Circuit City on the brink of going under

[bigbroodmaster]

Circuit City is closing 155 stores, and withdrawing from 12 markets:

UPDATED: Breaking: Circuit City Closing 155 Stores

They've been on unstable footing for a while now, so I suppose this isn't incredibly surprising.

 

[Care4all]

can you sayyyy

42 inch flat screen. here i come!

seriously though, didn't they get rid of their experienced commissioned based sales people to save money a while back?

 

[bigbroodmaster]

can you sayyyy

42 inch flat screen. here i come!

seriously though, didn't they get rid of their experienced commissioned based sales people to save money a while back?

Oh yeah. That's usually the first sign of a business failure. Purge the higher paid people, then axe your way down.

 

[MalibuMan]

It is all Bush's fault.

 

[editec]

The business model for retail is changing.

Technology has migrated from something exotic where you want a knowledgeable sales person to help you to nothing more than a commodity.

Internet sales are killing retail, too.

Brick and mortar businesses are damned expensive.

 

[Againsheila]

can you sayyyy

42 inch flat screen. here i come!

seriously though, didn't they get rid of their experienced commissioned based sales people to save money a while back?

Sears used to be one of the best stores in the country. Back then they had an employe stock plan. One of my mother's friends went to work for Sears right out of highschool and when he retired, he had a very high income. Nowadays, sears only hires part-time help. If you stay too long and they have to give you a raise, they find ways to make you quit. As a consequence, Sears is losing loyal customers, so because they lose sales, they redesign their store every couple of years to bring in new customers, but those customers get upset with the employees that don't know anything either.

Truth is, if Sears went back to being loyal to their employees, their employees would be loyal to the store and they'd bring in more customers and more sales. Customers would be better satisfied because the employees would know what they were doing and their reputation would again improve, bt of course, Sears would rather hire minimum wage workers part time and save on employee pay and benefits. The CEO has never worked a real job before in his life and has no idea that being good to the workers translates into being good to the customers.

 

[KMAN]

Circuit City is closing 155 stores, and withdrawing from 12 markets:

UPDATED: Breaking: Circuit City Closing 155 Stores

They've been on unstable footing for a while now, so I suppose this isn't incredibly surprising.

Obama will save them!

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

I'm preferential to Best Buy myself.

 

[glockmail]

Sears used to be one of the best stores in the country. Back then they had an employe stock plan. One of my mother's friends went to work for Sears right out of highschool and when he retired, he had a very high income. Nowadays, sears only hires part-time help. If you stay too long and they have to give you a raise, they find ways to make you quit. As a consequence, Sears is losing loyal customers, so because they lose sales, they redesign their store every couple of years to bring in new customers, but those customers get upset with the employees that don't know anything either.

Truth is, if Sears went back to being loyal to their employees, their employees would be loyal to the store and they'd bring in more customers and more sales. Customers would be better satisfied because the employees would know what they were doing and their reputation would again improve, bt of course, Sears would rather hire minimum wage workers part time and save on employee pay and benefits. The CEO has never worked a real job before in his life and has no idea that being good to the workers translates into being good to the customers.

I remember when Sears used to be the only place to buy certain things, like quality hand and automotive tools. Their strategy of sale pricing and their employee attitudes put forth a "screw the customer" attitude.

 

[Mad Scientist]

Circuit City has a 4 gig SD card on sale for $34. I bought the same card online for $7 with free shipping.
Looking for electronic goods? Checkout this website. I've been using it for years now and have saved a lot of money:
Techbargains.com

Dell Coupons, Discount Computer Sale, Buy Cheap Digital Camera, Cheap Laptop, Best Buy

 

[Care4all]

I remember when Sears used to be the only place to buy certain things, like quality hand and automotive tools. Their strategy of sale pricing and their employee attitudes put forth a "screw the customer" attitude.

If you had craftsman tools from sears, you were considered lucky and fortunate...!!! Because they lasted forever, they even guaranteed them to last a lifetime. Dad was always tickled pink to be able to get a Craftsman tool from sears for Christmas!!!

Kenmore appliances were well thought of as well, on quality for the money.

Man oh man.....how things change.

the only way those that do not have the purchasing power/discount power of walmart in China that will be able to stay in business is to offer supreme customer service, and take a stand behind their quality products imho....otherwise, cheap seems to be winning out...

Walmart alone gives us our nations trade deficit with China....Americans are obviously in to cheap....even if it is cutting off their nose to spite their face.

care

 

[Dr Grump]

Obama will save them!

Well George sure didn't...

 

[glockmail]

If you had craftsman tools from sears, you were considered lucky and fortunate...!!! Because they lasted forever, they even guaranteed them to last a lifetime. Dad was always tickled pink to be able to get a Craftsman tool from sears for Christmas!!!

Kenmore appliances were well thought of as well, on quality for the money.

Man oh man.....how things change.

the only way those that do not have the purchasing power/discount power of walmart in China that will be able to stay in business is to offer supreme customer service, and take a stand behind their quality products imho....otherwise, cheap seems to be winning out...

Walmart alone gives us our nations trade deficit with China....Americans are obviously in to cheap....even if it is cutting off their nose to spite their face.

care

I used to put a huge pipe on the end of a wrench to free rusted on bolts and broke many a socket that way. I'd take them all back, exchanging 12 points for 6, and the sales clerk never knew the difference.

The final straw for me though was taking back an expensive air cleaner that began to make noise, and the area manager wanted me to leave it with him so he could have it repaired, which would take several weeks and require a second hour-long trip to the store by me. I pointed out to him that when I entered the store, there was a sign above the door that said 'satisfaction or your money back', and that I wanted the money. He gave it to me but was such an asshole about it I haven't been back in any Sears twice in about 18 years.

 

[Paulie]

I'm preferential to Best Buy myself.

I'll look for deals online first, and then I go to Best Buy. I'm not sure what the big deal is about Circuit City. They weren't able to profitably compete in the marketplace. So what. That's business.

 

[Zoom-boing]

I'm always amazed at the disposable mindset of people. Buy crap, throw it out, buy crap again. I was raised to buy the best quality you could afford and take care of it.

If I receive crappy customer service I do not continue to give that store my business. I also pass the word along. I'm happy to pay a fair price for an item and even a bit more if the customer service is good.

If CC goes belly up, it tells me that their business wasn't up to par. Be it value, customer service, whatever . . somebody else is doing it better.