Circuit City (1 Viewer)

[Jeff SN]

Our Local stores are having a big meeting on Wednesday. They are doing it during the stores normal operating time so something big must be going on. Anyone have a clue? Going out of business, closing stores?

 

[Aaron F]

'Super Circuit City' on the horizon??

Keep us updated...


Rumor is they are going 'hourly/non comission'... make any sense?

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Well, I hope they stay in business to compete w/ Sears and Best Buy, et al, and help keep the prices down and service respectable.

They just better not come up w/ another evil spawn like Divx though!

_Man_

 

[chris beck]

If you asked me a few years ago I wouldn't have cared if CC had gone out of business. Recently, though, I've seen a positive change in the attitudes of the salespeople at my local CC. Besides, I imagine CC is in better shape since they didn't sink $600 million into a black hole like BB did with Musicland.

 

[Scott Tucker]

Circuit is doing away with commisions for sales people. That is what the meeting was about. I heard this from a just fired today salesperson. They told him they could not pay him 60k a year as a hourly rate, so see ya! Why would a company that is sales driven basically cut their throats by letting go any body worth keeping? Yeah, you will save on labor, but say goodbye to profit margins and repeat business. Bummer for the good salespeople they did have, Who by the way, will now go work for competitors and sell against Circuit.

Scott

 

[TimTurtino]

Wella--

I can't speak for Scott's friend (and have no personal knowledge of him whatsoever). He was probably a great guy who was caught in a tough situation. (This is the only sincere and straightforward paragraph in this entire post.)

What I can say, theoretically, is that at some hypothetical stores, the people who may have been given severance packagess might possibly have been those that
A) sold a heck of a lot of stuff
B) promised customers things that couldn't possibly happen to enusre A)
C) had more returns than anyone else, while leaving many others to clean up their messes
D) insured that those customers never came back
E) all the while making life hellish for their coworkers, by stealing any customer close to buying
F) knew a great deal more about how to close a sale than about the merchandise

Some crazy folks might even believe that a person who doesn't have a vested interest in the customer buying the most expensive equipment as quickly as possible might improve repeat business substantially. Of course, those people would clearly be delusional, since they would clearly subscribe to the just-plain-silly notions that
A) Customers often figure out when they've been hoodwinked
B) Stores like Walmart, where the "sales force" is less well trained than Twinkies {tm}, do very well at repeat business and profit margins (well, total profits, anyway )
C) Some customers appreciate being given space when making a buying decision
D) Some customers would rather have unbiased advice from a cretin than listen to a shark tell them why they won't survive another minute without the latest in Bose goodness.
E) Repeat business is basically bunk anyway. 90% of consumers will switch stores in a heart beat if they think they'll get a better deal (yeah, I made that number up out of thin air). It's hard to blame those consumers, either-- given the treatment they consistently get from corporate America.

It's possible that some people (who would clearly be in need of immediate hospitalization) might feel that way, but YMMV,

Me
Disclaimer-- this late in the evening on this little sleep, I have no idea if I even speak for myself, let alone any other person, entity, or organization. If anything I say offends, please understand that it was meant as humor, even if I rarely actually manage to ascend to the point of inducing a feeble grin.

Disclaimer^2-- Folks, please don't assume you know my actual opinions from this piece of hyperbole. I'm not even sure what those are yet, other than that we live in a crazy world where people often do things that make it even crazier than it has to be.

 

[Marshall W. Carter]

I don't think the problem with Circuit City has been their salespeople, or even the promises they make. If a salesperson promises that there are any problems, that the warranty covers it and that Circuit City will make it right, and then upon having problems, they choose to more or less IGNORE their own warranty (and some of the circumstances I refer to include the extended service warranties that are pushed so hard), the bad is on CC.

I don't necessarily see this as a bad thing for CC, but it's not necessarily good either. Maybe they can spend some of the money they'll save on making sure the customers are satisfied and receive the service they deserve (and pay for). Of course, that's assuming they save a dime with Best Buy-like drones wandering aimlessly.

 

[Greg_Y]

Circuit City to Cut 2,000 Jobs, Eliminate Commissions

 

[TimTurtino]

Interesting article. Just in passing, it mentions that the 1800 sales counselor jobs eliminated is a net figure, after including new hires.

Actual number of layoffs is a wee bit higher...

Me

 

[Brian Ruth]

I actually had a fairly bad experience with Circuit City recently.

I wanted to get the Aaliyah CD/DVD a few weeks ago, when it was advertised for $11.99 in a Circuit City ad.

I went in to Circuit City to try and look for it, but it was sold out. I tried to ask a salesperson for a raincheck, but the associate told me they had no way of writing one.

I was a bit confused. I had worked at Best Buy for a while, and I had written literally hundreds of rainchecks for people. I didn't see the difficulty inherent in writing and keeping track of one.

I had a talk with a manager and a couple of associates up front, and they told me that there was no way for them to keep track of shipments they were getting and thus, no way to fill rainchecks. I found this interesting. As an employee for Best Buy, I got to muck around a lot in the inventory system. While BB's wasn't/isn't perfect (not real-time), it's a lot better than nothing.

I asked them for an ad and told them I intended to go to Best Buy, using the ad as a price-match, and told them they lost a sale.

I didn't think I was being partisan in that instance. When I go to a store with a certain product, I expect that product to be in stock. If it's not in stock, I expect an easy method of setting one aside as a raincheck.

My experience with Circuit City has driven me to the point where the only use I have for them is a price-match safety valve. I'm suprised they can stay open with the business practices they have -- poor selection, small stores, and an impotent sales force. If this is indicative of all stores, I think Circuit City will either be bankrupt or bought out within 4 or 5 years.

