them beat especially in a state where NE does not charge sales tax. Microcenter sells those items at or below cost in hopes that you will step foot in their store and buy more than just a cpu. If you do then they score because everything else is marked up to heaven. If u don't then they take a loss and somehow they made it so far but I doubt they are doing well.
Nope. The population density in the GTA (Grand Toronto Area) is actually one of the largest in North America (~ 7M people). Also, other B&M stores (i.e. Canada Computers) are actually doing fine and keep opening new locations. NCIX problem lied solely with poor management.
I liked NCIX and have ordered a fair amount from them over the years. It's kind of scummy that there is no notice about this on the main page of their website. I'd be very hesitant to buy anything from an insolvent company unless it was in person and at a steep discount. Hopefully that just means they are confident that they can fulfill any orders people make.
i would not say sad to see them go... tthe web site had nothing in stock and the eglinton (mississauga) store. and the store had even less. while my first online purchase in ?1998? (ZALMAN CNPS3100-PLUS) was from NCIX ... online sales from them never got anybetter.
speaking of the eglinton store, was always puzzled how NCIX purchased the CanadaComputers store when CanadaComputer moved to the burnhamthorpe location.
also the location on yonge street was a “hole-in-wall” store that looked like a hi-fi store... and was competing with a “giant” canadacomputers store... (although i did buy the massive noctua NH-D15 from NCIX. NCIX should not have expanded, stayed in BC, (IMO all of the computer stuff from China and Japan have to come through BC to ontario ) amazon is a formidable competitor if you have prime shipping... otherwise Newegg, or for those impulse purchase CanadaComputers (mississauga/ toronto area)
sadly, i do not think i will miss NCIX in the toronto/mississauga area. if a was in the “ Vancouver “ BC area, i might have missed it, it being the home town store i assume.
Their website was a joke when it comes to efficient and effectively laid out e-commerce sites so not a surprise to see them go.
Their limited number of retail stores was never going to help them steal market share from Canada Computers so that really seemed like a fools errand to chase down that line of business.
They were good while they were around. They were one of the only places in Canada you could buy Swiftech gear from. One of their national competitors, Memory Express, is wasting no time filling in the brick-and-mortar aspect in the lower mainland of BC, having just opened up a location in Langley and announcing a Vancouver store kitty-corner from NCIX's old location. MemX, from my hometown of Calgary, is also in Ontario now too. In many ways, they have shown to be better put together than NCIX, most importantly actually having stock they claim to have and being able to procure backordered product in a timely way. That said, I would prefer having both around for price-matching and the other perks of competition.
Their message boards (because phone and service tickets were proving futile) are full of folks, including myself, trying to cancel orders for refunds to rather fragmented avail; I had been trying to do so for two orders through November with essentially non-response on their end. Now that they are bankrupt we customers are at the back of the line as their creditors/suppliers are being compensated first. Hearsay is not only do they owe their customers and suppliers but were not paying their employees in the last few months. In my view it has been a very undignified end to the chain.
Never heard of NCIX, but even Fry's, the once majestic powerhouse of computers/electronics stores in silicon valley, looks like a sad has-been these days. There was a time, before online shopping became significant, that Fry's and stores like it were competitive with mail order, and they had a real geek credibility too, back when being able to pick up a breadboard, some software, a CPU, porn magazines, and mountain dew (yes they sold all of these things), covered all of a geek's needs. But these days, online just eats the lunch of brick and mortar retail every time, especially for stores selling 'niche' products.
I mean jeeze, you go into Fry's now and they have a whole wall of knock-off colones and perfumes for sale. How mixing dollar store products in with electronics is intended to keep the thing afloat, I'll never understand. Sad because I used to love browsing Fry's regularly and reading their weekly ads *in the newspaper*. I almost never go there now though.
After this, a lot of us in the Seattle area consciously decided to buy our stuff elsewhere (usually Amazon/Newegg). Their behavior in that case was reprehensible, and included them shredding hard drives after a judge ordered them to hand them over.
Knowing people who have worked at the Renton location also helped make it easy to walk away, management is just a bunch of scumbags.
