Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Circuit City Seeks Approval To Liquidate U.S. Business
- Thread starter rdowns
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Exactly, people get all excited, "giddy", for "deals" that are usually not that great or even that good. I worked at a retailer that went under and the day before the liquidation started there were way better deals, but people were buying like mad under the illusion that they were getting a great deal.
Also, why are there so many positive votes? 34k people losing their jobs doesn't sound like a good deal to save you $5 on an iPod. Also, I am a firm believer in competition and having the number two retailer collapse is terrible news.
Yeah, especially for electronics. If there were 40-50% discounts, I would be one of the first ones in the store. (Even though I live no where near one that is still open) We will probably see about 5-20% off everything the first day and then, whatever does not sell after a few days, will be 40% off.
I agree and this is a very sad thing. These are peoples lives that are being affected here and people are happy just because they save a few bucks on something?
The good thing is CC is open in Canada, so maybe in a few years they will come back.
I have to respectfully disagree with you. SOME protection plans are even MORE than worth the money. I happen to work at a Ritz Camera and I sell boatloads of expanded protection policies and have never felt bad about selling a single one. It's not some sort of fine print scam like a lot of others are. You can drop your camera, run over it with a car, drop it in your toilet, break it with a hammer, throw it against a wall, (or just have the damn thing plain ol' break) and it will be either repaired or replaced. (BTW: Those are all real examples that have been covered.) And with most electronics repairs starting at over $100, I challenge you to tell me how it's a scam!
Most plans do suck, but instead of saying "no" without thinking about the plan, find out what is actually covered.
When I go in to Circuit City, I feel like I stepped back in to the 70's. I keep waiting for Red Forman to come out and sell me an 8-track tape player.
Good riddance!
Good riddance!
The Canadian stores are rebranded RadioShacks that our company bought a few years back, when RadioShack sold off all its international presence to focus on its US operations.
Or so I was told by my training at both RS and CC.
I'm gonna miss Circuit City.
I felt that our store was probably the most knowledgeable in our district, all of our customers loved us, we were always willing to go above and beyond. I remember back when we first filed for bankruptcy the customers I had were hoping that we didn't go anywhere, as half of our customers couldn't stand Best Buy, and did all of their electronics shopping through us.
I'm not looking foward to the end, much less the struggle it will be to find a new job.
If I were all of you, I wouldnt get your hopes up of getting these great discounts. These liquidators are going to raise all the prices by 50-60% or back to their MSRP from so long ago, then start to slowly discount things.
I also worked for Circuit City before their close. I'd like to share the fact that, at least at my location, nobody in what we called 'CFA 2' (which dealt with everything in the store except for TVs and Home Audio) earned commission for their sales, regardless of warranty or installation money added to the purchases. As far as I could tell, everybody in that part of the store was paid a flat hourly rate. While performance was rated based on gross margin, warranties, and installation, the store only made these ratings as a means to put pressure on those who did not perform up to the level of their coworkers. That was really the only drive we had as workers to push those services.
I would also like to vouch for my 'technical ability'. While I realize that it's inevitable that people are hired who have little direct experience with the hardware and software they were supposed to sell, there /were/ some of us who were quick enough on their feet to be able to explain things well enough that their customers felt more comfortable with their purchase than going into it blindly. Knowing how all of the peripherals in their customers' purchases worked together /and/ what these peripherals offered for them allowed us 'good' workers to, at the very least, get our customers excited to get everything up and running. Personally, I do not feel guilty for the service that I offered, but I know that others have had really bad experiences with the stores. I think it's inevitable for the retail world to be like the horrors others have mentioned, seeing how the only goal seems to be selling as much as possible, as quickly as possible. I hope, though, that the future will bring us better brick and mortar experiences.
I guess it's the end for those of us who stuck it out and waited for this to be the final play for CCity, but I certainly hope that it'll prove as an example of how not to go about things for other companies.
