Circuit City to shut down

Best Buy's not in any better shape. They're losing market share by the second to Target, Walmart, and other more "discount" places. They've changed their entire business model a few times in the past year because they can't find anything that works. Around the holidays they decided to imitate Walmart as best they could and didn't hire in seasonal workers, and just went for low margin high volume.



Lately they've been quietly switching from a small number of large stores into a larger number of smaller stores. Less product on the shelves and such, but the idea is the store is more "cozy" and "personal" and customers can get "more attention".



Many markets have been losing their more experienced people (in positions you wouldn't want someone with no experience working in, like installers) and replacing them with rookies that will take far less pay. Think about that next you want them to mount your flatscreen or install something in your car.



How do i know this all? Well i worked there. I was one of those "more experienced" people. When I moved, the store here told me that they don't pay car audio installers more than $9 an hour, but since I had been with the company so long they could give me 10.50 and very few hours. I had been making $15 an hour, so I passed. Then they screwed me out of tuition reimbursement they owed me (bastards!), and their stocks have been plummeting.



Best Buy is not that far out from the edge either, they just don't want to talk about it.
 
I loved our local circuit city's tremendous sales before it closed. They marked it up to the MSRP and then discounted it 30%, which means they were selling it at a higher price then the regular price before they had to liquidate.
 
I read one article that said they have a good internet sales business so someone may show up to buy part of the business and get rid of the stores.



It should help Best Buy at least in the long term but if Circuit City does liquidate there is a lot of lower priced stuff going into the market. But even, when many places closed down the prices never seem to be that good except at the very end and that is the junk.
 
I too have extended warranties w/ them, I found this:



"The company's warranty program is run by a third-party guarantor that isn't part of the bankruptcy filing. In this case, the program is run by Circuit City Advantage Protection Plan. It's a separate entity."



As mentioned by smoknfastlegend don't expect any great shakes on prices during their liquidations sales, if they're anything at all like the ones held on the previous store closings (markup then discount.)
 
I don't know about the rest of the country but the CC's in our area where complete junk. The salesmen never knew what they where doing and that was if you could get any help. The stores where always dirty feeling and cluttered. I always preferred BB over CC.
 
Danase said:
The salesmen never knew what they where doing and that was if you could get any help.
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Unfortunately this is part of the Walmart Mentality. People want goods at the cheapest price possible, which leaves retailers being unable to pay for competent floor staff. This is reflected by XRL's posting as well.
 
citizen arcane said:
I too have extended warranties w/ them, I found this:



"The company's warranty program is run by a third-party guarantor that isn't part of the bankruptcy filing. In this case, the program is run by Circuit City Advantage Protection Plan. It's a separate entity."



As mentioned by smoknfastlegend don't expect any great shakes on prices during their liquidations sales, if they're anything at all like the ones held on the previous store closings (markup then discount.)
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I have extended warranties through tweeter. After they went under, the third party warranty company, said they would still honor the warranties. Hopefully CC's warranty company will do the same.
 
citizen arcane said:
Unfortunately this is part of the Walmart Mentality. People want goods at the cheapest price possible, which leaves retailers being unable to pay for competent floor staff. This is reflected by XRL's posting as well.
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i can tell you after 20 plus years in retail the "art" of sales is almost lost. it used to be people paid the extra dollar for the service that accompanied. i remember the days that every company wanted to be like nordstrom, now every company wants to be like walmart.



and to an extent there is a shortage of qualified people to fill positions that involve interaction on a personal level. in my last position, part of my job was to set and work "job fairs". let me tell you, some of the people were down right horrible. last one i did maybe 5 out of 200 were to the standards i was used to. but we hired many more because we needed people. in my opinion we did more harm than good by hiring non qualified people. turn over was high, so that cost the company money. money spent on training, getting uniforms, badges. and more than that the customers suffered because of the experience they had in the store. that is one of the many factores that led to me resigning.
 
I won't be expecting too many good deals. I went to their Black Friday sales event... HORRIBLE! The prices were ridiculously high, higher than most stores' everyday prices. Pretty sad for a company that is going out of business. I may stop in to see if I can find that one good deal though, can't hurt to look... or can it? :lol
 
REVNU said:
I won't be expecting too many good deals. I went to their Black Friday sales event... HORRIBLE! The prices were ridiculously high, higher than most stores' everyday prices. Pretty sad for a company that is going out of business. I may stop in to see if I can find that one good deal though, can't hurt to look... or can it? :lol
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I thought their prices were reasonable. They had some good deals but if you want to stay in business you cannot sell everything at a loss.
 
zoomzoom mazda5 said:
Looks like more folks losing their jobs.....
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it's becoming far too common (i'm sure the un-employment rate is at it's all time if not highest). i ran into a gentlemen (60's) and we talked about the economy as he just lost his job working for a railroad/tie company that he has been with for the last 30 years. he mentioned that he is going to start collecting social security now, and that his wife just retired last year. he comes to work one day and it's shut down. so sad and scary, things are just un-believable these days...
 
That is sad to hear about that older guy, unemployment rate here is running about 7.8-8.1 now. I think it's over 10.0, Janurday is a slow month for me at work, I keep checking the total sales at the end of each day and don't like the numbers at all. Even my detailing is down too...................
 
zoomzoom mazda5 said:
That is sad to hear about that older guy, unemployment rate here is running about 7.8-8.1 now. I think it's over 10.0, Janurday is a slow month for me at work, I keep checking the total sales at the end of each day and don't like the numbers at all. Even my detailing is down too...................
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they say things will get worse before they get better and i hope that's not true, hopefully we can turn things around in 2009. hope and wish you all the best... :)
 
This is a broad indicator of more major retailers to announce insolvency as the year goes on. Xmas sales were dismal - - the retailers have placed too much reliance on the last 6 - 8 around Xmas and New Years.



The shuttering of stores will offer Best Buy an easy way to establish a foothold in new markets without having to commit to a full build out. They can basically move in and set up shop in areas where they currently have no presence. Probably get a good deal on the lease, too ;)
 
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