Is Circuit City trying to fail?

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

I don't know...but stories like these don't really help their image:


IN BRIEF -- Newsday.com

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

They've been trying to fail for years, but somehow continue to stay open.

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

I don't even bother going in there anymore. Even when they advertise a price that is better than the competition, you've got about a 1:100,000 chance of it actually being in stock.

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

Yes they are! Just look at the hundreds of millions of dollars they lost over there push and support with DIVX.

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

And I don't like the way that when they have major items on sale, like receivers or external hard drives, they remove the price information from the shelves so people won't know they're on sale (unless they've read the circular).

At least that's what the one near me does.

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

They also take forever to mail CC Rewards, instead of offering electronic delivery; won't let you apply them to preorders or backorders if they've run out of stock; and seldom have catalog Blu-rays available for store pickup so you HAVE to order them online.

Finally gave up waiting for my pending rewards and tried to order a bunch of discs ony to find they'd run out of most of them. I ordered the 2 I could and arranged to pick up The Mummy at Best Buy for a buck cheaper (it was on sale there).

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

I've been hearing rumors lately of CC being on the edge of extinction. Of course, this is not the first time I've heard this over the past several years. I also wonder how they stay in business. The local store rarely has more than 2 customers in it. Meanwhile, Best Buy, which is only slightly less wretched, had to expand their parking lot.

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

Quite often they have the cheapest price for new releases at "Mike's List".

But the store here has NEVER - not one time - had one of these cheapies in stock on release date or soon thereafter.

Many years ago when CC invaded the western US people thought they were bringing low prices with them. But then things happened. Several years ago they dropped major appliances (e.g. washers and dryers). IIRC I purchased a microwave and a refer from them. No more.

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

I think this might explain how they've managed to stay afloat...

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

hahahaha

Anyway, they suck. I have NO idea how they are still in business. At least with BestBuy, there are always employees around somewhere and the store is bright and decently laid out. CC is always dimly lit, empty of staff and customers, and just plain dull. Bestbuy does a decent job of making the place feel somewhat upbeat.

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

Circuit City has been having severe problems recently. Compare its stock price to the greater market. It's tanked while everything else has been neutral. (compare to Best Buy which is not great, but not precipitous).

And you might recall CC's firing of their highest paid salespersons to replace them with lower paid salespeople. Nothing says "shop with us" like "we're axing our skilled people and replacing them with min wage high school kids".

We gave up on CC after suffering their consistently bad Black Friday sales method. They have a nationwide crowd management method that is specially designed to make after-Thanksgiving shopping as painful and inefficient as possible. Best Buy, in contrast, has the most efficient high-traffic shopping system of the retailers I've seen.

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

Hmm. Maybe "The City" is doing better than the typical big CC stores. The City is basically a stripped down half size version of CC, but when I went there the only and one time, reps asked me if I needed help several times, and it was somewhat well laid out.

Here's the Wikipedia section on it:
Circuit City - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

CC has been trying to die since they came up with that cursed, competing format to DVD called DIVX, which failed brilliantly and cost them tons of cash and my thanks by not ever setting foot in one of their stores again. Oh wait, I did go in there to check on a repeater for an XM antenna and I was floored by what everybody else sees: dark stores, salespeople who do not know their azz from their face, and a set-up that is stark and unfriendly to anyone walking in to audition audio or video products.

Did I mention I didn't like CC?

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

Last time I was in CC, even though there were 4! employees hanging around the front door, they didn't have a cash register open. You had to go to Customer Service to pay. I put the item back and walked out, going around the employees by the door. I didn't want to interrupt their "what did you do last night?" conversation.

I did try ordering some outdoor speakers from their on-line store last week. You know, the one's that look like frogs? Regularly $149 on closeout for $18! Ya, baby! Got the next day e-mail conformation. You know, the one thanking me for the order and such. Not! All it said was "We have cancelled your order. Thank you." That was it. No reason, no apology.

Best Buy does look like it has some life to it, but it's so "#@%*!" noisy inside I can't take it for more than 5 minutes. Must be getting old. And they don't open 'till 11 a.m. on Sunday. 11 AM!! I'm already planning my afternoon nap by then. Must be that "getting old" thing again.

Even though I know it's not good for the local economy, I much prefer ordering things on-line at 5 a.m. Sunday morning while drinking a cup of coffee (decaf ) and listening to Cured by Steve Hackett ). I bet the UPS driver shows up before CC opens a cash register. Fry's is pretty good, also. The line is long but they usually have a ton of cash registers open so it goes quickly. They do stop you at the front door to check your receipt, though.

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

Thats why i stopped going in. Best Buy makes me happy, CC doesnt.

