RSS Feeds: Goodbye, Circuit City, and Good Riddance
You can have the best products in the world, but if you have the worst customer service and sales staff in the world, you're going to fail. Circuit City, a computer and electronics store in the US, has failed. They're still in business, but barely. They probably don't have the worst customer service and sales staff, but they certainly don't have the best products.
Circuit City Store Closures
According to news sources, 155 stores out of 700 will close by the end of the year. Obviously, the majority of the employees of those stores will be laid off.
"The weakened environment has resulted in a slowdown of consumer spending, further impacting our business as well as the business of our vendors. The combination of these trends has strained severely our working capital and liquidity, and so we are making a number of difficult, but necessary, decisions to address the company's financial situation as quickly as possible," said James A. Marcum, vice chairman and acting president and CEO.
That's the excuse of the year: Blame the economy when poor management is the real culprit.
Corporate Layoffs
According to other news sources, upwards toward 800 corporate employees will be laid off by today (in the US, a day behind my time). No one can tell me that the corporate-level employees didn't see it coming — it's a natural consequence that managers without "managees" will get the ax.
No Sympathy for Circuit City
Judging by the thousands of comments I've waded through in the last 24 hours, the only ones that will really miss the Circuit City stores are the employees themselves.
I no longer live in the US, but I can say that even if I did, I wouldn't miss their departure. A few years ago, my older son worked at a nearby store in Phoenix and told me about the quality of the employees, including the management. Needless to say, he left after a few short months to seek employment elsewhere.
The Underlying Problem
The underlying problem beneath Circuit City's failures is the same problem that plagues places like "Best Buy" and other computer and electronic retail stores like them. It's the attitude of the managers and other employees.
From my own observations of several retail chains, I can tell you the attitude problems stem from the "working for a paycheck" mentality. They work in order to get paid and nothing else. They don't take pride in their work and they don't appear to make any conscious effort to improve.
I would love to be a store manager for Circuit City, even for a short time. I know that I could excel because the competition from other managers and employees just isn't there. Before you comment on that, I'll warn you that I've spent more time managing people than most retail managers at the corporate level.
I probably should say that I feel for the employees that are losing their jobs, but I don't. They'll find better work elsewhere — almost anywhere.
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I am going to miss circuit city. It wasn't that bad of a store come to think of it.
I say good riddance! Just goes to show that customer service is on top of any successful business.
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Have you ever been to Home Depot?
They beat Circuit City for poor customer service etc hands-down!
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I remember when i have affiliate program with circuit city, not bad but now i prefer to promote best buy products :) … i hope they improve customer service
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I have heard about the bad customer service of circuit city before as well.But here i find so many people actually saying it themselves, so i am feeling safe that i didn't get any chance to shop anything from there.
I always thought Circuit city was overpriced and as you mention also poor customer service, so this bankruptcy is no surprise. I have always experienced good customer service in BestBuy, but perhaps I haven't shopped there often enough, since everybody else seems to think they are in line with CC with regards to customer service.
Best Buy is another store that have too many aggressive sales people & a so so attitude. Before going to the store, I already look up & search the product that I am planning to buy. The salesman who helped me was too pushy & aggressive, he insisted I buy the extra warranty service …he just go on & on while I keep saying NO,I dont need it. ……..so I walked away from him, look for another salesman that seems less aggressive & much friendlier looking.
I told him the other guy annoyed me so much, I dont want him giving me the same sales pitch……So he did not. If he did, I will just walk away & go to another store that carries the same product.
Also Best Buy is very strict, when you return the merchandise specially electronics, they charge you restocking fee or they give you hard time in returning it or exchanging it.
In Circuit City if you return the product & you tell them what is wrong with it, they always take it back for refund or exchange without anymore questions asked. They are much lenient than Best Buy.
The Circuit City in my area have friendly sales people……I shop there all the time & I never have problem with them.
I also heard bestbuy may be filling for Chapter 11. What is this economy coming too and where will I get my DVDs?
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I've never been a fan of circuit city. Thank you for letting us know about the circuit city failure.
My son and I went into one and it was depressing to say the least…and the sales weren't even that great.
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