Heard this story on NPR yesterday, and read the Time version this morning. While the immediate reaction to Circuit City’s plans to close stores and filing for bankruptcy is to blame the Recession, it’s not at all surprising to find that most of its wounds are self-inflicted and long-term. And there’s no better proof than how its rival, Best Buy, is showing a major profit.
Between staying in inconvenient locations, failure to anticipate customer trends (including being a leading player in the whole DivX debacle), a poor web presence, a deck-shuffling rebranding, massive executive salaries coupled with firing “high paid” store clerks in return for cheaper ones, CC has simply been a lesser competitor.
For myself, I go into the local CC on occasion, esp. if I’m looking around to price compare with something they might have. I really dislike the place, though — it’s gloomy, there’s never anyone around to help, and except in a few categories I can rarely find what I’m looking for. It’s closer to home than the local Best Buy, but very little is around it, and I find myself shopping near the BB (and thus shopping in it) much more often.
The BB bustles, the CC is usually mostly empty.
There’s the story, right there.
I have always been willing to pay a little more to avoid shopping at CC. Whenever I have shopped there it’s been a dehumanizing experience. While all electronics stores need to control their inventory, the basic lack of trust that lead to their policy of every major item having to be brought out from the back 1) added unacceptable amounts of wait time to my customer experience and 2) gave the public waaaay too much time to see how little their employees cared about customer service.
Between Best Buy, Target and the other majors and Amazon and other online retailers, I’ve always felt CC was due to be culled from the herd.
It always struck me as the most marginal.
Once Best Buy stopped selling on commission, it became almost pleasant to shop there.
If I don’t need to put my hands on it first, and don’t need it this second, though, my preference is for Amazon.
Well, Best Buy is feeling the pinch, but rather than paying their CEO more, or getting rid of well-paid sales associates, they’re taking the remarkable step of encouraging improved customer service as a way to maintain or boost sales in these tough times.
Inconceivable!
I’m trying to remember the last time I made the effort to go to a Circuit City.
Actually, now that I think about it, I did look for a set of retractable ear buds in one last year after I got my iPod (at another store). It had been so long since I’d been to one that it actually seemed eerie.
Here’s another difference. Not sure if it’s the particular stores, but the BB by our house is brightly lit. The CC is downspotted and shadowy.
That’s because it’s EVIIIIIIIIIIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =)