Circuit City Considering Store Closures, Layoffs: Report

I cannot say I am shocked that Circuit City is going out of business. They sorta deserve it as they have not exactly taken care of there best performing employees. Although I never was employed by them, I was very familiar with them and how they treated there people. They laid off there performers and replaced them with clerks so I am not at all shocked by what is happeneing to them right now. You can buy the same electronics elsewhere- what makes the difference is the customer service and professionalism of the people you are dealing with. The employees make the business what it is and when companies/corporations start to cut corners by taking away from there front line people this is only the beginning of the erosion that ultimately can begin the downward spiral. I can only hope the companies who create decent jobs and reward there employees do well to survive in these tough times ahead.

We always shopped at CC because they had long term employees who knew what they were selling, knew how to give us accurate comparisons, gave us time to decide to purchase(no immediate hard sell) and who gave good customer service because this was their job, not just a job. When the management fired all of the experienced employees to hire nose pickers at minimum wage, that's when we turned our backs on CC. BB does not have good service, and it is unfortunate to end up with BB as a large nationwide electronics monopoly(unless you actually count Costco). But CC management has totally reaped what they've sown.
I predict that CC WILL ABSOLUTELY begin liquidation before posting 4th Q earnings, because they won't be able to sell themselves anywhere near profitability through this Christmas. But BB won't be a big winner either, with no where near the percentage earnings that they expect.
Christmas 2008 is going to be marginal at best, and for CC, it'll be the final nail in their coffin.

I really like Circuit City and shop there frequently and hope our Chico store won't close.

This is a shame. Once proud and well deserved place as the ultimate place to shop for electronics, has been left behind in an industry with little room for error.
I worked for Circuit for over half of my career and saw many, many friends come and go from the rank and file of the company.
The big brass is where all of this should land.
Seperating from Birnbaum and Rick Sharp was a mistake of epic proportions, when the company was sailing straight the board started making STUPID changes.
It wasn't the stores fault they couldn't keep up, you needed a PHd to keep up with the calculations in profits and bonuses.
Look it should have always been easy, sell stuff, make sure it's profitable and keep it in the customer's home.
That's it!
When I started we had 1 (ONE) computer in the entire store for sale. No CD's, no DVD's, No digital cameras and lo and behold the company had Experts. It's not a case of old salespeople not keeping up, it is what should be learned from losing focus.
Not to say none of those products should be in the stores, or that people can't be stupid and be in sales.
This is being way out front, looking at number two, and tripping on your own feet.
They tried too hard to be cute and diffrent from BB, that is not why people came in to purchase electronics from them.
People bought from them because when they left they felt "this company and product was the best I could buy, nothing and no-one could have gotten me a better product at a better value!"
That is what they lost, spending more money on gimmicks to attract "new" customers.
Without keeping the ones they had purchasing from them.
I remember being told to do "WOW" demo days.
It was like a carnival of side-show barkers giving classes on merchandise, not a store that sells merchandise.
A long way from, Greet, Listen, Recommend, and Close.
That is all it really is.
Sorry, Sorry excuse for a business model.
I hope they turn around the company I really do, It is just sad to see how far they have fallen.

P.S. If someone from Circuit reads this and they want a consultant that remembers why they were good, Email Me!

Wow, it is just exactly like a rerun of Ultimate. Mark Wattles will take over and make Circuit a private company and will probably combine them with Ultimate. Then he will be big enough to challenge BBY.

This is so easy to forecast. They will close 1/2 their stores after they claim bankruptcy. Then all the top management will go bye bye.....