Circuit City lost credibility when they converted from the old-style stereo shop with commissioned salesmen to the generic retail store like Best Buy.
Very sad. At least the commissioned salesmen KNEW what they were selling because that is how they made their income. They were educated on the products they sold.
Now when you walk into either store, they know nothing about the products they sell..
Come on, that can't possibly be why they are having trouble - I just heard it was because of John McCain!!!
Come on, that can't possibly be why they are having trouble - I just heard it was because of John McCain!!!
CC and BB can drop dead, AFAIC. I do not shop either place, and never will. Maybe some like to deal with pimple faced moronic sales staffs, or unfriendly return policies, or their customer no-service depts. but not me. HTH
At my local Circuit City there is always a group of around 5 or 6 employees goofing off together. No employees there to help the customers. No employees at the checkout counters either. You have to wait in line with the people returning stuff at the customer service counter to buy anything. I won't shed a tear for them. Good riddance. Best Buy is a much better shopping experience at least where I live.
I used to work at Best Buy in the computer department. First of all, retail is tough because some customers (which turn out to be the most out spoken), to be honest expect way too much from an employee that gets paid $8/hour. I was finishing my computer science degree and had a wide range of knowledge about computers. I genuinely tried to match people's needs with the correct computer and recommended geek squad services. I was constantly hounded by my managers to sell more geek squad and higher margin computers. I felt I struck a good balance between matching people's needs with products and earning the company money. I ended up leaving Best Buy because I didn't like the pressure of my managers and when I would try to deal with customer complaints/issues things never got resolved very quickly so I ended up looking like a lair/apathetic to the customer.
I know it doesn't have much to do with CC but it might help people understand that the sales associates are not always the person to yell and scream at.
At my local Circuit City there is always a group of around 5 or 6 employees goofing off together. No employees there to help the customers. No employees at the checkout counters either. You have to wait in line with the people returning stuff at the customer service counter to buy anything. I won't shed a tear for them. Good riddance. Best Buy is a much better shopping experience at least where I live.
Says quite a bit about thier management, or lack there of
I'm sure Apple will have to rationalize their stores at some point too. It seems unlikely that they all have turned out profitable.
Apple's and oranges. Circuit City, Best Buy, Fry's, you-name-it, all sell the same stuff for roughly the same price. The problem is differentiating yourself from the other commodity hawkers. Same with grocery stores, auto parts stores, and any other commodity retailer. Apple stores are not anywhere close to that business model. The Apple stores sell a unique product, offer a unique customer experience, and don't compete with any other store selling identical product. Even the fact that some big box retailers also carry Apple products doesn't apply.
I bought quit a few items in the past 15 from one not far from my home, I do have to agree the customer service has gone way downhill. Regardless still bad news.
Edit: I do feel bad for the retail folks entering the world of unemployment, though...
Depends on how much they drank from the CC kool-aid. My neighbor did a bit much, he was a proponent of the DivX standard, something CC cooked up. I respect him, but damn, if they got to him, then they must have really hosed everyone down with kool-aid.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeske
The closest Circuit City store to my place will probably be one of the close stores in the fact that the store is terribly out of date. I noticed lately that they do not even advertise in the local Sunday newspaper. I kind of thought that they were slipping and slipping fast. The remind of how fast Future Shop grew and suddenly were gone very quickly.
Most store chains don't advertise as much anymore. Best Buy is the only local chain that consistently has a weekly insert every week.
Quote:
Originally Posted by macapptraining
i always liked circuit city much better than best buy. never liked best buy. its too bad that they are closing some stores. they had a good thing going.
My local ones were the best looking store of all the chains with local branches, though the help has been spotty, really good or lackluster. Most times, pretty good, a few times, I've had to ask what it takes to get help and be able to buy something.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hillstones
Circuit City lost credibility when they converted from the old-style stereo shop with commissioned salesmen to the generic retail store like Best Buy.
Very sad. At least the commissioned salesmen KNEW what they were selling because that is how they made their income.
