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Circuit City closing all stores -- watch for bargains coming soon (1 Viewer)

Brian^K

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However, if all the retailers are doing it, then there is no advantage to them in doing so, and instead it just constitutes a reduction in flexibility. It is a defense against losing business to other retailers; it won't actually increase profits, but rather only guard against decreasing the number of sales.
 

Aaron Silverman

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I still don't understand what David's suggestion has to do with the realities of the marketplace. It was just a suggestion.

Why do you think a defense against losing business isn't a good thing?
 

Brian^K

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I didn't say anything about "good thing" or "bad thing". I said it doesn't represent a long-term competitive advantage.
 

cajunhillbilly

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WRONG!!! Your warranty is still good. I work for the warranty company that supports Circuit City contract. WE ARE NOT GOING OUT OF BUSINESS!!! In fact, we are doing great financially. YOUR WARRANTY WILL BE HONORED.
 

SeanC

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My local Best Buy is about 12 minutes from my house, and I can take the backroads. There was a Circuit City less than a minute from the Best Buy up until about 2 or 3 years ago, when they closed the location and opened another one in the next town, about 30 minutes away, and on a very traffic-heavy street. When Circuit City was close by, I always would go there if they had the lower price. But it just isn't as easy for me to go to the new location, its much more convienent to go to Best Buy and price match.
 

Carlo_M

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Went to the Santa Monica CC for the first time since the announcement, and was surprised to find a line outside, the door mostly closed, and an employee letting only a trickle of people into the store. It would have been appropriate if there was a ton of people but it looked like there were very few people in the store! (you could see most of the first floor showroom from the window)

I walked away, along with the half-dozen or so people who were being told to wait in line, muttering "the deals aren't that good" (the flyers only said 10-30% off)

Man, they can't even go out of business well! No wonder they're shuttering their doors...:angry:
 

Norm

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There are no deals as far as i can see. Yet theres a bunch of people fingering through the blu-rays at a measly 10% off the full mark up price.
 

NeilO

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Last night I saw a TV advertisement for the liquidation sale with They were touting getting HDTVs at such a great deal
 

Hogie

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I was in CC the other night and saw the TV I bought, marked down, open box, was still about $250 more than I paid at amazon, new and sealed. (Samsung 67A750) There were NO blu ray players or PS3s left.
A lot of the smaller specialty stores have as good or better prices than CC or BB, and far superior knowledge and customer service.
The last time you were at BB looking for help, how long were you standing around waiting to be acknowledged?
 

Joe S.

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Best Buy won't possibly fold until this time next year, and that is doubtful. Xmas is everything to retailers, that's why so many go bankrupt or have cuts right after Xmas. BB will definitely make it to next Xmas, after that who knows? I think they will do some trimming of headcount, close a couple stores, and be OK. Circuit City being gone is nothing but good for BB in the long run, people still gotta buy DVDs and HDTVs somewhere.
 

Jerome Grate

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Some here at work had indicated that years ago before they fired the quality salesman for cheaper salaried salesman, they were pretty knowledgeable. Is that true if you know?
 

Brian^K

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Keep in mind that Circuit City's demise actually increases the chances that Best Buy will survive as a b&m concern.
 

David Deeb

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Agreed. We have an excellent home theater store in my town with a single location. They have much better quality products & prices are very competitive. Customer service & knowledge run rings around the big box stores.

I'm wondering if the whole concept of "big box" isn't just becoming worn out. Are Americans going to grow tired of this in this new economy and shop smaller?

Perhaps these places fail because they try to be so big, and stock everything and have tons of people and square footage.

Sometimes when you don't have as much, when you knock the glass over, its a lot easier to clean up. Compared to the big box guys who spill stuff everywhere.
 

Brian^K

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There is nothing inherent in "big box" marketing that consumers would "become worn out" about, except for things that would result in higher price (i.e., more personal, knowledgeable service), which consumers already "became worn out" about.
 

Aaron Silverman

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Fine, you wrote "the only way it makes sense for business." That's still different from "long-term competitive advantage." Of course, I'm still waiting for any evidence that either statement is true.

Actually, I notice that you misquoted yourself. You wrote "there is no advantage to them in doing so" and later qualified that as "no long-term competitive advantage."
 

TravisR

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Nope. Maybe the more informed consumer will go to a specialty store where most or all of the people working there have a real knowledge of their products but Wal Mart, Target and Best Buy will still have people who just go in and buy what they see and believe everything that the salesman tells them.
 

Brian^K

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Holy cow, that's arrogant. How's about this: You get to determine what you say, and I get to determine what I say. If I need help saying what I want to say, I'll ask you. Thanks. :emoji_thumbsup:
 

Aaron Silverman

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OK, let's forget the semantics and back up a bit. Tell me why you think the following is not a reasonable business strategy:

Price-matching is a way for a store to sell an item at more than one price. Selling something for $20 and matching a competitor's $15 price for some customers is not the same thing as selling it to everyone for $15. The advantage is the ability to charge $20 to customers who don't ask for the price match -- it's competing on price for the customers who care about price and competing in other ways for the others.
 

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