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1995-06-09
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NIEUWS
10 MAY 1995
ESCOM ANNOUNCES UK's 'BIGGEST EVER' RETAIL LAUNCH
- 1000 jobs created by launch of Britain's biggest specialist PC retailer -
The UK's 'biggest ever' retail launch has been announced today (Wednesday 10 May) by ESCOM, the PC
retailer, following its takeover of the former Rumbelows chain in March.
The launch coincides with the opening of over 100 new ESCOM stores nationwide which, with a further
100 stores projected to open by the year end, will make ESCOM the UK's biggest specialist PC retailer. The
company's rapid expansion from 27 to over 200 stores will also create around 1000 new jobs resulting in a
major recruitment and training program.
As well as relaunching around 200 former Rumbelows stores, ESCOM has already begun to introduce
concessions in all the out-of-town Office World stores, which will be about 50 by the end of the year.
The ESCOM trading formula, which has already been highly successful in over ten European countries, is
based on offering both business and home PC users an unrivaled package of value for money, quality and
service. ESCOM's prices are currently 20 per cent below of our major competitors and, says the company,
its low cost structure and Europe-wide purchasing will enable it to sustain this position in all the markets
in which it operates.
'Missing link'
ESCOM's intention is to act the 'missing link' between British PC users and manufacturers, bridging the
often considerable gap between user needs and manufacturers' products.
"We earmarked the UK as a major opportunity because it is the second largest market in Europe, and one
with enormous potential," said Manfred Schmitt, president of the ESCOM Group.
"Currently PC ownership among British households is just under 15 per cent, leaving another 18 million
households who are potential first-time buyers. At one end of the supply chain are consumers who
suspect that computers could make their lives easier, more fun, more interesting but aren't quite sure
what they need or what they should buy.
"At the other end are manufacturers whose innovative products can do all those things for them. Our
'Easy ware' concept - the user-friendly way to choose a computer - is designed to appeal to personal users,
first time buyers and small businesses and aims to create the 'missing link' between manufacture and
consumer, assessing each customer' s individual requirements and then providing the customer with the
least expensive solution."
An intensive staff training program has been implemented over the past two months to promote a high
level of technical and product knowledge among ESCOM's 450 retail staff to equip them to deliver best
advice to customers.
Retail outlets
Currently fewer than 20 per cent of all PCs in Britain are sold through retail outlets. In the United States
the equivalent figure is just under 50 per cent. ESCOM expects around 50 per cent of all PC sales to be via
retail by the end of the decade.
The trend, the company believes, will be driven by a number of factors, including the potential
opportunities from multimedia and the Internet which are creating increasing demand among former
'technophobes' and new computer users. Equally, younger consumers are growing up with computers as
an everyday fact of life. Increasingly, also, the demarcation line between business users and private
purchasers is becoming blurred, with many employees working partly or wholly from home.
All these trends, ESCOM believes, will fuel a major boom in high street sales of PCs and associated
software and services.
To support the launch ESCOM is mounting a ú6 million national and regional press advertising
campaign, badges on the theme 'the man from ESCOM, the man who knows', and the company will be
distributing 13 million copies of its PC Buyers Guide via newspaper and magazine inserts.
The company is also working with major regional business organizations to launch an awards initiative,
entitled the 'Budding Business Awards' designed to help smaller businesses overcome barriers to growth
by providing IT advice and support.
Our partners
The Launch is being supported by three of ESCOM's key suppliers - Intel, IBM and Hewlett-Packard.
"The fact that these three leaders in our industry have chosen to associate themselves so closely with
ESCOM," says Manfred Schmitt, "is a reflection of the confidence we all share in the future of our
nationwide, dedicated PC retail operation. Together, we intend to offer British business and home PC
users an unrivaled package," he concluded.
Steve Poole, vice president sales and general manager Intel Europe added: "The PC industry has
experienced massive growth in the past few years, fueled largely by the aggressive improvements in value
for money offered by today's high performance PCs, especially those based on Intel's Pentium (R)
technology. Obviously, a major factor in this has been the dramatic increase in the number of specialist PC
outlets, bringing expert advice to the first time buyer or the less technically comfortable. This is especially
true in the US and Germany, where the PC retail sector accounts for some 40% of PCs sold. The UK's PC
retail sector provides a great opportunity for growth. With ESCOM's arrival on the high street, the UK PC
buyer has widespread access to a major European leading edge PC retailer."
Simon Dyson, director of Software, IBM UK said: "IBM is delighted to participate with ESCOM in their
impressive retail launch today, and in this opportunity to bring IBM Software products to the High Street.
ESCOM - in choosing to pre-load their PCs with our award-winning OS/2 WARP - reflect the worldwide
trend towards OS/2 WARP being the 32-bit operating system of choice. WARP has now sold over 2
million copies, and this association with ESCOM will add considerably to the rapidly increasing number of
PCs sold in Europe pre-loaded with WARP".
"Hewlett-Packard is delighted to be part of ESCOM's massive retail launch," said Geoff Nightingale, HP's
consumer products marketing manager. "We believe that ESCOM will play a significant part in
promoting our products into the home and small office markets. The launch is indicative of the
phenomenal growth that will come from changing work habits - the move from commuting to work to
working from home."
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