Or were more motivated to lie about the product to sell something more expensive. One told my dad a sound system had certain features that he wanted when it very certainly does not.
I'm sure Apple will have to rationalize their stores at some point too. It seems unlikely that they all have turned out profitable.
Given how careful and deliberate Apple is, I doubt there are many that aren't profitable. The numbers Apple gives shows very enviable results. I think it might even be a valid argument to say that they haven't opened enough stores, being too cautious when they could be opening a lot more profitable stores.
"Most store chains don't advertise as much anymore. Best Buy is the only local chain that consistently has a weekly insert every week."
Depends on your definition of local, Fry's has an ad inert here every week. I also hate Fry's, BTW, as they like to treat their customers like so many cattle being rounded up. Most big box electronics stores are a major PITA, and lets not leave out Ultimate Electronics. If I want a Mac, I go to Apple, if I want other electronics, I go online, or to a local independent dealer.
I find it really hard to sympathize. I can only go from my experience in the NYC stores, but the prices were not really competitive, often branded crappy hardware was given store space at the expense of better cheaper hardware (especially where Routers and GPUs were concerned), the staff were poorly educated about the products, not to mention rude and arrogant - and on top of all that, the displays were filthy and returning anything was like sawing off your own leg with a pencil.
Best of all - almost everything was over priced, unless you used their god-awful 'mail-in-rebate' scheme (probably. The. Worst. Invention. Ever).
It's kind of a shame, but computer retail stores the world over, were just garbage selling rip-off merchants. Too bad they all got into bed with Dell...
Reporting my first visit to an Apple store Genius Bar:
Had to send back (for the very first time EVER) my MB Pro 17" with the bad nVidia card. It failed last Thursday afternoon, met with the Genius Friday morning, barely had to explain what had transpired, and watched as he promptly and professionally boxed up my baby and sent it off for healing.
No treating me like an idiot, no interrogation of my motives or handling of the machine. (In fact, the moment I pre-offered the PMU/SMC diagnoses I had already performed over the past 24 hours, I was treated almost as an equal.) Can you imagine this kind of interaction at a Best Buy or Circuit City? Yeah, right.
It is nice to see that the genius bar treated you so nicely, but I have met several people that have found that the genius bar isn't always stocked with geniuses. Furthermore, you don't have to have bought your Mac at an Apple Store to go to the "Genius" Bar.
Quote:
I'll never buy another Mac product ANYWHERE but at an Apple retail store. They speak my language.
It is one thing to say that you will take your Mac to an Apple retail store for troubleshooting it is quite another to say that one shouldn't consider buying an Apple product anywhere except an Apple retail store. You can bring in any Apple product into the Apple Store and get help with it. You can also buy AppleCare for your Mac even if you didn't buy it directly from Apple, so what exactly is the advantage of buying a Mac from the Apple retail store? I don't see a lot of obvious answers to that questions, but I can come up with plenty of reasons to consider buying a product at an Apple reseller.
Some of the Apple resellers like BB will offer better financing promotions, quite a few Apple resellers have better return policies, and some Apple resellers will have slightly better prices on Apple products and certainly a better selection of ipod and Mac accessories than the Apple Store does. Especially with ipods, the number of accessories on the market is astounding compared to the limited selection of accessories at the Apple retail stores. Unless you like the Apple retail store's limited selection of accessories you will end up somewhere else anyways so why not take the trip to the Apple store out, save some gas and go directly to the local retail store that is most likely to have the accessories that you want and buy your ipod while you are there.
I remember working for Fry's for a while, and we had a lot of customers that came in to buy stuff for some of the older Macs because none of the local Apple retail stores stocked the adapter, battery, etc. that they needed. If you don't have the latest generation of stuff the Apple retail stores often don't have any accessories for your stuff.
Apple's retail stores are helpful, but they don't seem to give a damn about keeping accessories for older products in stock. While Apple salespeople will never bad mouth one of their products, I can remember several customers while I worked for Fry's that commented that I knew more than the employees that they met at the Apple Store. The Apple retail stores aren't a bad place to buy Apple products, but they aren't the only place I think one should consider while buying an Apple product.