I've had some pretty bad experiences with NCIX and clearly so have others. I stopped using them and started using more marketplaces. However, I found a few sellers on Amazon sell cheaper direct, and started buying from Newegg, Amazon, Mikes and PC Part Picker. There is always someone to take their place, and I'm happy for NCIX to go, but sad the competition is leaving which is never good for prices.
Wow, that's a shame. And I just checked them out for threadripper parts today. I also found their Markham Ont. store convenient when I wanted to visit a brick & mortar store. Sux that my options are now reduced to Canada Computers, Amazon and newegg.ca
It boggles my mind in this day and age how anyone can think investing heavily in brick and mortar stores while ignoring online sales is even remotely a good idea. And this a technology seller! I am continually reminded of this in my other hobby - model trains. There are few B&M train shops left, almost none when they have no web presence. The couple of notable ones that are booming embraced the web and online sales early on. One of these should be the model for ANY online reseller - their inventory system is so accurate and real time that as soon as you add an item to your cart, it is removed from the inventory, just like in a real store. It only goes back if you remove it from your cart. I have NEVER had a backorder from them - if their system says they have at least one when you click Add to Cart, you get it. No surprise a day later when they say they shipped PART of your order. If a single purpose store like this can do it (they sell ONLY trains and related hobby supplies, they do NOT sell cars, radio control, or other crafts), there's no excuse for the giant e-tailers. Plus they DO still have a store you can visit if you want to, but mainly it would be for instant gratification - for many items you need to key in what you want on in-store computers, and then they bring it to you.
A B&M store makes sense where there is a lot of foot traffic. but they also need to sell products that the majority buys. The majority does not buy computer parts, and thats why Best Buy is still in business, because they sell anything from iphone cords to refrigerators. Personally i feel sad these guys are gone, even though i dont remember last time i bought something from them, but it gave me that false sense of hope that Amazon cannot destroy their competitors. I feel like with every small/medium chain closing we are getting closer and closer to Amazon monopoly. 10 years from now we will all be shopping at Amazon for anything from socks to cars.
Their prices have been far less than competitive for quite awhile now. My last purchase from them was for a laptop I purchased in the summer that had excessive (really, really excessive) backlight bleed and a non-functional USB port. It took me a week of emailing back and forth with them just to have them approve my exchange, and then of course I had to pay for the shipping back to them, and wait until they had received the item before they'd even start processing the replacement.
My next purchase was a laptop hard drive from Amazon which arrived with a defect. I applied for an RMA at 2:30 in the morning, and by 2:35 they had approved the RMA and started the return process with a "yeah just ship the drive back to us within a month with this free shipping label". I had no desire to return to NCIX after that.
im glad to see NCIX go too... bought a power supply from them, only cause no one else was open at the time, turned out to be defective, and well.. after spending 2 hrs there and being personally insulted, before i got my replacement.. i took my PSU, mentioned quite loudly how the customer service was, and left.. seems a few other customers left too right after i did.. and never went back to that place.. horrid place to shop... bout time they went under
I used to buy a lot from NCIX, but always online. I didn't even know they had retail outlets. This totally blindsided me when I saw it on Linus Tech Tips.
But...considering that a considerably large portion of the retail market has moved to online purchasing, who in their right mind is opening retail outlets now?
Their retail stores were basically a drop off location for their website. Nothing was ever in stock so you still had to order online and wait for it to arrive. That defeats the whole convenience advantage that retail stores have. I buy most of my PC components at Canada Computers and they have almost everything in stock in at least one store in my city.
Also their website is very dated and painful to navigate.
This is unfortunate. I've built many systems by getting parts from NCIX. Prices were always competitive and being able to pick up from a local store was convenient and fast.
Only got wind of this when I wanted to get stuff on Black Friday and couldn't have it picked up from a location near my house.
That said, having all these retail store aren't sustainable, and their online store haven't really seen much changes over the years.
