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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