Circuit City Unplugged...

[AnalogDigit]

Well, if all you vintage addicts would have gone out and bought your audio gear from CC instead of "recycling" all that "old junk", maybe they'd still be in business. Ya gotta buy the new production to keep the old consumerism-oriented economy rolling strong!

We did not kill Circuit City, competition from the Internet, Wal Mart and there own management killed it. Plus, no one wants to buy any big ticket items when people cannot afford their mortgage and are worried about losing their jobs.

 

[70salesguy]

Requiem for CC

The place I worked when I was 70salesguy eventually became Circuit City, so of course I feel a great deal of sadness to see this come to pass.

I told the wife that they would be gone shortly after Christmas, it was all just too obvious.

I feel bad for the large number of employees that will be out of work soon. Interestingly enough, I lost MY job there back in the 70s when they made the transition from GEX Audio to a Circuit City! They closed the GEX store, laid me off and a few months later when they opened in a different location as Circuit City, they offered me a position as a stock clerk! That was because as a full time student, I was classifed as a part time employee even though I worked 35 hours a week and outsold a full time salesman! Their policy was to have only full time salespeople. I was only a few months from graduation and declined the offer. :thumbsdn:

I went into the local CC shortly before Christmas. My wife wanted to go into a nearby store and I decided to take a look in CC knowing it might be the last time I ever went in there.

I found it to be very sad, indeed. Other than perhaps a LCD or Plasma TV, there was literally nothing in the store that I would have been interested in purchasing.

As a final act, I had a look at the CD selection. There was not a single CD available by my favorite artist, Sarah Brightman! I realize that she is not Pop-centric, but even WalMart carries her CDs!

One final thought if you will indulge me here. Over the last few years, my wife and I have wondered where all the business was going to come from to support all the new stores we see open in new shopping centers! I do live in an area that has enjoyed a reasonably healthy economy, but it seemed to us that retail was overbuilt.

The free-spending party is over. The cows have come home. Only the strong will survive. Those retailers that provide the goods and services that consumers are willing to support will make it, the others will go away. Perhaps good customer service can make the difference for some.

An earlier poster mentioned that a "liquidator" will most probably handle the sell-off. I believe his cautionary posting contains good advice.

RIP Circuit City, aka GEX Audio, aka Dixie Hi-Fi, aka Custom Audio, aka Wards Company. :sigh:

 

[mjquinn]

Most knowledgeable folks in the metro NYC area find their way to to either J&R Music World or to B&H Electronics........in addition to the few actual high end stores that are left.

CC and BB both are/were plagued by staff who did not have a clue....a shame the 'mom & pop' concept stores are fast becoming extinct.:tears:

 

[DENNYDOG]

Sad news to hear. I wish good things for all those losing their jobs.

 

[usedto]

An earlier poster mentioned that a "liquidator" will most probably handle the sell-off. I believe his cautionary posting contains good advice.

There's a CC about 7 miles from here, so I just took a drive over there. My daughter will graduate from high school this spring, so we'll need to get her a laptop for college.

They have most of the already overpriced inventory marked down 10% while they get the "other" merchandise trucked in if my assumptions are correct. DVDs and a few select items were 20% off.

No deals today.

 

[Chuck M]

Why do you think it would take until the end of March to empty a store?

They will be moving inventory from the Distribution Centers to the stores. After the Christmas season we are at about 50% capacity = about 40-50 million dollars. That won't make it to the stores overnight.
Also through the WARN Act they have to pay 60 pay and benefits. I suspect you were correct in your earlier post that the liquidators will move in their own "garbage" to unload.
Our company Associate Fourms are posting about the people coming in buying flat screens @ 10% off MSRP, and thinking they are getting a deal... last weekend the sale price was 30% off MSRP. Going to be some PO'd people!

 

[ablethevoice]

Has anyone dropped by their stores to see what kind of deals there are?

Yes. My wife and I drove all the !@$! way to Pensacola (40+ miles) yesterday just to check out their "sales". Their prices are so high that on, for instance flash drives and HP inkjet carts (the two items we were interested in), even after the 20% markdown their prices were still considerably higher than Wal-Mart's regular prices. We walked out empty-handed.

I'm still sorry about all those folks losing their jobs, though.

 

[automojo]

I miss Schaack Electronics. I bought a Pioneer RT-909 there at Woodfield Mall in the early 80's.

Me too, it was a great place to shop, or just browse and check out, and fiddle with all the equipment.
The guys in the Rochester store new me well, as I would show up 2-3 months just to drool. Soundworld (aka BestBuy) was ok, but not the same as Schaack, perhaps that cool orange lighting had something to do with it.
Boy, those were the days,! but now at least I have a bit more money to buy those thing I wanted, but couldn't afford back them:thmbsp:!!

 

[Sharpstik]

An article I read this afternoon said that sales won't start until tomorrow, and will continue through March.

I know someone who works there. The vendors want to get paid. I don't see the sales amounting to anything. We had a huge furniture chain go out here. It took 6 months. Lots of "Going Out of Business" signs, but the stuff was still high. The suppliers had to get paid. Ablethevoice, I could have told you.

 

[bgadow]

My wife has stopped in a couple times since they announced, each time leaving with a stack of CD's. I don't know why-they prices seemed awful high to me. I went with her the last trip; I am certain that store had never been that busy before, not even for the grand opening, I bet. All of the workers had hand-written notes stuck to their shirts-the girl who waited on us had scrawled "What would you do? Please don't ask." Rather cryptic, I thought. She was very friendly. I suspect if there are any bargains to be had they might be on displays or hardware/wiring, and then maybe it would take a talk with the manager.

Someday there will be another national chain to step in, and they will supplant BB just like BB did to CC.