We’ve updated our terms. By continuing to use the site and/or by logging into your account, you agree to the Site’s updated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
35 Comments
Back to Article
webdoctors - Monday, December 4, 2017 - link
That's sad. Their Markham, ON store was really convenient, clean and priced competitively. You could do online order pickups at that store too. Its hard for B&M stores to survive in Canada where the rent and overheads are very high but the foot traffic and population density is really low. There's not many tech stores left anymore, just canada computers and Best Buy I guess.Cliff34 - Monday, December 4, 2017 - link
Sad news for all of us.ViRGE - Monday, December 4, 2017 - link
"This is indeed a horrible day for Canada, and therefore, the rest of the world."guidryp - Monday, December 4, 2017 - link
Yeah. I feel the same for the store in Ottawa. I ordered online from them before we had one, but I really liked the B&M with decent prices and stock, and pickup.Theodore76 - Monday, December 4, 2017 - link
B&M is slowly crumbling. We need to embrace the future of ecommerce. Opening physical stores is too expensive, and leads to inflated pricing. It may be convenient, but it clearly is not the way to go anymore.romrunning - Monday, December 4, 2017 - link
I think B&M stores can have a specific niche or purpose. Take an Apple store - clearly their B&M store is surviving & doing well. The key, like everything retail, is having something people want to buy.Morawka - Monday, December 4, 2017 - link
its only doing well because they are the only store that can legally and authentically service apple products.. Don't get me wrong, i'm sure it would still have a lot of foot traffic but they would not get people in the door window shopping without the service department. Its in apples best interest to keep fighting "Right to Repair" legislation to keep the status quo going.Hxx - Monday, December 4, 2017 - link
Apples to oranges. Apple built a brand. Difference. Take an apple product and slap Dell on it and nobody is gonna wanna buy it even if its half off. Once you build a brand and differentiate yourself then sky's the limit. you can sell s**t and people will still buy it. Look at Starbucks. These guys had no chance, and the reason why they lasted this long is most likely because they are not based in the US. these guys remind me a bit of Circuit City. It didn't end up well for them either.Hurr Durr - Tuesday, December 5, 2017 - link
I'd buy a decent Dell.piroroadkill - Wednesday, December 6, 2017 - link
I'd rather buy a Dell than an Apple product.mjeffer - Monday, December 4, 2017 - link
It's no different down here in the US. There's Best Buy for general electronics, and in some areas you may have a Fry's who have a much larger computer component selection, though i wouldn't recommend shopping there. That's about it. If you're REALLY lucky you'll have a local shop that might at least stock a few parts you need in a pinch but you pay twice as much as just ordering online.btmedic04 - Monday, December 4, 2017 - link
im fortunate to live about an hour away from a microcenter. by far the best b&m store ive ever been to. not sure whereabouts you live, but if theres one nearby, check them out. they usually run great promos and combo deals. back in august i got my r7 1700 and asus x370-f strix from there for $270 and $160 respectivelyHxx - Monday, December 4, 2017 - link
besides cpu/mobo combos , some open boxes and maybe a couple sales, there is not much to get excited for when it comes to Microcenter. Nearly everytime newegg has them beat especially in a state where NE does not charge sales tax. Microcenter sells those items at or below cost in hopes that you will step foot in their store and buy more than just a cpu. If you do then they score because everything else is marked up to heaven. If u don't then they take a loss and somehow they made it so far but I doubt they are doing well.zzTopZ - Tuesday, December 19, 2017 - link
Nope.The population density in the GTA (Grand Toronto Area) is actually one of the largest in North America (~ 7M people).
Also, other B&M stores (i.e. Canada Computers) are actually doing fine and keep opening new locations.
NCIX problem lied solely with poor management.
cfenton - Monday, December 4, 2017 - link
I liked NCIX and have ordered a fair amount from them over the years. It's kind of scummy that there is no notice about this on the main page of their website. I'd be very hesitant to buy anything from an insolvent company unless it was in person and at a steep discount. Hopefully that just means they are confident that they can fulfill any orders people make.Surfacround - Monday, December 4, 2017 - link
i would not say sad to see them go... tthe web site had nothing in stock and the eglinton (mississauga) store. and the store had even less. while my first online purchase in ?1998? (ZALMAN CNPS3100-PLUS) was from NCIX ... online sales from them never got anybetter.speaking of the eglinton store, was always puzzled how NCIX purchased the CanadaComputers store when CanadaComputer moved to the burnhamthorpe location.
also the location on yonge street was a “hole-in-wall” store that looked like a hi-fi store... and was competing with a “giant” canadacomputers store... (although i did buy the massive noctua NH-D15 from NCIX.
