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So Long, Circuit City. Don’t Let the Door Hit You on the Way Out.
By Marc | January 21, 2009
You’ve probably already heard it by now: Circuit City (in the U.S.) is going out of business.
They could probably blame the failing economy because lots of people just don’t have the disposable income to spend on home electronics and car stereos. They also have made bad business decisions in the last year or two. But in my personal experience, I can point to one event in their history that spelled their doom: 2003.
What happened in 2003? That year, in probably a move for corporate to grab more money, they went from giving their employees commissioned sales to sticking them with a flat hourly wage.
Soon after Julie and I were married and were homeowners, we decided we needed a computer in March 1999. Our first stop was Best Buy. The place was pretty busy, especially for a Saturday. By looking around, we decided on what we wanted and were prepared to purchase right away. The only problem? We couldn’t get anyone to help us. From my experience in retail, one of the things I dread most often is a customer who has no idea what he wants, can’t decide once he’s shown the options, and after spending lots of time with him, leaves the store empty-handed without even a thank you for my time. This seemed like every customer we saw. We were really peeved at Best Buy (adding to a surreal experience I had with them previously), but in hindsight, the employees who looked like they weren’t doing anything were actually waiting and helping those annoying indecisive non-customers.
So, we took our business elsewhere: Circuit City. Not only did someone wait on us (because they had fewer customers, probably owing to the fact they are located behind a mall, impossible to view from the main street), but helped us out in obtaining the necessary discounts and stuff. Luckily we had already decided on our best value from the other store, so we were able to block the sales person’s voodoo chants for spending more money. We had our purchases and were out the door in less time than it took to stand around waiting for a free salesperson at Best Buy. We continued to shop there a few more times when we needed electronics.
A few years later, I wanted to buy a DVD the day it came out. I had been waiting a month for its release, so I left for lunch when the stores opened. At Best Buy, the closest stop, the space for the video was empty. I’m betting they hadn’t put out enough copies. So, I went to Circuit City, a few blocks further.
Something had changed since our joyous purchasing experience a few years prior. I couldn’t find the movie anywhere. Sure, this wasn’t a new movie, but it was the 2-disk special edition of Stargate (Kurt Russell rocks!). There was nothing, even though the store’s Sunday flier even had a picture of the DVD, the words “Available Tuesday”, and the sale price listed. I looked around for someone to help me.
Have you ever had a bad hangover and just don’t want to deal with people, so pretend you’re busy and avoid eye contact? It was almost like that, but nobody even acted busy. They were all standing around, BS-ing in groups about whatever, playing games on the display computers, and ignoring anyone around them. I needed to get back to work and wasn’t going to have this be a wasted trip, so I interrupted a group and asked about the DVD that had been advertised. One of the people gave a sigh and trudged over to a small cart (used for stocking inventory) filled with disks behind a Point-of-Sale kiosk. He grabbed one of them, asked if I wanted anything else, and rang me up.
One of two things may have been going on:
- The employees no longer cared because they realized trying to make a better sale with no incentive to do so was pointless; and/or
- The good salespeople left and found jobs that would let them benefit from their selling abilities, setting the stores free to fulfill their lifelong dream of keeping the apathetic off the streets by giving them jobs. “Hey, I see you really like Xbox games. How would you like to work here? You can play them any time you want…and I do mean any time.”
Either way, the Circuit City experience was to be more of a last resort than a choice from then on out.
Some time later, owing to the demise of our HP, Julie and I decided we needed a laptop. While Julie was at work, I took our son out to Best Buy and Circuit City (if I had to) to do a little comparative shopping since what’s on a company’s website isn’t always what’s in the stores and we needed one right away. Best Buy was busy, as always, but the sales person who helped me helped to steer my decisions to what was good for current standards for memory, video, and stuff. I picked my three favorites and said I’d be back once I talked it over with my wife.
Then we went over to Circuit City just to see if they had a better deal. My Stargate experience was brought back to life, with the addition of a very tired 2-year-old. The “sales” people were playing on the display computers and playing pranks on each other. Also, the laptop models on display seemed to be mislabeled or just missing.
I went home, called Julie, and gave her my 3 top picks. The one we went with was being discontinued to make room for the next year’s models, so it was marked down, even though it was still pretty powerful. I raced back to Best Buy hoping to get through with it before putting too much more strain on my son’s ability to remain non-crabby.
If Circuit City was going to get rid of commission, then why have the same store set-up? Why only have the display models out so that you are forced to deal with somebody who doesn’t care one way or the other what you buy? I know they do it for a nicer looking showroom and space considerations, but most stores like Target and Toys”R”Us have little tags next to the high-end and larger items that customers can take up to the cashier and save time and aggravation. If you need more information on products, the people on the floor are there to help. If you know what you want, why should you grovel to get the attention of some dude with a Circuit City nametag playing Hacky Sack with his buds.
I really don’t know how Best Buy pays their employees, but obviously they are doing something to give them an incentive to want to help customers. They have had their financial upsets and have had to lay off people, but they still seem to want to improve customer relations and offer more for doing it.
Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain. – Deuteronomy 25:4 (NIV)
And masters, treat your servants considerately. Be fair with them. Don’t forget for a minute that you, too, serve a Master—God in heaven. – Colossians 4:1 (The Message)
A sure-fire way to bring disaster for a company is to take away the livelihood of the people who make the company money.
Good riddance, Circuit City. I hope you learned something from your failure.
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