It is nice to see that the genius bar treated you so nicely, but I have met several people that have found that the genius bar isn't always stocked with geniuses. Furthermore, you don't have to have bought your Mac at an Apple Store to go to the "Genius" Bar.
It is one thing to say that you will take your Mac to an Apple retail store for troubleshooting it is quite another to say that one shouldn't consider buying an Apple product anywhere except an Apple retail store. You can bring in any Apple product into the Apple Store and get help with it. You can also buy AppleCare for your Mac even if you didn't buy it directly from Apple, so what exactly is the advantage of buying a Mac from the Apple retail store? I don't see a lot of obvious answers to that questions, but I can come up with plenty of reasons to consider buying a product at an Apple reseller.
Some of the Apple resellers like BB will offer better financing promotions, quite a few Apple resellers have better return policies, and some Apple resellers will have slightly better prices on Apple products and certainly a better selection of ipod and Mac accessories than the Apple Store does. Especially with ipods, the number of accessories on the market is astounding compared to the limited selection of accessories at the Apple retail stores. Unless you like the Apple retail store's limited selection of accessories you will end up somewhere else anyways so why not take the trip to the Apple store out, save some gas and go directly to the local retail store that is most likely to have the accessories that you want and buy your ipod while you are there.
I remember working for Fry's for a while, and we had a lot of customers that came in to buy stuff for some of the older Macs because none of the local Apple retail stores stocked the adapter, battery, etc. that they needed. If you don't have the latest generation of stuff the Apple retail stores often don't have any accessories for your stuff.
Apple's retail stores are helpful, but they don't seem to give a damn about keeping accessories for older products in stock. While Apple salespeople will never bad mouth one of their products, I can remember several customers while I worked for Fry's that commented that I knew more than the employees that they met at the Apple Store. The Apple retail stores aren't a bad place to buy Apple products, but they aren't the only place I think one should consider while buying an Apple product.
Really? Then how do you explain that out local Apple Stores still carry the batteries for the G4 Titanium laptops? I don't think you're quite up to speed about what the Apple Stores have on hand.
Sounds like Iceland should be expecting an invasion any minute.
So tell me what happened to Montgomery-Ward, or Hudson, or Nash, or Foremost milk products, or Borden's, or Lucky Lager. We're all still driving around okay, drinking all of the milk and beer we want, and many shop at Sears. Mervyn's is closing, I'll still be able to buy the same products at other retailers, life goes on.
every time i ever went into a circuit city I would be swarmed by 5 people trying to sell me some sort of trash. Stores were always laid out horrible and them actually having what I needed never happened.
BestBuy is a lot better of store, but It is sad that they are having to shut down so many stores, and all those employees will be looking for a job in a currently near dead market.
every time i ever went into a circuit city I would be swarmed by 5 people trying to sell me some sort of trash. Stores were always laid out horrible and them actually having what I needed never happened.
BestBuy is a lot better of store, but It is sad that they are having to shut down so many stores, and all those employees will be looking for a job in a currently near dead market.
Good Luck to those of you.
Those people can go to whoever grabs the CC market share, folks aren't going to stop buying electronics. My best guess is WalMart will grab a large portion.
My closest Circuit City is not only within five miles, it's right next door to a Best Buy. Too bad. I hate Best Buy. Moronic, lethargic sales staff. Dishonest sales. I helped a friend select a laptop for her business. We picked the lowest priced laptop advertised to be on sale. But at the store, they only had "pre-optimized" units left, meaning they cost $50 more than sale price because Geek Squad had already removed all the trialware. I personally think it's their way of actually getting more money for an open box unit, which otherwise should have cost less than sale price.
This is a rediculous statement. First off, the pre-optimized units you talk about are not open-box items EVER. Units are taken directly off the truck, some go to storage, some go to get pre-optimized. At no time are open items ever sold as something other than open items. That's called illegal, and it just doesn't happen.