Just my two cents
(P.S. I wrote this while being /very/ over tired. Sorry if it's confusing)
I would also like to vouch for my 'technical ability'. While I realize that it's inevitable that people are hired who have little direct experience with the hardware and software they were supposed to sell, there /were/ some of us who were quick enough on their feet to be able to explain things well enough that their customers felt more comfortable with their purchase than going into it blindly. Knowing how all of the peripherals in their customers' purchases worked together /and/ what these peripherals offered for them allowed us 'good' workers to, at the very least, get our customers excited to get everything up and running. Personally, I do not feel guilty for the service that I offered, but I know that others have had really bad experiences with the stores. I think it's inevitable for the retail world to be like the horrors others have mentioned, seeing how the only goal seems to be selling as much as possible, as quickly as possible. I hope, though, that the future will bring us better brick and mortar experiences.
I guess it's the end for those of us who stuck it out and waited for this to be the final play for CCity, but I certainly hope that it'll prove as an example of how not to go about things for other companies.
Just my two cents
(P.S. I wrote this while being /very/ over tired. Sorry if it's confusing
)I worked in a Circuit City that liquidated this past December, to be honest I'm not surprised they whole company is going under.
As far as commission not a single person received anything since I've was hired in August. I believe a few years ago they did have commission-based employees. We were all with the exception of one salesperson and management part-timers in college. While most of us really tried to help the customer and where overall very knowledgeable if you go to the local competition on large items(TVs) you get so much more professionalism and price-haggling because these are full-timers who thanks to commission make six figure salaries.
As far as regular merchandise Best Buy beat us with having nicer, newer, cleaner stores in better locations. Honestly my store was in the same shopping center as Costco and couldn't be seen from the two major roads it was on. So we only got people looking for us or Costco shoppers(who tended to be very stingy).
And in comparison to general retail I just don't think management was on top of things. We never had visits from the DM like other retail places have. There was never an incentive to meet our sales goals. My job now if we didn't reach last weeks goals we need to cut hours, back at Circuit City I got whatever amount of hours I asked for.
I think the lack of professionalism is something that was in the company from the top-down. But at the same time at least my store wasn't that stupid/offensive. I wrote down that I spoke Spanish in my application so when I was hired I was expected to sell products in Spanish if I realized the customer was having difficulty understanding me. I was even called over to TVs and car installation a few times to translate. My manager had a philosophy, "take their money", and in order to do so you need to give every customer respect regardless of the language they speak.
And lastly as far as discounts go this is how it went for us. First week is like 5-10%, iPods go fast. After a few weeks camera's should go to 10-15% and they went around that pricepoint. Computers took longer amount of time but they went around 10-15% off. You might do well with purchasing floor models though, I got a Sony HDCX7 for $350. And the real sales come on the last day, we had someone come in around 7pm and bought everything that was left for anything between $.25 and $1. Something like those normally overpriced Belkin Firewire cables, printer ink, etc can easily be resold for more.
As far as commission not a single person received anything since I've was hired in August. I believe a few years ago they did have commission-based employees. We were all with the exception of one salesperson and management part-timers in college. While most of us really tried to help the customer and where overall very knowledgeable if you go to the local competition on large items(TVs) you get so much more professionalism and price-haggling because these are full-timers who thanks to commission make six figure salaries.
As far as regular merchandise Best Buy beat us with having nicer, newer, cleaner stores in better locations. Honestly my store was in the same shopping center as Costco and couldn't be seen from the two major roads it was on. So we only got people looking for us or Costco shoppers(who tended to be very stingy).
And in comparison to general retail I just don't think management was on top of things. We never had visits from the DM like other retail places have. There was never an incentive to meet our sales goals. My job now if we didn't reach last weeks goals we need to cut hours, back at Circuit City I got whatever amount of hours I asked for.
I think the lack of professionalism is something that was in the company from the top-down. But at the same time at least my store wasn't that stupid/offensive. I wrote down that I spoke Spanish in my application so when I was hired I was expected to sell products in Spanish if I realized the customer was having difficulty understanding me. I was even called over to TVs and car installation a few times to translate. My manager had a philosophy, "take their money", and in order to do so you need to give every customer respect regardless of the language they speak.
