Circuit City CEO talks Bankruptcy

[Guest]

While Circuit City has already seen over 150 of its stores close,more closures and even liquidation may be in the company's future.I remember the old Circuit City ads, where the giant red electricalplug would come crashing down on top of a retail bu

Circuit City CEO talks Bankruptcy : Read more

 

[aevm]

It's not just Wal-Mart and BestBuy. I think the future will see Newegg and Amazon.com becoming leaders. I do feel sorry for circuit City employees and shareholders,but the truth is that the world has changed and it's time for the online retailers to win.

 

[wymer100]

My brother-in-law was just let go as an assistant manager from a closed store. From our conversations, Circuit City was going down the tubes even before the economy tanked. The CEO can blame the economy and suppliers, but the big problem was the horrific management of the company. The management has made mistake after mistake. The CEO and Board will no doubt be let go with their golden parachutes. It's a shame the employees have to pay the price for their incompetence.

 

[DXRick]

Am I the only idiot in America that preferred CC over BB? I can see why CC failed, due to online, Costco, Frys, and others, but I can't see why BB succeeds.

I bought my latest DVD player at CC, my HDTV and NHT speakers at Andersons, and my receiver at Frys. My computer is built from stuff bought at NewEgg and Frys. The only thing I bought at Best Buy is the Creative 2.1 speakers. I got the APC UPS at CompUsa (no dead).

My next computer will be built from Frys and then (if prices are much higher at Frys for some parts) NewEgg. Since I am in CA, I get to pay sales taxes at both anyway.

BB will not be getting any business from me, just because I like Frys more.

 

[falchard]

Best Buy makes its money from appliances and people who don't know about better alternatives like Online Shopping, Direct Buy, and Fry's Electronics.

 

[zodiacfml]

amen. add to that, competition is fast getting stiffer everywhere.

[citation][nom]aevm[/nom]It's not just Wal-Mart and BestBuy. I think the future will see Newegg and Amazon.com becoming leaders. I do feel sorry for circuit City employees and shareholders,but the truth is that the world has changed and it's time for the online retailers to win.[/citation]

 

[Pei-chen]

CC usually have better after rebate deals than BB.

 

[thomasxstewart]

Circuit City didn't keep up to date computer parts.

SignedHYSICIAN THOMAS STEWART von DRASHEK M.D.

 

[frenchy]

Don't think BB isn't hurting either. They're getting ready to do another round of layoffs at their HQ. (this is after the buy out option given to employees a month ago). On a side note, BB suffers from incompetent managers as well and have made there fair share of huge financial mistakes.

 

[mdillenbeck]

I think many of these companies are failing due to the online competition. To date no business has matched Newegg's responsiveness and quality of service. With their expansion into general consumer electronics, I am sure the competition they provide is fierce.

However, I will occasionally shop Best Buy if they have a good deal or I need something immediately. Why do I prefer Best Buy over Circuit City? Mainly because of instant rebates. Seriously, why would any company want to do a mail in rebate over discounting the price unless they are counting on being able to reject a certain percentage of claims? I've noted an increase in rejection rates on mail in rebates, so I avoid them like the plague. After all, how do you re-provide your original UPC when they claim you didn't send it in? You can't.

Of course Circuit City is going to fail. The same events happened with K-mart and CompUSA. Stock is decreasing on their shelves, more items are marked with "special buy" tickets, and over a hundred locations have already shut down. Since Best Buy and Circuit City are in the same locations, why would Best Buy want them? Maybe to get their inventory if it is cheap enough. However, with the shrunken economy it will most likely be bought by a liquidator and sold off.

At least we might get some real good deals in the next month. That is if you still have your job...

 

[Guest]

Service is what makes the difference.

At Best Buy the service is absolutely non-existent. I am a Tech Supervisor for Circuit City and I can honestly say I was a Best Buy shopper for the longest time out of sheer ignorance to what Circuit City had to offer. Once I started shopping with CC, I saw the error of my ways.

Please keep in mind there are people here that may lose their jobs. Opinions aside, jobs are jobs and I am praying for something "good" to come of this. Hopefully we can keep the competition alive. What person in their right mind would compare Walmart to Best Buy as a serious technology store, come on. Best Buy will turn into the same being as Walmart with not a ton of real competition for the consumer turn to, forcing people to shop online for electronics.

 

[AndrewMD]

I can't wait for CC to move out... It is a terrible store with terrible people and business practises..

I avoid all deals that have to do with rebates unless noted as Instant. I also want to see Best Buy go down with CC. There is no need for them anymore.

 

[10tacle]

CC almost always had better pricing that BB, especially when they put DVDs on sale. However, on occasion I have come across a sale from BB, usually from the Sunday flier, that even beat every major online vendor like Amazon and NewEgg.

Two recent examples of that were Kaspersky's 2009 AV for $19.99 (best price was $27.69 online at NewEgg) and a Samsung 46" 120MHz LCD (650 series) for $1449 (best price via Amazon for $1479). Granted I had to pay a little more after local sales tax on the TV overall, but that was a small price to pay for local convenience in the event the TV was bad, let alone insurance against abuse in the logistics supply chain.

But back to CC vs. BB, Best Buy has a much nicer environment and layout inside. It makes me want to shop and check everything out there. Every CC I had been in looked the same as it did 15 years ago - they were so overdue for an overhaul. Too little, too late I'm afraid now.

 

[ravenware]

[citation][nom]aevm[/nom]It's not just Wal-Mart and BestBuy. I think the future will see Newegg and Amazon.com becoming leaders. I do feel sorry for circuit City employees and shareholders,but the truth is that the world has changed and it's time for the online retailers to win.[/citation]

The eTailer hit on Circuit City must have been huge.

Best Buy needs to wise up and take note from Circuit City's mistakes and Amazons success too.
Best Buy was a late entry in to online retailing much like CC and the website is poorly designed much like CC's.

Other than online I would poor management was also a factor. Every CC I have been to in California is poorly ran. They have low inventory, outdated POS machines, non-attentive staff and unorganized stock. (DVDs the only thing I would ever buy from them were a mess)