Second, having been an employee at both Circuit City and Best Buy, I can safely say that, at least as an employee, Best Buy is a MUCH better place to work, at least mine was. At my CC, management didn't give a damn what went on, how sales were, or if customers were being taken care of. Half of the sales staff could have done a better job than our manager. At my BB, it was the complete opposite. Employees were motivated, it was actually a fun place to work, management was effective, friendly, and fair, and above all else, we were the top store in our district for 3 straight years. Circuit City deserves what is coming their way (after firing 3,400 of your very best employees over a dollar or two per hour, any company deserves to go). I have a lot of old friends still at my old CC though, so I hope it can stay around long enough that my friends won't have to go unemployed for too long.
Comments
Circuit City lost credibility when they converted from the old-style stereo shop with commissioned salesmen to the generic retail store like Best Buy.
Very sad. At least the commissioned salesmen KNEW what they were selling because that is how they made their income. They were educated on the products they sold.
Now when you walk into either store, they know nothing about the products they sell..
Come on, that can't possibly be why they are having trouble - I just heard it was because of John McCain!!!
Come on, that can't possibly be why they are having trouble - I just heard it was because of John McCain!!!
CC and BB can drop dead, AFAIC. I do not shop either place, and never will. Maybe some like to deal with pimple faced moronic sales staffs, or unfriendly return policies, or their customer no-service depts. but not me. HTH
I know it doesn't have much to do with CC but it might help people understand that the sales associates are not always the person to yell and scream at.
At my local Circuit City there is always a group of around 5 or 6 employees goofing off together. No employees there to help the customers. No employees at the checkout counters either. You have to wait in line with the people returning stuff at the customer service counter to buy anything. I won't shed a tear for them. Good riddance. Best Buy is a much better shopping experience at least where I live.
Says quite a bit about thier management, or lack there of
___________________
I'm sure Apple will have to rationalize their stores at some point too. It seems unlikely that they all have turned out profitable.
Apple's and oranges. Circuit City, Best Buy, Fry's, you-name-it, all sell the same stuff for roughly the same price. The problem is differentiating yourself from the other commodity hawkers. Same with grocery stores, auto parts stores, and any other commodity retailer. Apple stores are not anywhere close to that business model. The Apple stores sell a unique product, offer a unique customer experience, and don't compete with any other store selling identical product. Even the fact that some big box retailers also carry Apple products doesn't apply.
It's just not the same thing.
Good riddance.
Edit: I do feel bad for the retail folks entering the world of unemployment, though...
Depends on how much they drank from the CC kool-aid. My neighbor did a bit much, he was a proponent of the DivX standard, something CC cooked up. I respect him, but damn, if they got to him, then they must have really hosed everyone down with kool-aid.
The closest Circuit City store to my place will probably be one of the close stores in the fact that the store is terribly out of date. I noticed lately that they do not even advertise in the local Sunday newspaper. I kind of thought that they were slipping and slipping fast. The remind of how fast Future Shop grew and suddenly were gone very quickly.
Most store chains don't advertise as much anymore. Best Buy is the only local chain that consistently has a weekly insert every week.
i always liked circuit city much better than best buy. never liked best buy. its too bad that they are closing some stores. they had a good thing going.
My local ones were the best looking store of all the chains with local branches, though the help has been spotty, really good or lackluster. Most times, pretty good, a few times, I've had to ask what it takes to get help and be able to buy something.
Circuit City lost credibility when they converted from the old-style stereo shop with commissioned salesmen to the generic retail store like Best Buy.
Very sad. At least the commissioned salesmen KNEW what they were selling because that is how they made their income.
Or were more motivated to lie about the product to sell something more expensive. One told my dad a sound system had certain features that he wanted when it very certainly does not.
I'm sure Apple will have to rationalize their stores at some point too. It seems unlikely that they all have turned out profitable.
Given how careful and deliberate Apple is, I doubt there are many that aren't profitable. The numbers Apple gives shows very enviable results. I think it might even be a valid argument to say that they haven't opened enough stores, being too cautious when they could be opening a lot more profitable stores.