And lastly as far as discounts go this is how it went for us. First week is like 5-10%, iPods go fast. After a few weeks camera's should go to 10-15% and they went around that pricepoint. Computers took longer amount of time but they went around 10-15% off. You might do well with purchasing floor models though, I got a Sony HDCX7 for $350. And the real sales come on the last day, we had someone come in around 7pm and bought everything that was left for anything between $.25 and $1. Something like those normally overpriced Belkin Firewire cables, printer ink, etc can easily be resold for more.
These liquidation sales are rarely good deals. I went in to the CompUSA that was closing near my school a while back and tried to purchase a macbook pro that was open box, returned, and had a scratch on the lid. It was $100 OVER MSRP and had no build to order options. I tried to bargain with the guy who was there but he kept insisting it was a $3,000 computer.
Retail chains are getting to big, a better option imho is a big wholesale distributor with more independent stores. Less management overhead and spread the risk on bankruptcy, bigger isn't always better.
What makes Best Buy so much better than Circuit City that one can survive and the other can barely make it even in a healthy economy? I just don't see a big difference. They're both big, they both sell a lot of electronics, and neither of them employ knowledgeable, helpful employees.
Circuit City's employees were on commission and therfore ANNOYING and PUSHY, and they bought bulk electronics on loan from manufacturers then counting on them all being sold to be able to pay off the debt.
Best Buy also established a reputation of being cheap because of their online roots that I think helped public perception of their stores.
My cousin worked there and was very knowedgable. One of my friends is a manager and also smart with the products. I'm pissed because there goes my electronics hook-up. Just when I need a new LCD and surround system.
Ya I had a MAJOR hook up on ALL Sony products (60% off), not anymore
Seriously!!! I went into CompUSA just a couple weeks before their final closing and most the things were still MORE EXPENSIVE on liquidation than normal price at other stores lol!
CC seemed to not be near as extensive as BB ever was or is. When they had similar items, they were also pricier. Since CC is literally right by BB where I live, Id always check the 2 before buying a product and BB usually always won my wallet
Not to mention the atmosphere at BB was miles ahead of that in CC imo
Not to mention the atmosphere at BB was miles ahead of that in CC imo
Not necessarily, I am sure the 18 year old stoners that made $8.50/hr there can find another job.
I pay 10/hr to mow my lawn or shovel snow.
Circuit City operates in Canada under the name The Source, which was originally Radio Shack. These stores are usually only the size of a small clothing department store in a mall, and have 2-3 employees at a time.
my article to a local newspaper 3 months ago
Gregory
I wanted you to know the article you wrote was very well written. It
shows how one company didn't have the vision to look at its customers
and make long term decisions. In June of 2002, I began my career at
Circuit City while still in school. IMy first two months I worked in
customer service but I had something to prove. I asked to be put on
the commission floor. If you don't sell you don't get paid a dime.
Over the next 5 months, I was the highest performing salesman in the
Tri-state area. No sales experience but was able to adapt to the task
at hand. They got rid of commission but luckily they kept me as I was
in-line to be a manager. Over the next 2 years, I was the supervisor
will no incentive but to get promoted for the number one technology
department in the country. I traveled between stores to add my
experiences and foster some of the same values my team uses everyday.
The propblem is most were college kids who could care less. The
company wasn't doing enough to encourage results. I then became a
manager with no prior retail experience for Circuit City and actually
had the top performing technology department in the chain for 2 years
with little or no recognition. I was flown one time to Richmond to
help coordinate the 2006 digital imaging campaign where I joined a
corporate team. They took my ideas and we had the most successful year
as the company did 198% profit in imaging(cameras, camcorders). In
return I got a thank you and was moved to an underperforming store
late 2006. I should have known instead to have being pushed further
away from my home and work for a location that the public considered a
bad apple. So not only is it going to cost me more to drive there but
also very difficult to earn a monthly incentive bonus. I fixed the
department by retraining but they expected a fix within 3 months.
Where is my incentive for leaving a monthly bonus and getting no
salary increase? The conclusion is I was let go with 800 managers in
the country not based on performance but I lost my passion working for
a company whose management didn't understand proper business ethics.
