Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores) - Page 4

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

What makes Circuit City's failure more amazing is that it was a "best of breed" store not too long ago.

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

I really grew to respect their early mail-order store, "Dixie Hi-Fi", back in the early 1970's. They, along with Wisconsin Discount Stereo, didn't have rock-bottom prices but did give decent delivery and customer service. The outlets who did have rock-bottom prices would often sit on your order for months - they had no stock and only ordered from their wholesaler after YOU placed an order.

One thing I think hurt them badly - the rise of Home Despot and Lowes in selling major appliances. Back in the mid-1980's when Circuit City first appeared in California, they had a large section of each store dedicated to major appliances. Home hardware chains like Home Base and Handyman didn't sell major appliances at the time so CC had a great market share to themselves. But later on HD and Lowes pushed aggressively-priced appliances and CC pulled them from their stores. I note that it's difficult to retail stoves, dishwashers, and refers from a web-site. With internet retailers taking CC's market for "small box" merchandise (e.g. DVD players, receivers) and HD/Lowes taking the major appliances, CC was left with very little to call its own.

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

There's a couple of names I haven't thought about in a long time. The first CC in my neighborhood took over the vacated Handyman store.

Wasn't there another hardware/warehouse store called Pay N' Pak or something like it?

Back to CC, it was inevitable. I wonder what the retail landscape is going to look like in 10 years with the horrible economy and so many of us buying things on-line now days. This (and things like car dealerships going under) has to really hurt our local cities revenue stream. Are we shooting ourselves in the foot?

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

I worked at a couple of Homebase stores back in 1997-1998 before I started working where I do now. Homebase originally started as a membership home improvement store called Home Club. From what I heard, about half of the chain was performing poorly by the late 1990s so they started examining their options. They opened a store called House2Home which I think was like Home Depot's Expo stores (kitchen & bath and housewares type of stuff) and it was successful. They then decided to close about half of the Homebase stores and turn the remaining locations into House2Home stores. In late 2001 House2Home filed for bankruptcy citing poor sales in the months after 9/11. All of the stores went through the liquidation process and were closed sometime in early 2002.

I remember the first Circuit City to come to town. It was located in Montclair, CA across from the Montclair Plaza (it's still there actually). If I remember correctly it opened sometime around 1986 or 1987. That was where I got my first taste of Onkyo. I was amazed at just how warm sounding even the Onkyo rack systems that Circuit City were to my ears. I guess I can thank Circuit City for turning me into the longtime Onkyo fan that I am today.

I have some bad memories of Circuit City too. That same store really butchered the hell out of the dashboard of my 1979 Toyota pickup sometime back in 1987. They jammed a DIN sized head unit into a space meant for a small shaft type model (my dad had it done before he sold that truck to me). When that old JVC started acting up, I took it in to have it repaired. After a few weeks of calling the store and asking what the status of my radio was, they finally told me they had lost it. I was a bit ticked off until they told me they'd give me a full refund on a head unit that was over a year old.

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

Circuit City had the best buyers protection program that I know of. I got a 3 year warranty on my Panasonic dvd recorder. After 2 years of use it conked out. I brought it in to CC, and about a week later I got it back in perfect working condition. They even called to ask if I was happy with the service and thanked me for shopping with them.


I was in Best buy about a year ago. I was browsing dvd titles. I had an associate ask if I needed help. I said "no thank you". He proceeded to ask me that same question 3 more times in the next ten minutes. INSANE!! I left empty handed, and went to CC where I browsed at their(much better) dvd selection for about a half hour. No one bugged me. I left with a handful of titles.

I'm going to miss Circuit City.

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

^ I think it all depends on each individual store and the people working in it. Years ago at the CC in my area, I used to have a hard time getting an employee to even look at me since they were always busy talking to each other and avoiding all customers. In the past couple of years, there were hardly any employees in the store. I haven't seen an employee in the DVD/CD section in at least a year.

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

All the CC stores in my area are crap. In addition to the employees leaving much to be desired, the stores themselves were awful. They were all dark, cluttered, dirty, and very disorganized. A stark contrast to the generally clean, spacious, and organized Best Buys in my area.

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

Our local paper saw fit to write up the beginning of the liquidation sale at our Circuit City in Albany, NY.

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

My biggest issue with CC was the employees. Appologies to any ex CC'ers out there but the ones in my nearby stores did seem dis-interested. But in all honesty, over-all Best Buy isn't much better. There's no way to auditon a speaker in that place with the music blaring so loudly and the concert dvd section has all but disappeared. The checkout stands are better placed and the stores do have a better layout but for me, the shopping experiencs is as good as I'd like it to be.

I used to really like Fry's a few years ago, and it's still my favorite, but not as much as I used to. Maybe I am getting old .

They say in a few years when things start to turn around again that new businesses will replace the one's that vanished. Maybe a new electronics store will imerge.

So, what's left for national and regional electronics stores? Here in the S.F Bay Area we have Fry's, Best Buy, Video Only and (I think) Ultimate Video(?) for sure. Maybe a Cambridge Soundworks in Palo Alto. Any others?

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

We've lost CC, CompUSA and The Good Guys. And maybe 1-2 others.

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

I think it was a mistake for CC to dump the appliances, but I don't think they were "forced" to do so. It seems like it was just one of their many management blunders in recent years.