Depends on your definition of local, Fry's has an ad inert here every week. I also hate Fry's, BTW, as they like to treat their customers like so many cattle being rounded up. Most big box electronics stores are a major PITA, and lets not leave out Ultimate Electronics. If I want a Mac, I go to Apple, if I want other electronics, I go online, or to a local independent dealer.
Best of all - almost everything was over priced, unless you used their god-awful 'mail-in-rebate' scheme (probably. The. Worst. Invention. Ever).
It's kind of a shame, but computer retail stores the world over, were just garbage selling rip-off merchants. Too bad they all got into bed with Dell...
Good news for Best Buy and Apple.
How could you be a Mac user since August '83?
The Mac was introduced in '84.
Reporting my first visit to an Apple store Genius Bar:
Had to send back (for the very first time EVER) my MB Pro 17" with the bad nVidia card. It failed last Thursday afternoon, met with the Genius Friday morning, barely had to explain what had transpired, and watched as he promptly and professionally boxed up my baby and sent it off for healing.
No treating me like an idiot, no interrogation of my motives or handling of the machine. (In fact, the moment I pre-offered the PMU/SMC diagnoses I had already performed over the past 24 hours, I was treated almost as an equal.) Can you imagine this kind of interaction at a Best Buy or Circuit City? Yeah, right.
It is nice to see that the genius bar treated you so nicely, but I have met several people that have found that the genius bar isn't always stocked with geniuses. Furthermore, you don't have to have bought your Mac at an Apple Store to go to the "Genius" Bar.
I'll never buy another Mac product ANYWHERE but at an Apple retail store. They speak my language.
It is one thing to say that you will take your Mac to an Apple retail store for troubleshooting it is quite another to say that one shouldn't consider buying an Apple product anywhere except an Apple retail store. You can bring in any Apple product into the Apple Store and get help with it. You can also buy AppleCare for your Mac even if you didn't buy it directly from Apple, so what exactly is the advantage of buying a Mac from the Apple retail store? I don't see a lot of obvious answers to that questions, but I can come up with plenty of reasons to consider buying a product at an Apple reseller.
Some of the Apple resellers like BB will offer better financing promotions, quite a few Apple resellers have better return policies, and some Apple resellers will have slightly better prices on Apple products and certainly a better selection of ipod and Mac accessories than the Apple Store does. Especially with ipods, the number of accessories on the market is astounding compared to the limited selection of accessories at the Apple retail stores. Unless you like the Apple retail store's limited selection of accessories you will end up somewhere else anyways so why not take the trip to the Apple store out, save some gas and go directly to the local retail store that is most likely to have the accessories that you want and buy your ipod while you are there.
I remember working for Fry's for a while, and we had a lot of customers that came in to buy stuff for some of the older Macs because none of the local Apple retail stores stocked the adapter, battery, etc. that they needed. If you don't have the latest generation of stuff the Apple retail stores often don't have any accessories for your stuff.
Apple's retail stores are helpful, but they don't seem to give a damn about keeping accessories for older products in stock. While Apple salespeople will never bad mouth one of their products, I can remember several customers while I worked for Fry's that commented that I knew more than the employees that they met at the Apple Store. The Apple retail stores aren't a bad place to buy Apple products, but they aren't the only place I think one should consider while buying an Apple product.
It is nice to see that the genius bar treated you so nicely, but I have met several people that have found that the genius bar isn't always stocked with geniuses. Furthermore, you don't have to have bought your Mac at an Apple Store to go to the "Genius" Bar.
It is one thing to say that you will take your Mac to an Apple retail store for troubleshooting it is quite another to say that one shouldn't consider buying an Apple product anywhere except an Apple retail store. You can bring in any Apple product into the Apple Store and get help with it. You can also buy AppleCare for your Mac even if you didn't buy it directly from Apple, so what exactly is the advantage of buying a Mac from the Apple retail store? I don't see a lot of obvious answers to that questions, but I can come up with plenty of reasons to consider buying a product at an Apple reseller.
