The simple fact of the matter is that the market can only sustain a single nationwide big-box consumer electronics chain, and that is Best Buy. The recession, as it deepens, will take out CC sooner rather than later. Sad, perhaps, but that's the law of the (retail) jungle.

Big Box Electronics Retailing is a Dying Breed
I have worked for Circuit City, Sears (in the electronics department) and CompUSA. The models that these types of stores are built on is increasingly irrelavant in today''s world of online sales sites to which the consumer can connect via an increasing variety of devices. Some cell phones even have passable internet connections today.

The big chains pay their sales associates too little, give them little to no training on how the products they are supposed to sell work and expect them to work ever changing schedules. The turn-over rate in these stores is very high. They tried to get tech savvy employees into the stores when they bought out or created tech shops in the stores like Geek Squad and Fire Dog. It helped to some degree, but the genuinely highly trained techs are mostly already employed by other more narrowly focused companies or are self-employed. The ones they manage to get may be very well trained in some areas but know little in others. This is not good when you are a store trying to sell a few brands and models of virtually every consumer electonic device out there. I experienced that at CompUSA. Even though I was supposed to only be a Tech Pro Service Writer, I found myself stocking shelves, processing product returns and assisting with sales questions about TV''s, stereos and all sorts of gadgets that had little to do with computer upgrades and repair. We had computer repair projects going untouched for weeks at a time due to the constant demands on us to do other non-related things. If I had my druthers, I''d rather work in a mom and pop PC repair shop or start my own than to ever work in a big retail store again.

Even the newer CC stores suffer from the ills the older ones do. A CC store open just over 1 year had just a couple of sales associates on the floor, mispriced product (3 displays of flat panel screen cleaner with 3 different prices), massive holes in stock, inoperative customer displays, and a feeling that the store was tired.

It's interesting to see what once was the leader in CE retailing reduced to an also-ran.

Eddy Lampert, where are you?

Virtually everyone in the retail business (or any business) knows that labor costs represent the largest chunk of the bottom line. The costs of labor is shown as a "liability" by the ''bean counters'', but the indirect (and mostly unquantifiable) reward of investing in labor is the level of customer retention the labor force produces. This also includes the amount of new customers produced by positive "word-of-mouth" advertising. However, when the labor force (store employees/management, etc.) is subjected to continuous cut backs, both in compensation and in physical numbers on the sales floor, the amount of lost revenue by the loss of customer traffic is immense. So are the investors of a company the most important asset? NO! The company''s labor force IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ASSET and the most important investment. Because, without a well trained and motivated labor force, productivity is lower and customer retention suffers as a result. Comp USA is suffering from their (executives) ignorance of this fact. And Circuit City, unless an epiphany is realized by the executive staff very soon, will suffer the same fate as Comp USA. If not in 2008, most definitely in 2009. Valerie''s earlier comment is right on target.

Trying to find a sales associate to help you at Circuit City is next to impossible and if you do they have no technical knowledge or interest in aquiring the technical information for you! The talented and knowledgeable sales associates were fires last year for making too large salaries and bonuses/commissions by the inept executives who have run Circuit City into the ground!
The U.S.A.'s businesses should be run on Capitalism nor Corprorate Socialism where anyone below you in power or level should make less money than you! The only way to save Circuit City is to bring in all new executives and talented commissioned Sales Associates! They sell the same hardware and software as Best Buy who have talented and usefull staff and success in sales!