Best Buy still has a significant appliance section so they must still be a profitable item for them. There are also locally-owned appliance stores in many communities that seem to remain in business, and we have one of those small Sears franchise stores here that stocks only appliances, tools, and electronics, so HD and Lowes have not seemed to hurt them. If that many other stores continue to sell appliances and make a profit, I don't think HD/Lowes are to blame for CC abandoning that revenue source.

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

I thought I read they dropped appliances to make floorspace for media to compete with BestBuy.

Around here, they just did a very bad job of managing that business. So they took out something they handled very well and replaced it with something they didnt put much effort into.

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

I really miss Media Play

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

ALL CC stores are going down.
I never bought anything other than Movies, software and accessories as their prices were not competative INMHO.
However, I did go to their 'liquidation sale' and, in CC's way of doing business, the prices were exactly the same as the day before. In fact, I went across the street to a much smaller chain store (Bernie's) and bought a Samsung LN52A850 for $550 LESS than CC.
Sorry for the employees (which were never much help) but 'bye bye' CC.

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

CC has absolutely no control over the prices any longer. All inventory has been sold off to third parties who are handling the liquidation. They did this with the 150+ stores they closed by in December and when I went to one of those in my area for the liquidation sale I found that the prices were significantly higher than the CC's up the street that were remaining open.

For the most part I think they are relying on people assuming they are getting a good deal and not shopping the prices around.

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

Absolutely. That and the old, insidious feeling that "well, it will be cheaper tomorrow...but what if somebody else buys it before then" mentality of a liquidation sale.

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

Oh hell, now im depressed. We lost them about 10 years ago...i think it was? Hands down, my favorite store EVER!

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

Anecdotally, it seems a store's service quality is determined by that individual store's management and also by the local "flavor" (is your area filled with go-getter people or is it a slow moving region).

But CC corporate made it quite clear that higher-skilled, more-involved salespeople were not desired when they fired all their highest paid, longer term salespeople and replaced them with lower paid employees.

These stores rise and fall. 15 years ago, Best Buy was amazing, truly a "best buy" with tremendous showrooms and variety. Six years ago, CC had the best showroom in my area and I bought my $1800 Sony WEGA from them. More recently, my CC became an abysmal place to shop during the holidays, while BestBuy showed better management. Then last Fall, we got a new CC store with an attractive layout that I preferred to Best Buy's style. But now CC is gone, and I just bought a 50" plasma from Best Buy. The clerk knew the answers to my shopping questions (about delivery, financing, Reward Zone) and did a good job with the sale.

In a few years, some other store will be king of the hill.

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

"I really miss Media Play"

Media Play was expensive but had the best selection. I used to buy my laser discs there. I remember eating mac&cheese for a week becuae I had to have the Pionneer Amadeus or the color corrected version of Platoon(like the old Image DVD).

I was also able to find the most obscure DVD titles there, especially in the horror genre. Best Buy and CC definitely dont carry the titles that Media Play did.

The CCs near me have the worst DVD sections.



Have to go and see if theyre having a clearance sale on blurays.

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

Actually I think it's the "Fry's Experience" that's causing you to age.

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

Hardcore

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

It's very true things took a turn for the worse when the veteran sales force was replaced. But the last few times I was in a CC store I didn't require a knowledgable salesperson. Just an open cash register (had to go to the Customer Service counter to checkout) and someone paying attention long enough to answer a couple of easy questions. Anyway, I have no idea why things turned out the way they did for CC or who was at fault. But a business that was fumbling it's way from one day to the next had no chance to make it in this economy. Ya, I guess it could scare a guy half to death if he isn't carefull.

I think it has more to do with the fact that, thanks to the HTF and it's members, I'm quite a bit more knowledgable about all this stuff (but still have sooo...much more to learn) so I'm no longer a kid in a candy store. Well I'm still a kid, the store just isn't as "sweet" as it used to be.

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

Oh yeah...all new Panasonic tv's or Bose items will not sold with the liquidation.

and btw, I read this somewhere...mirrors what i'm feeling:

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

That's quite a post, Jason. Thanks for sharing. It says a lot.

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

For the past 20-30 years, business has been all about pleasing the stockholders and no one else (..."Greed is good" and all that). You can treat your employees like crap and screw your customers six ways to Sunday, as long as you're maximizing profits and your stockholders' dividends.

Somewhere along the line, business lost the ideal of being satisfied with making a "reasonable" profit while providing a good living for employees and a superior product/service for customers. It became all about squeezing the last possible penny out of the company by reducing employee pay/benefits and the quality of the product/service so the shareholders would remain happy.

Companies that try and buck this trend, like Costco, are repeatedly criticized by stock market analysts for being overly generous to their employees at the expense of maximizing profits and shareholder dividends.

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

Ditto.

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

Yes it is. Interesting that we can each see our own jobs, or workplaces. No matter how varied our jobs may be.

If you keep the employees happy, the customers will be happy too! Interesting concept, huh?

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

Excellent. I have been feeling this way in my own job of air traffic control for quite a time.

Management shits on the employees and then wonders why the organization fails. Is it really that big of a mystery?

BTW, I have wondered if anyone ever bothered with cracking the DIVX encryption. I know that stuff was a huge mess and loss for CC.

Re: Circuit City closing down 150+ stores in midwest (and now all of the stores)

Excuse my French but, WTF ????
Circuit City seeks to offer final bonuses - Consumer news- msnbc.com