PC Club

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PC Club

Image:PCClublogo.gif
Type Private retail
Founded 1992
Location City of Industry, CA
Key people (as of 2006)[1] Jeff Lan, CEO
Lin-Ru Chen, CFO
Jane Shiau, Director of Marketing and Purchasing
Industry Computer hardware
Top Competition Best Buy Co., Inc.
CompUSA Inc.
Fry's Electronics, Inc.
Products Desktops
Laptops
Peripherals
Services In-store computer repairs & upgrades
Website www.pcclub.com

PC Club is a privately-owned, United States-based chain of computer hardware stores established in City of Industry, California in 1992. The stores are located primarily in west-coast states and stock hardware and peripherals for PCs and complete computer systems assembled under the brand name Enpower.

Contents

[edit] History

Former CEO and company founder Jackson Lan, in an interview on June 1, 2002: "I saw an opportunity when I first came to the United States: Ten years ago, many customers started to learn more about computer technology. They were willing to open their PCs to upgrade their slow system with the latest processors or motherboards, or by adding networking or hooking them up to different printers. This gave me a great opportunity to start PC Club, which specializes in do-it-yourself computer upgrades. I opened our first small store in City of Industry, Calif., back in 1992, with five employees."

[edit] Management

[edit] Jackson Lan

Prior to moving to the United States in 1989, Jackson Lan had worked as General Manager of US operations for VIP Computer Inc., Program Manager/Business Process Re-engineering for Nan Ya Plastic Co. Ltd., and was District Sales Manager for Hewlett-Packard "in Taiwan and Singapore for six years ... [He had] established extensive relationships with different computer manufacturers and electronic firms."

In 1991, Jackson formed Computer Wholesale Inc. in the City of Industry, California with great vision and anticipation. Soon after the wholesale business started, Jackson quickly realized that in order for his business to succeed, he must focus on customer service and add value to the products sold to the customers.

From 1993 to 1994, Jackson served as the President of the Southern California Chinese Computer Association (SCCCA). Proven by the success of the company, Jackson was a finalist in the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 1997. In the following year, Jackson’s achievement and leadership were further recognized by the government of Taiwan. He received the honorable Overseas Chinese Award and the Overseas Chinese Young Entrepreneur Award.

In his latter years, Jackson became a dedicated Buddhist. Combining Buddhism and his wisdom, he developed his philosophy of life - "Happiness, Love, Harmony, Cleanse, Execution". His business theories and philosophies of life not only posted a positive impact on employees’ professionalism, but also provided insight to their personal life.[2]

A fine example of entrepreneurship and visionary in the computer retail industry, Jackson passed after a long battle with cancer in the City of Hope hospital on December 23, 2005 at the age of 55. He coined the phrase "Have a Better Day, Every Day", an affirmation he practiced both professionally and personally.

[edit] Jeff Lan

Upon Jackson Lan's death, PC Club was willed to his brother, Jeff.[citation needed] Jeff had previously been of management status at Audiovox[citation needed] and is on the Board of Directors of the Chinese American Information Technology Association (CAITA).

[edit] Products

[edit] Enpower

Enpower is the name brand for computer systems sold through PC Club for over 14 years. What makes Enpower systems different from many large distributors is that they are built from non-proprietary, name-brand parts and include a full-install copy of Microsoft Windows (rather than a recovery disc loaded with extra software). Systems are packaged in humble-looking white boxes with "Personal Computer" printed on the side, in stark contrast to Gateway's cow-print boxes.

[edit] Policies

Most hardware sold by PC Club is covered under a 7-day return, 30-day exchange, 1-year warranty, unless otherwise noted. This warranty does not apply to writable media, or to opened software or software that exposes a product registration key. The one year warranty is typically handled by releasing a defective item back to the store between the 2nd and 12th month of ownership to be sent back to the manufacturer through RMA free of charge, replaced/repaired under the discretion of the manufacturer, and usually reclaimed within 1-4 weeks.

Computer systems are covered with a 1-year "Instacare" warranty that ensures customers will have a working computer again after a hardware failure as quickly as possible. If a faulty device is in stock, it is replaced same day; if it is not in stock, it is "as soon as it can be gotten" (3-5 days); or if the device is unavailable, usually a free upgrade is awarded. A two-year extension of this warranty is offered on most systems and included on some higher-end systems.[3]

[edit] Business model

PC Club sells directly to both consumers and local resellers from inside 40 brick-and-mortar stores (as of July 2006) and on their website. It does not provide live tech support by phone, but does maintain an online forum and will answer questions through E-mail. In-store repairs and upgrades are available at all locations with an average turn-around time of 1-3 days[4], and while policy does not allow store associates to give free tech support over the phone, simple questions reportedly are often answered anyway.

Mission statement: "To focus on Customer Values by offering Quality Computer Products and Services in the Most Effective and Innovative Way to Computer Professionals."

[edit] Marketing

Only recently has PC Club begun promoting their existence more actively through mainstream advertisements, while in the past, the company was predominantly popularised via word-of-mouth.

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ PC Club Company Profile - Yahoo! Finance
  2. ^ feed scott: In memory of Jackson Lan - PC CLUB Founder
  3. ^ PC Club Store Policies
  4. ^ PC Club Rolls Out InstaCare Program

[edit] External links

[edit] Unbiased System Reviews

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