NCIX should not have expanded, stayed in BC, (IMO all of the computer stuff from China and Japan have to come through BC to ontario )
amazon is a formidable competitor if you have prime shipping... otherwise Newegg, or for those impulse purchase CanadaComputers (mississauga/ toronto area)
sadly, i do not think i will miss NCIX in the toronto/mississauga area. if a was in the “ Vancouver “ BC area, i might have missed it, it being the home town store i assume.
creed3020 - Monday, December 4, 2017 - link
Their website was a joke when it comes to efficient and effectively laid out e-commerce sites so not a surprise to see them go.Their limited number of retail stores was never going to help them steal market share from Canada Computers so that really seemed like a fools errand to chase down that line of business.
R.Iwamoto - Monday, December 4, 2017 - link
They were good while they were around. They were one of the only places in Canada you could buy Swiftech gear from. One of their national competitors, Memory Express, is wasting no time filling in the brick-and-mortar aspect in the lower mainland of BC, having just opened up a location in Langley and announcing a Vancouver store kitty-corner from NCIX's old location. MemX, from my hometown of Calgary, is also in Ontario now too. In many ways, they have shown to be better put together than NCIX, most importantly actually having stock they claim to have and being able to procure backordered product in a timely way. That said, I would prefer having both around for price-matching and the other perks of competition.Their message boards (because phone and service tickets were proving futile) are full of folks, including myself, trying to cancel orders for refunds to rather fragmented avail; I had been trying to do so for two orders through November with essentially non-response on their end. Now that they are bankrupt we customers are at the back of the line as their creditors/suppliers are being compensated first. Hearsay is not only do they owe their customers and suppliers but were not paying their employees in the last few months. In my view it has been a very undignified end to the chain.
bji - Monday, December 4, 2017 - link
Never heard of NCIX, but even Fry's, the once majestic powerhouse of computers/electronics stores in silicon valley, looks like a sad has-been these days. There was a time, before online shopping became significant, that Fry's and stores like it were competitive with mail order, and they had a real geek credibility too, back when being able to pick up a breadboard, some software, a CPU, porn magazines, and mountain dew (yes they sold all of these things), covered all of a geek's needs. But these days, online just eats the lunch of brick and mortar retail every time, especially for stores selling 'niche' products.I mean jeeze, you go into Fry's now and they have a whole wall of knock-off colones and perfumes for sale. How mixing dollar store products in with electronics is intended to keep the thing afloat, I'll never understand. Sad because I used to love browsing Fry's regularly and reading their weekly ads *in the newspaper*. I almost never go there now though.
Reflex - Monday, December 4, 2017 - link
https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/8-30-12...After this, a lot of us in the Seattle area consciously decided to buy our stuff elsewhere (usually Amazon/Newegg). Their behavior in that case was reprehensible, and included them shredding hard drives after a judge ordered them to hand them over.
Knowing people who have worked at the Renton location also helped make it easy to walk away, management is just a bunch of scumbags.
