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According to the Wall Street Journal, Mexican retail and telephone baron Carlos Slim will close out Comp USA's remaining US stores and liquidate all the remaining assets including the brick and mortars, after investing close to $2 billion into the business in the last 8 years.

While the company appeared to struggle in the face of intense competition from Best Buy and Wal-Mart, it still had an estimated $4 billion in annual sales in 2006. According to the Journal report, industry executives had estimated that total to dwindle to only $1.5 billion this year, after numerous store closings early in the year.

This probably won’t mean that the Big Slim will stay on the US retail sidelines, however. After being rebuffed in a potential takeover of Circuit City, Mr. Slim has started a retail relationship with Saks Fifth Avenue across the border, which means a substantial investment is in the offing. And if you thought that Bill Gates was still the richest man in the world, that’s no longer true as Carlos surpassed Warren Buffett and Zune Brother #1 in late August, with an estimated net worth of $59 Billion.

Compusa CompUSA stores will be kept open through the end of the year, which means that if you haven’t picked up anything for the holidays yet (and why have you waited this long, anyway?), prices will certainly be reduced and start flying off the shelves. Go right now.