Gateway 2000 Turns To Retail Chains

Gateway 2000 Inc. has lined up two retail chains to sell its big-screen personal computer, departing from its mail-order tradition to showcase the innovative machine that is also part TV and stereo.

The company’s $4,000 Destination PC will be in about 200 Nobody Beats the Wiz and CompUSA stores this fall, the companies said Tuesday.

Gateway has become the nation’s seventh-largest PC maker by selling them directly to customers, chiefly through telephone orders. Until now, its retail experience has been limited to some outlet stores near its factories and one in Japan.

The company will only sell the Destination PC through the store chains. It is a standard Windows-based PC with a TV tuner, wireless keyboard, modem, connections to other electronics and a 31-inch monitor.

Gateway designed Destination for settings where several people may want to use it together, such as a family room or business conference room.

Since going on sale in April, Gateway has sold more than 10,000 units. The company sells about 4,700 of its other PCs daily. Sales of Destination, company executives believe, have been hurt by consumer unfamiliarity.