dromoxen - Tuesday, December 5, 2017 - link
that order is for FRYS.. too long working In McD?Theodore76 - Monday, December 4, 2017 - link
I've had some pretty bad experiences with NCIX and clearly so have others. I stopped using them and started using more marketplaces. However, I found a few sellers on Amazon sell cheaper direct, and started buying from Newegg, Amazon, Mikes and PC Part Picker. There is always someone to take their place, and I'm happy for NCIX to go, but sad the competition is leaving which is never good for prices.Gunbuster - Monday, December 4, 2017 - link
At least Linus had the good sense to get out while the getting was good.milkod2001 - Tuesday, December 5, 2017 - link
he left them like 15 years agotascforce - Wednesday, December 6, 2017 - link
15 yrs ago Linus was 15 yo lolcyberguyz - Monday, December 4, 2017 - link
Wow, that's a shame. And I just checked them out for threadripper parts today. I also found their Markham Ont. store convenient when I wanted to visit a brick & mortar store. Sux that my options are now reduced to Canada Computers, Amazon and newegg.carrinker - Monday, December 4, 2017 - link
It boggles my mind in this day and age how anyone can think investing heavily in brick and mortar stores while ignoring online sales is even remotely a good idea. And this a technology seller! I am continually reminded of this in my other hobby - model trains. There are few B&M train shops left, almost none when they have no web presence. The couple of notable ones that are booming embraced the web and online sales early on. One of these should be the model for ANY online reseller - their inventory system is so accurate and real time that as soon as you add an item to your cart, it is removed from the inventory, just like in a real store. It only goes back if you remove it from your cart. I have NEVER had a backorder from them - if their system says they have at least one when you click Add to Cart, you get it. No surprise a day later when they say they shipped PART of your order. If a single purpose store like this can do it (they sell ONLY trains and related hobby supplies, they do NOT sell cars, radio control, or other crafts), there's no excuse for the giant e-tailers. Plus they DO still have a store you can visit if you want to, but mainly it would be for instant gratification - for many items you need to key in what you want on in-store computers, and then they bring it to you.Hxx - Tuesday, December 5, 2017 - link
A B&M store makes sense where there is a lot of foot traffic. but they also need to sell products that the majority buys. The majority does not buy computer parts, and thats why Best Buy is still in business, because they sell anything from iphone cords to refrigerators. Personally i feel sad these guys are gone, even though i dont remember last time i bought something from them, but it gave me that false sense of hope that Amazon cannot destroy their competitors. I feel like with every small/medium chain closing we are getting closer and closer to Amazon monopoly. 10 years from now we will all be shopping at Amazon for anything from socks to cars.evilspoons - Monday, December 4, 2017 - link
I guess this explains why Memory Express is expanding westward from Alberta in to BC.Dizoja86 - Monday, December 4, 2017 - link
Their prices have been far less than competitive for quite awhile now. My last purchase from them was for a laptop I purchased in the summer that had excessive (really, really excessive) backlight bleed and a non-functional USB port. It took me a week of emailing back and forth with them just to have them approve my exchange, and then of course I had to pay for the shipping back to them, and wait until they had received the item before they'd even start processing the replacement.My next purchase was a laptop hard drive from Amazon which arrived with a defect. I applied for an RMA at 2:30 in the morning, and by 2:35 they had approved the RMA and started the return process with a "yeah just ship the drive back to us within a month with this free shipping label". I had no desire to return to NCIX after that.
Qasar - Tuesday, December 5, 2017 - link
im glad to see NCIX go too... bought a power supply from them, only cause no one else was open at the time, turned out to be defective, and well.. after spending 2 hrs there and being personally insulted, before i got my replacement.. i took my PSU, mentioned quite loudly how the customer service was, and left.. seems a few other customers left too right after i did.. and never went back to that place.. horrid place to shop... bout time they went underGlassDeviant - Wednesday, December 6, 2017 - link
I used to buy a lot from NCIX, but always online. I didn't even know they had retail outlets. This totally blindsided me when I saw it on Linus Tech Tips.But...considering that a considerably large portion of the retail market has moved to online purchasing, who in their right mind is opening retail outlets now?
Sureshot324 - Thursday, December 7, 2017 - link
Their retail stores were basically a drop off location for their website. Nothing was ever in stock so you still had to order online and wait for it to arrive. That defeats the whole convenience advantage that retail stores have. I buy most of my PC components at Canada Computers and they have almost everything in stock in at least one store in my city.Also their website is very dated and painful to navigate.
ronnbot - Friday, December 8, 2017 - link
This is unfortunate. I've built many systems by getting parts from NCIX. Prices were always competitive and being able to pick up from a local store was convenient and fast.Only got wind of this when I wanted to get stuff on Black Friday and couldn't have it picked up from a location near my house.
That said, having all these retail store aren't sustainable, and their online store haven't really seen much changes over the years.
Lolimaster - Monday, April 2, 2018 - link
NCIX was a victim of the land bubble hell that is canada right now and also using intel and not AMD so they get better profits :D