Topic: Goodbye Circuit City

[idolminds]

All 567 stores closing.

Prepare for liquidation sales.

[Cobra951]

I did warn against buying anything there after the original story of bankruptcy came out.  Another 30,000-jobs lost.

[Ghandi]

I don't think that I've ever bought anything from CC. That might have to change with the liquidation sales.

Sucks for all those people losing their jobs, though.

[MysterD]

Man, that sucks for CC and their workers that they're going out of business -- I've bought a lot from them and did a lot of price matching at my local Best Buy with the CC flyer.

Hell, and a few months ago, we just opened a new CC right in my mall nearby....CRAZY.

Well, I guess I"ll be lookin' for crazy liquidation sales then...

EDIT:
Looks like they'll be updating their site soon, as it's right now "being updated."

[idolminds]

You'll probably have to wait a few weeks for them to even be deals. The liquidation company that comes in marks stuff up before applying a discount. Often you can find the same item online or even at a store like Best Buy for cheaper than the "liquidation" price.

[MysterD]

Yup, usually is the best time is in the middle of the liquidation time period that they got allotted for it -- usually, a fair selection is left at some decent markdowns.

Like you said -- in the beginning, when it's like 10%-20% off, not worth buying at all.

When things begin to go into the 50% range or above, you ain't going to find much of a selection in the store left. If you find what you were looking for with that kind of price, consider yourself lucky.

Somewhere b/t the 20% to 50% is usually when you can do good with both a decent selection and a decent price.

[K-man]

I remember when Media Play went under.  I walked into the store a few weeks before it closed for good and it saddened me.  I mean everything had basically been roped off and there was just a tiny bit of merchandise left.  I can remember walking into that store as a 14 year old and just being overcome with joy.  Until that point I had never been to a store like it.  Movies, books, music, video games, all under one roof.  I found myself walking through this shell of a store and reminiscing.

I find these occasions sad, especially with a company with as much of a background as Circuit City.  Stuff like this fascinates me.  I love reading about dead malls and stuff like that. 

[Quemaqua]

It's fucking scary, is what it is.

[MysterD]

Their website's been updated with all kinds of info.

Are you also shutting down your operations in Canada?

    * No, our Canadian operations will continue.  They are not affected by the liquidation of Circuit City's U.S. operations.  The Canadian operations employ approximately 3,000 associates.

How many people are losing their jobs as a result of this action?

    * Circuit City employs approximately 34,000 associates in the U.S.

Can you provide some background on Circuit City?

    * Founded in 1949 as the Wards Company, Circuit City is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.  At the time of the liquidation announcement (January 16, 2009), the company operated 567 stores in 153 media markets in the U.S. and approximately 765 retail stores and dealer outlets in Canada.

[K-man]

It's fucking scary, is what it is.

Eh, the way I see it the writing has been on the wall for some time.  Their stores around here have been shit for a while.  You can only survive for so long when your competition is doing things much better than you, the economy just exacerbated that.

[MysterD]

I was thrilled with getting a new CC new store here in my hometown some few months ago (right acrossd the street from my Best Buy), but damn -- that CC store didn't have much in there. If I wanted to go to a CC, I'd be better off driving another 20 minutes to a much more robust, much bigger CC with a much bigger selection.

Regardless, it still sucks CC is going under -- I've bought lots of stuff from them, over the years -- from God knows how many games and music CD's to my 2nd Windows PC with (Windows 98 SE).

I can't forget the Max Payne PC for $15 mistake CC made in their flyer on the week of its release -- (it was supposed to be $45, they made a typo and put it in for $15) -- which they would honor, if they had it in; it sold out like crazy. I went up there, they didn't have it. So, I just took the flyer, went to Wal-Mart's, price-matched, and picked that Max Payne PC game up.

[Ghandi]

Eh, the way I see it the writing has been on the wall for some time.  Their stores around here have been shit for a while.  You can only survive for so long when your competition is doing things much better than you, the economy just exacerbated that.

Yeah they were doing bad before the economy started going to shit. I think they got a new CEO and top management and stuff but apparently it didn't help.

I never shopped there because everything is so damn expensive.

[Quemaqua]

Oh yeah, because the Best Buy experience is so superior.  Eh... maybe it varies by region.  Here, if you leave your house you pretty much give up all right to respect, dignity, and politeness.  If you enter a store, it only gets worse.

[K-man]

Actually the Best Buy experience here (in my experience) is far superior to Circuit City.  It seemed at Circuit City you had to beg someone for assistance, while at least at Best Buy I have people checking on me regularly to see if I need help.

And yeah, CC's prices were ridiculous.

[Ghandi]

I can't say that I necessarily enjoy my Best Buy experiences, but the Best Buy here is definitely better than the Circuit City. The only time I ever went to CC was to compare prices since they were near each other, but I don't think I ever found a better deal at CC, and whatever I was looking for was usually more expensive.

As for the salesman, I hate it when they come up to me and ask questions. I always thought the CC people were far worse than the BB guys because they always fucking pestered me.

[K-man]

I'm not nearly as big of a fan of Best Buy as I used to be.  Thankfully I've sort of solved that by doing most of my shopping on Amazon now.  I end up getting better deals usually, pay no tax, and get free shipping.

[Quemaqua]

Like I said, you can expect a drugged out deadhead to not give a shit at pretty much any store around here.  One of the Best Buys is better than the other, and one of the Circuit Cities was better than the other, but they were about the same.  And usually CC had better deals, when you could actually find what you wanted (they were out of stuff a lot).

Either way, CC was where I got the really super awesome deal on my TV.  I will always love them for that.

[W7RE]

CC always seemed to have higher prices to me, though my brother says they'd often have good game clearances. The staff was never helpful or friendly at any that I'd been to either. The only thing I remember ever buying at CC was Starfox Adventures, becasue they were the only store in town that had the free survival kit to go with it.

[gpw11]

I can't say that I necessarily enjoy my Best Buy experiences, but the Best Buy here is definitely better than the Circuit City. The only time I ever went to CC was to compare prices since they were near each other, but I don't think I ever found a better deal at CC, and whatever I was looking for was usually more expensive.

As for the salesman, I hate it when they come up to me and ask questions. I always thought the CC people were far worse than the BB guys because they always fucking pestered me.

Best Buy doesn't give commission (at least here). Circuit City probably does.  Either way, electronic store salesmen are the worst salesmen out there.  Car dealers have a bad rep for a reason, but these guys are worse.

[Cobra951]

Oh yeah, because the Best Buy experience is so superior.  Eh... maybe it varies by region.
. . .

I guess so.  Here, the CC struck me as poorly stocked and organized, and the wait at the cash register was interminable, even with few if any people ahead of me.  I did not want to be there.  By contrast, the BB was (and I assume still is) a huge playpen full of fun stuff I know exactly where to find.  Never had any trouble with employees or checkout lines.  Big contrast, really.

[idolminds]

I have never had a quick checkout at a CC here. Ever. 5-10 minutes every single time, even with only one person in front of you (and they only had one or two items).

Contrast to Best Buy where I went in to get Warcraft 3 Battle chest. This was after thanksgiving, not black friday, but the place was jammed full. The line curved down the stores main isle...I figured I'd be there forever. Not so. I was out of there in 5 minutes with that many people.