 

[David Williams]

My local Circuit City (Tulsa) is a joke as well. They must have the world's smallest DVD area. I only ventured into CC after Best Buy sold out of Chicago (I was going to price match the CC ad) and they didn't have As Time Goes By: Series 5. The salesman was totally clueless to release dates (to be fair, so are the drones at BB, but they have the magic computer). Not to mention the confusing checkout (no centralized area, little kiosks set up in different depts like Sears or Dillards). A sign saying 'Checkout' would help.

I only use CC for their ad. If they want to get serious about competing with Best Buy on DVDs they are gonna have to either expand their stores or deep six a portion of their other departments.

 

[TimTurtino]

So, you're saying that in order to keep y'all coming back into CC and making people spend fifteen minutes (cost: $2.00 even at BB wages) setting aside a DVD that CC never makes more than $1.00 on and are currently selling at $2.00 under cost, CC has to devote even more floor space to our lowest profit margin (and most often stolen) items and take it away from CC's highest profit margin (and pretty much unstealable items)?

And the fact that CC chooses not to do this is the reason it's going under in less than 5 years?

Personally, I don't see it.

Me


Disclaimer: Anything I said, writ, or thought in my life should not necessarily be held or thought to imply any view, opinion, or idea of mine, any organization I have chosen to associate with, or those people who choose to associate with me.

 

[Keith I]

This is the most recent thread with an appropriate title and my post is somewhat related to the discussion.

Whenever there is a "big-ticket" DVD for sale (like today's The Incredibles for only $14.99), my local Circuit City is crazy. Actually, Sundays are crazier in terms of volume of people. For sales like TI DVD, the lines are crazy.

I always dread going because of the lack of parking (I always end up parking far and walking - good exercise for "Couch Opihi: People stuck to da couch") and the lack of registers. Today was no exception. I entered about 30 minutes after opening and I haven't seen lines like this before! I'm usually at work so in the past, a friend who started work later would go and he said it was crazy for stuff like Lord of the Rings and Gladiator. I forget what it was for a few months ago, but they had people camped out and the line reached the end of the parking lot and down the road! (Was it Star Wars? The lines even made the news.)

They only have four main registers: two downstairs and two upstairs. Most times, they don't open the smaller registers hidden within the aisles. A few times my friend asked if he could purchase at them and was told no so he would "exclaim" "Then why have these here then?!" (to put it nicely). The lines today were so long they almost reached the other end of the store! The wait wasn't that bad (20 minutes) and as I got closer to the register, only then did I notice that one of those smaller registers opened without letting the people toward the front/middle of the line who were waiting the longest know that they were open. They were just taking people who just arrived in line.

The free kid-sized basketball was an extra bonus. They started just giving them deflated after trying to give inflated ones at the start of business, I overheard someone say. Maybe the little kids bouncing them around high-priced electronics was the reason.

If the low price was intended to get people in the store, it succeeded. If it was also to get people to buy other items, it did not because most of the people in line only had the TI DVD. A few had some other small items.

Best Buy is scheduled to open up almost a mile away and will give CC serious competition. I've read comments about both retailers and since BB is closer to where I live, if the price of DVDs are cheaper, it's there I go. However, I've read horror stories about returns at BB but that's for another thread.
-

 

[David Williams]

It's been 2 years since I wrote my first post in this thread and I realized in re-reading it that very little has changed. The DVD section is now bigger and the staff a little smarter, but when it comes to being ready for Tuesday mornings this place is a joke compared to Best Buy. This past Tuesday morning, CC had a good price on The Incredibles (although not as great as Ultimate Electronics) with the free basketball and the lowest advertised price on Star Trek: First Contact. They were ready for The Incredibles, but I arrived at the store eight minutes after they opened and they had already sold out of Star Trek: First Contact. None of the week's DVDs had been placed on shelves yet, except for about 30 copies of The Incredibles in a standee at the front of the store. All of the other DVDs were still in boxes located on a cart in the DVD dept with an employee doling out whatever someone asked for while trying to put them away.

And CC wonders why they can't show a profit? If CC ever decided to step up to the plate they could give BB a run for its money. I hope they wise up before it's too late.

 

[RickER]

Hey David, Tulsa here too. I took that CC ad with me into BB and had them price match all those new releases ( Star Trek, The Incredibles, and Hogans Heros) that CC had the best price on. I am a loyal BB customer cause they always have PLENTY of the big new releases. I am sure CC was going lower to get us in the store, but i didn't bite. Also on a side note a friend of mine said he heard Ultimate Electronics is about to file bankruptcy. When i go in that store all i see are foolscreen DVDs. And that from a store that wants to sell as many widescreen TVs as they can.

 

[David Williams]

I'm not a fan of the local Best Buy because they are such hardasses when it comes to pricematching. Whenever they offer a free item that's not physically attached to the item if you pricematch they take it away. Now they keep the ad when you pricematch.

I did the PM thing with Star Trek: First Contact but I hated having to go two places. CC needs to get their game together if they hope to survive.

 

[Billy Fogerty]

I personally hope the big meeting is to close Circuit Shitty.
The two stores near me seem to only hire morons,and the dvd selection is awful. For dvd I like BB,but have found FYE to match BB prices.
I have picked up many a dvd at FYE if BB was sold out.
Never again will I go into a Circuit Shitty. I wouldn't give them a dime.

 

[Cees Alons]

Billy,

That meeting was held more than two years ago.


Cees