Some of the Apple resellers like BB will offer better financing promotions, quite a few Apple resellers have better return policies, and some Apple resellers will have slightly better prices on Apple products and certainly a better selection of ipod and Mac accessories than the Apple Store does. Especially with ipods, the number of accessories on the market is astounding compared to the limited selection of accessories at the Apple retail stores. Unless you like the Apple retail store's limited selection of accessories you will end up somewhere else anyways so why not take the trip to the Apple store out, save some gas and go directly to the local retail store that is most likely to have the accessories that you want and buy your ipod while you are there.
I remember working for Fry's for a while, and we had a lot of customers that came in to buy stuff for some of the older Macs because none of the local Apple retail stores stocked the adapter, battery, etc. that they needed. If you don't have the latest generation of stuff the Apple retail stores often don't have any accessories for your stuff.
Apple's retail stores are helpful, but they don't seem to give a damn about keeping accessories for older products in stock. While Apple salespeople will never bad mouth one of their products, I can remember several customers while I worked for Fry's that commented that I knew more than the employees that they met at the Apple Store. The Apple retail stores aren't a bad place to buy Apple products, but they aren't the only place I think one should consider while buying an Apple product.
Really? Then how do you explain that out local Apple Stores still carry the batteries for the G4 Titanium laptops? I don't think you're quite up to speed about what the Apple Stores have on hand.
This is no more than survival of the fittest. If you can't make it in the marketplace, you die, and someone else moves in to take your market share.
Sounds like Iceland should be expecting an invasion any minute.
Sounds like Iceland should be expecting an invasion any minute.
So tell me what happened to Montgomery-Ward, or Hudson, or Nash, or Foremost milk products, or Borden's, or Lucky Lager. We're all still driving around okay, drinking all of the milk and beer we want, and many shop at Sears. Mervyn's is closing, I'll still be able to buy the same products at other retailers, life goes on.
BestBuy is a lot better of store, but It is sad that they are having to shut down so many stores, and all those employees will be looking for a job in a currently near dead market.
Good Luck to those of you.
every time i ever went into a circuit city I would be swarmed by 5 people trying to sell me some sort of trash. Stores were always laid out horrible and them actually having what I needed never happened.
BestBuy is a lot better of store, but It is sad that they are having to shut down so many stores, and all those employees will be looking for a job in a currently near dead market.
Good Luck to those of you.
Those people can go to whoever grabs the CC market share, folks aren't going to stop buying electronics. My best guess is WalMart will grab a large portion.
My closest Circuit City is not only within five miles, it's right next door to a Best Buy. Too bad. I hate Best Buy. Moronic, lethargic sales staff. Dishonest sales. I helped a friend select a laptop for her business. We picked the lowest priced laptop advertised to be on sale. But at the store, they only had "pre-optimized" units left, meaning they cost $50 more than sale price because Geek Squad had already removed all the trialware. I personally think it's their way of actually getting more money for an open box unit, which otherwise should have cost less than sale price.
This is a rediculous statement. First off, the pre-optimized units you talk about are not open-box items EVER. Units are taken directly off the truck, some go to storage, some go to get pre-optimized. At no time are open items ever sold as something other than open items. That's called illegal, and it just doesn't happen.
Second, having been an employee at both Circuit City and Best Buy, I can safely say that, at least as an employee, Best Buy is a MUCH better place to work, at least mine was. At my CC, management didn't give a damn what went on, how sales were, or if customers were being taken care of. Half of the sales staff could have done a better job than our manager. At my BB, it was the complete opposite. Employees were motivated, it was actually a fun place to work, management was effective, friendly, and fair, and above all else, we were the top store in our district for 3 straight years. Circuit City deserves what is coming their way (after firing 3,400 of your very best employees over a dollar or two per hour, any company deserves to go). I have a lot of old friends still at my old CC though, so I hope it can stay around long enough that my friends won't have to go unemployed for too long.