Now I work in banking for the number one bank in the world and after a
slow start at the end of 2007,I am currently #5 out of 9000 plus
bankers in this country. This performance is with someone who had no
background in finances and didn't even know what a certificate of
deposit was last year. My salary has now tripled and I work 25 hours
less a week and no weekends. I am very fortunate to have been let go
as I never want to fail but Circuit City didn't give me the tools to
succeed.
My conclusion Gregory is that no matter how much talent you have
working for a poorly managed company such as a Circuit City, you
cannot succeed alone. There was no focus from corporate and they let
the whole chain and employees down!
Footnote
You should add the fact that the #2 chain of electronic retailers had
the most outdated POS system out there. Slows sales by a considerable
amount and makes customers wait longer causing major long term growth
problems. They let IBM walk all over this company for the last 5
years!!!
Thanks,
Gregory
I wanted you to know the article you wrote was very well written. It
shows how one company didn't have the vision to look at its customers
and make long term decisions. In June of 2002, I began my career at
Circuit City while still in school. IMy first two months I worked in
customer service but I had something to prove. I asked to be put on
the commission floor. If you don't sell you don't get paid a dime.
Over the next 5 months, I was the highest performing salesman in the
Tri-state area. No sales experience but was able to adapt to the task
at hand. They got rid of commission but luckily they kept me as I was
in-line to be a manager. Over the next 2 years, I was the supervisor
will no incentive but to get promoted for the number one technology
department in the country. I traveled between stores to add my
experiences and foster some of the same values my team uses everyday.
The propblem is most were college kids who could care less. The
company wasn't doing enough to encourage results. I then became a
manager with no prior retail experience for Circuit City and actually
had the top performing technology department in the chain for 2 years
with little or no recognition. I was flown one time to Richmond to
help coordinate the 2006 digital imaging campaign where I joined a
corporate team. They took my ideas and we had the most successful year
as the company did 198% profit in imaging(cameras, camcorders). In
return I got a thank you and was moved to an underperforming store
late 2006. I should have known instead to have being pushed further
away from my home and work for a location that the public considered a
bad apple. So not only is it going to cost me more to drive there but
also very difficult to earn a monthly incentive bonus. I fixed the
department by retraining but they expected a fix within 3 months.
Where is my incentive for leaving a monthly bonus and getting no
salary increase? The conclusion is I was let go with 800 managers in
the country not based on performance but I lost my passion working for
a company whose management didn't understand proper business ethics.
Now I work in banking for the number one bank in the world and after a
slow start at the end of 2007,I am currently #5 out of 9000 plus
bankers in this country. This performance is with someone who had no
background in finances and didn't even know what a certificate of
deposit was last year. My salary has now tripled and I work 25 hours
less a week and no weekends. I am very fortunate to have been let go
as I never want to fail but Circuit City didn't give me the tools to
succeed.
My conclusion Gregory is that no matter how much talent you have
working for a poorly managed company such as a Circuit City, you
cannot succeed alone. There was no focus from corporate and they let
the whole chain and employees down!
Footnote
You should add the fact that the #2 chain of electronic retailers had
the most outdated POS system out there. Slows sales by a considerable
amount and makes customers wait longer causing major long term growth
problems. They let IBM walk all over this company for the last 5
years!!!
Thanks,
CC employees haven't been on commission since 2003.
Online roots? Best Buy were always a brick and mortar store, their website came much later. Best Buy have been knocking around under that name since the early 80s.
I cant say I'm going to miss Circuit ****** (name my friend came up with while working there). Everyone really seemed like just another teenager working there that really didn't know anything, texting on his phone etc. While I feel sorry for the workers I don't for the executives and investors. In my mind Circuit City is the "other" electronics store meaning I went to Bestbuy/CompUSA first before ever considering Circuit City.
I miss CompUSA that store had a lil Mac section, tons of electronics, motherboard/cpu's & cases etc.
I miss CompUSA that store had a lil Mac section, tons of electronics, motherboard/cpu's & cases etc.
To be perfectly honest I despise people like you. And you would be one of the first to cry out if you lost your job, that is if you even have one.
34,000 people losing their job is nothing to sniff or gloat at.