Topic: Circuit City declares bankruptcy, but still wants your money

[Cobra951]

The CNN take.  Chapter 11 is not nearly as bad as Chapter 7, but there's no way I'd spend money there now.  CC never impressed me much, and I don't think I ever bought big-ticket items there.  I've bought games and small things like SD memory cards.  I read on some news page recently that the company was headed for the crapper.  (Don't recall where.)  It didn't take long.

And not to start another thread, DHL is eliminating over 9,000 jobs right here in Ohio.  They're closing down all operations in the US.  Fun times.  [Edit:  The story is not that simple.  Read for details.]

[Pugnate]

Yea I read about the DHL thing earlier. There is nothing really to say here, except I am glad Obama's been level headed enough to say these problems with the economy won't be fixed overnight.

So I just read that CNN take.... it just made me fell sad.

[Antares]

I bought a TV from CC.com a couple years ago, simply because it was $50 cheaper than I could find it anywhere else.  I've not set foot in a CC store in a long long time after several bad shopping experiences in a row.

[scottws]

The CNN take.  Chapter 11 is not nearly as bad as Chapter 7, but there's no way I'd spend money there now.  CC never impressed me much, and I don't think I ever bought big-ticket items there.  I've bought games and small things like SD memory cards.  I read on some news page recently that the company was headed for the crapper.  (Don't recall where.)  It didn't take long.

I'm not surprised.  They seemed like a relic from the 80's every time I went there.  I will say their online-purchase-in-store-pickup process was excellent, but the rest of their business model was just way out of date.

And not to start another thread, DHL is eliminating over 9,000 jobs right here in Ohio.  They're closing down all operations in the US.  Fun times.  [Edit:  The story is not that simple.  Read for details.]

I saw this coming light-years away.  I worked as a DHL courier for a brief stint.  It was an old Airborne Express station and they even still referred to themselves as Airborne Express.  There were many reasons ABX struggled in competition with UPS and FedEx and DHL buying them didn't change anything.

They closed their Cincinnati airport hub, relying instead on Wilmington (which then became DHL's main hub in the U.S.).  Well Wilmington I guess wasn't prepared properly and packages met severe delays for about a month.  I still remember one night when one of the transport guys came into the station for us to load him up with outgoing packages and he said there are hundreds of trailers that have been sitting in Wilmington for two weeks untouched.

Also, not too long ago they ceased internal transport operations in the U.S.  Hub-to-hub and hub-to-station transportation was done courtesy of UPS.  Not good building up a competitor in an effort to cut costs.

Then they announced the closure of the main Wilmington hub.

Also, Jennie's sister "works" for DHL's U.S. headquarters in Miami, FL, and her boss asked her like six months ago if she was looking for another job.  The writing was on the wall.  I put quotes around "works" because as of last week she's being laid off, with her job officially terminated not later than March 2009 when the Miami office is going to close.

She was going to try to look for a remaining DHL job here in Ohio, but I don't think she's going to have any luck, obviously.

[Quemaqua]

I agree with Scott's assessment of CC, though I'll also add that I generally do like their website.  It's pretty helpful and well organized, and yeah, the online-purchase-in-store-pickup thing is awfully handy at times.  I've probably used it 3 or 4 times when I wasn't having luck elsewhere.  Also, I should mention that I got a really kickass deal on my 42" Panasonic plasma there, which is one of the best things ever.

But yeah... I don't know.  I don't really see them as any worse than any other shitty retail store.  What, does Best Buy suddenly have helpful employees and good selection?  No, it's got most of the same crap and ghetto-ass teenagers who couldn't spell their own names, just like most of the alternatives.

[Antares]

I find that best buy at least bothers to have decent presentation in the store, things are never a mess and checkout is always a relatively quick process.  I once waited in line for 20 minutes at a CC while 6 store employees stood in the background of the store talking to each other in direct view of everyone waiting in line.

[idolminds]

I have never checked out quickly at a CC. The only thing I hope is to score a DSLR on sale.

[MysterD]

My local CC (which in my town, is like 5 minutes away from me) is nowhere as good as my Best Buy in every regard -- from the selection to their workers actually giving me attention if I need help (and I usually don't need any). At my local BB, they're always around and asking, "Can I help you?" and if I'm looking for something, they will go out their way for help.

Plus, my local CC is nowhere as big as my local BB, either -- yet my CC's space isn't like stacked with items galore, either. Another CC that's like 20 mins from my house (like 2 or 3 towns over, in Braintree, MA) is much better and much bigger (like 2 times the size) than my local one. That CC in B-Tree can compete with my local BB.

When it comes to prices, I match a good deal of CC flyer prices up at my local BB -- especially since I am a BB Reward Zone Original Club and Gamer's Club Member, so I can rack up some more points.