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

You'd be surprised. A friend of mine worked there, and he described the same thing. He said many hours of the day are slow. But the electronics big ticket items and buyer protections for those items(he said about 99.9% buy the protection plans) keep the stores in fantastic shape.

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

I went to ours a few weeks ago to get some add on phones. First, you can't get anyone to help you. Then, they sold me the wrong phones. When I took them back the girl looked through the one I opened for so long you could almost hear her say "How can I keep from giving this guy his money back." And your right about them congregating. You want to ask a question but you feel bad interrupting their conversation.

It's sad really. 2 years ago the place was always busy. Product was flying out the doors. Now, the parking lot is so empty you wonder if they are even open when you drive by.

Maybe the Management for CC should read this thread!!!

Don

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

I'm not a marketing professional or anything like that, but something sucks about walking in those places. Plus, it's a pain in the ass to find where i'm supposed to pay for something. Whatever BB does, they do it better. I can't go to BB on the weekend, too crowded, while CC has 3 cars there, all employees.

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

Not sure how I missed this...

Circuit City gives up the fight - MSN Money

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

Maybe they will go back to being "Dixie Hi-Fi" as in the good old days.

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

That article was posted on May 20. The CC-Blockbuster deal has since fallen apart.

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

That article is a couple months old. Blockbuster has already backed away from buying CC.

I'll add that I do my best to not shop at CC. Their inventory is really what bothers me the most. I totally see them going out of business before too long. The funny thing is, they just built two new stores near me in Southern California. I did actually go in one and they were all over the customer service - I was greeted coming in and then another employee helped me find what I was looking for (I found it first myself but he was still there trying). So, we'll see if they are on their way out in time I suppose.

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

Certainly, hence why I said I was surpirsed I missed it. Just interesting to me that they are still in opperation without someone taking them out and selling it off in pieces. It will happen ala' CompUSA once the price is right - Unless of course they can actually make something happen with "The City" venture.

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

Well in my area there is a Best Buy, and a CC within an eight block radius of each other. Both are lower volume stores. The CC puts Best buy to shame in their dvd selection. I swear my Best Buy's selection of dvd's gets smaller all the time, while CC's selection always stays the same. It's the best selection of dvd's outside of an online retailer.

And about no help at CC. No. there really is none. But if I'm browsing for dvd's I don't want someone approaching me every 5 minutes to see if I'm finding everything. At best Buy last year I was approached 4 times in 20 minutes. Very, very annoying.

Anyone remember Media Play? the one near me lasted for about a year and a half before they closed their doors. Their dvd selection was phenomenal, but expensive.

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

I would give your left nut to have the days of Media Play back again. They went belly up here about the first year of DVD. They were the only place i could buy LDs before that format, and Media Play died.

Sold a bunch of hard to find and import CDs too!

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

I miss them too. I have some good memories of shopping there with my friend.

We'd spend half our paychecks on ultra cool horror dvd's that no one carried except them.

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

I used to like Circuit City a lot more than I liked Best Buy. I was always spending money in the two stores that are close to where I live as well as the one near where I work. I would stop by the Circuit City near work just about every Tuesday and pick up that week's new DVDs and/or CDs because they had the best prices. I've picked up various electronics there such as my old Onkyo TX-DS777 receiver as well over the years.

I also liked the fact that Circuit City had sound rooms where you could actually listen to receivers and speakers without them getting completely drowned out by some asshat in the car stereo department. It was quite similar to The Good Guys, another favorite place of mine to shop until they were bought out by CompUSA and then shut down.

Over the past 2-3 years things have changed. Two of the three stores I shop at have been completely remodeled and the one here in Rancho Cucamonga was moved to a new location (in a much better place at least). The new location looks like Best Buy inside... only a lot redder. All three stores now have that giant bargain electronics retailer feel to them now. Unfortunately Circuit City has done away with the sound rooms and now only seems to carry the lower end of various electronics manufacturer's lines (Onkyo and Polk Audio both come to mind). The CDs are a disorganized mess and the DVD section isn't much better. None of the employees at any of the stores I've been to lately seem interested in helping customers. This in sharp contrast to 10-15 years ago when the stores were loaded with friendly and knowledgeable people willing to help.

I really wish that Circuit City would go back to being the store that I enjoyed shopping at for a good number of years until they decided to become a second rate clone of Best Buy.

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

Now that you mention it, it is odd how neither BB or CC now is interested in home audio. Both of them simply have receivers lined up on a wall. You can "audition" speakers and TV's all day. But not receivers. Odd.

Re: Is Circuit City trying to fail?

Makes sense from a mass market POV. Most consumers couldn't tell a receiver from another one, and think of them as "amplifiers." As long as it's got "surround sound", they are good to go, I think -- no need to spend resources setting up auditions.

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H