Dell is to shut all 140 of its Dell Direct Stores in the US following its move into retail.The move follows on from Dell's announcement that that it would be shedding 'dozens' of jobs in its Ottawa call centre, with plans for 1,200 more redundancies in call centres across North America in the near future.
"Moving into retail is a prime example of Dell listening to its customers," said Tony Weiss, vice president for Dell's Global Consumer business, in a statement.
"Ever since we began our journey into retail, we wanted to give customers the opportunity to call, click, or visit Dell and have access to our award-winning products.
"This move fits in with how our broad global retail strategy is evolving."
Former employees are not happy. "I was a Dell Direct Store employee, one of the top sale people in my whole district," said one. "This morning we had a conference call that was a recorded message saying we had no job."
Others found out via text message from store managers.
Dell has made significant moves into US retail via agreements with Wal-Mart, Best-Buy and Staples over the past year, essentially rendering the stores redundant from their original purpose.
Michael Dell is expected to be making an announcement to investors and staff in the next couple of hours concerning any further redundancies.
Are you a former Dell Direct employee? PC Retail wants to hear from you. Email us your thoughts on the topic at ben.furfie@intentmedia.co.uk
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