NCIX files for bankruptcy after closing all retail stores

[Greg S]

Computer hardware sales are alive and well, but unfortunately Netlink Computer Inc. has reached an impasse. Commonly known as NCIX, the hardware and software retailer has officially filed for bankruptcy in Vancouver, Canada.

Founded in 1996, NCIX primarily served western Canadian residents. After building a sizable online presence and looking to expand, the company opened brick and mortar stores in the Vancouver area and later added additional locations in Ontario. Once the Canadian market was well covered, NCIX set up a distribution center in the United States in 2011.

Moving forward to July 2017, NCIX shut down several of its retail stores in eastern Canada and closed its office in Markham, Ontario. Then in November, five more stores were shut down. At this time, customers were told to file chargebacks with financial institutions for orders that were not fulfilled.

Now, all NCIX retail stores have been closed and show no signs of returning. The Supreme Court of British Columbia will hear the bankruptcy case filed by NCIX. At this time it is advised that no orders are placed due to the possibility of not receiving a product and being unable to obtain a refund.

Where exactly NCIX went wrong is still open to debate. Competition from Amazon, Newegg, and other online sites may have been too much. Regardless of the reasoning, costs clearly have outweighed revenue for some time now. For those interested in hearing more possible reasons of failure, listen to some insight from two well known former employees.

Linus Sebastian and Luke Lafreniere take around 20 minutes to discuss some of their experiences working at NCIX before leaving to be a part of Linus Media Group.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/72137-ncix-files-bankruptcy-after-closing-all-retail-stores.html

 

[bmw95]

I feel like Newegg could be coming next.

 

[xDDD123]

I feel like Newegg could be coming next.

Newegg is backed by a multi-billion dollar Chinese corporation, they will not be next xD

 

[poohbear]

But the NCIX site is still online? and still selling stuff! I always found their specials to be decently priced, but their normal stuff was always pricier than the competition!

 

[yRaz]

The invasive ads on your website make reading articles very difficult. Please change your advertising model or people will start leaving

 

[seeprime]

The invasive ads on your website make reading articles very difficult. Please change your advertising model or people will start leaving

You can install uBlock Origin in Chrome, Edge, and Firefox. The less effective AdBlock Plus is available for all of them, and IE. It's up to you to monitor what you see. I often turn uBlock Origin off, so Techspot gets some revenue

 

[hahahanoobs]

For a site selling computer hardware, their website looked like ***.
Canada Computers must be pushing them out, because they are better in every way in comparison.
You won't be missed, NCIX.

 

[yRaz]

You can install uBlock Origin in Chrome, Edge, and Firefox. The less effective AdBlock Plus is available for all of them, and IE. It's up to you to monitor what you see. I often turn uBlock Origin off, so Techspot gets some revenue

I have techspot whitelisted because I believe in supporting companies that provide a service I use. But when I'm viewing from my phone and I have 3 full page ads popup it gets to be a bit much. Worst case scenario, I use adblock on techspot. For them, if they push ads too hard then they'll start losing members. some ads are okay, full page things that popup while you're reading and take up the entire screen ARE NOT okay.

 

[Run KMC]

I think Ncix should have continued keeping their stores in lower rent locations instead of higher profile, but high rent locations.

 

[Julio Franco]

I have techspot whitelisted because I believe in supporting companies that provide a service I use. But when I'm viewing from my phone and I have 3 full page ads popup it gets to be a bit much.,.

And I agree. Something must be off with those mobile ads (beginning of the month) so hopefully I can dial that down to our normal level of ads. Emailing our ad guys right now so they can take care of this in the morning.

 

[captaincranky]

And I agree. Something must be off with those mobile ads (beginning of the month) so hopefully I can dial that down to our normal level of ads. Emailing our ad guys right now so they can take care of this in the morning.

I would think it was quite normal, and to be expected, that ad quantity and frequency would be way up during the month of December. You know, Santa Claus and all that. Dialing them back too much during this season,seems it would be like the site administrator shooting himself in the foot.

 

[Robert3892]

If they are in bankruptcy why is there website still working and does this affect the NCIX USA webstore as well?

 

[captaincranky]

I feel like Newegg could be coming next.

In reality, Microcenter's business model is much closer to ncix than Newegg. So, if I were going to sit and wonder who would be next going under, Microcenter would be at the head of the list. (Although Best Buy (IMO), is just as suspect.

But the NCIX site is still online? and still selling stuff! I always found their specials to be decently priced, but their normal stuff was always pricier than the competition!

Well, perhaps they're only filling orders for which they have inventory which ,they have on hand.

You'd figure they'd rather get full pop at retail, as opposed to pennies on the dollar at auction. That's assuming this is a full bankruptcy, (Chapter 7), and not a "restructuring". (What US law calls "Chapter 11", which allows a company to remain in business while forming a plan to satisfy their creditors).

Chapter 11 usually entails closing some locations, layoffs, and debt interest rate negotiations. Under Chapter 7, which is the "end of the road", the doors are locked, and all assets auctioned off.

 

[MaXtor]

What a shame, NCIX was always my go to online store when building a new computer. Their pricematching, selection, and cheap shipping made them unbeatable (in Canada). I imagine Amazon moving into Canada killed much of their business.

 

[Khouri]

If they are in bankruptcy why is there website still working and does this affect the NCIX USA webstore as well?

They likely filed for Chapter 11, not Chapter 7. Chapter 11 pretty much says they have the assets and potential income to pay off their debts, Chapter 7 would be if they had no chance of breaking even

EDIT: I mixed up the numbers and fixed it

 

[Gezzer]

Wow, I've always knew that Linus had a lot on the ball. But that idea was brilliant and dovetails perfectly with my shopping habits.

Right now the only place I have to just "run into" for tech stuff is the source, or walmart which kind of sucks. But I still do use the source and even check their prices/availability before ordering online. If they come reasonably close after shipping, etc. I just buy it from them instead of ordering it. I would of been a steady NCIX customer with his concept if I'd had one locally.

As it is NCIX just lost my business over the years, I started finding Newegg.ca and Amazon.ca were just better all around. More in stock, better prices, better shipping options and rates. NCIX only caught my attention with the constant sales, but the discounts were often on really shoddy items I wouldn't buy for any price, so after awhile I even stopped checking those out.

 

[Jules Mark]

I bet the massive Vancouver property tax/rent along with the cost overhead killed them. Believe it or not my 27.75$ cad/h is minimum wage in Vancouver.

Every bungalow is worth over 1.3 mil CAD, a single bedroom apartment cost 2020$ a month. Even if you do own a property, the city tax, provincial tax will suck you dry like a leech!

 

[Jim Pook]

I bet the massive Vancouver property tax/rent along with the cost overhead killed them. Believe it or not my 27.75$ cad/h is minimum wage in Vancouver.

I agree - NCIX made some pretty stupid decisions regarding retail locations. Richmond was a prime example.

They started with a small location behind Canadian Tire in a large Asian strip mall. Then moved to Sea Island Way in a small strip mall next to Burger King. It was more visible, but not easy to get to. Then they shut that down and moved back to the CT location. Shortly thereafter they opened a store in the large indoor Asian mall at Aberdeen. For me that was a great location - bus ran from my front door to their front door. I had to walk right past them to get to my favourite sushi bar, so I was in the store every couple of weeks. They also had a store next door that sold TV's.

About 2 years ago, they closed Aberdeen and moved to Lansdowne Mall, just a few steps away from Best Buy. Personally, I thought they should have grabbed the old Future Shop location as it fronted #3 Road and would have been great for outdoor signage.

Really sad, but I could see this coming as soon as they shut down the Ontario stores.