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CC Folds - Burn, Motherfucker, Burn Pt.3
You'll have to forgive me for this, guys, but I've been waiting for this day for a while. I've been watching Circuit City slowly implode, and today it became official. My only regret is that most of the news articles are lumping the closing of CC in with "the economy" and "the recession", when nothing could be further from the truth. The economy could be booming, and trust me, CC would still be sinking like a big lead turd. Let me tell you why. No, I'm not trying to say I'm brilliant enough to have pinpointed exactly when the company started to go downhill (though I have my theories), I'm just saying that the company suffered from some pervasive mis-management, and that was what would have kept it from ever being profitable again. Simply put, the company didn't miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Here's just one example of how:
In the late 90s, Best Buy emerged as the first serious competitor to Circuit City since the demise of Silo Electronics. After only a few years, BB had a commanding lead over CC in terms of marketshare, so CC did the fashionable thing and hired focus groups (ugh) to analyze what brought customers into each store. Many answers were returned, but one that seemed to resonate with upper management was that customers chose to go to Circuit City because it was a quiet store, and they felt it was a very professional and businesslike atmosphere. They could talk to a product specialist and take their time making up their mind, and unlike other places, they could hear themselves think. To them, coming to Circuit City carried the same level of importance they'd give to a visit to a bank or real estate agent, and the level of trust they placed in us was the same.
Upper management took one look at this, and their immediate conclusion was "QUIET!?!? We're QUIET??? We don't want to be known as 'the quiet store'! That kind of image will kill us! Quiet is boring! Our customers want something fun and exciting, to motivate them to spend their money! They'll never want to spend their money in a quiet store!"
So, the decree went out. Stores had to do whatever it took to not be quiet. TVs had to be turned on with movie demos playing at 50% volume, minimum. Home audio and car stereos had to have radios playing. Video games had to be cranked up, and computers were to have at least one laptop with bad-boy speakers hooked up for "multimedia demos". The idea was that you could never go so far away from one sound that another wouldn't start to take it's place. The store was to be "A SEA OF SOUND AND EXCITEMENT". Now, you take that, and add in all the unintended sounds, like phones going off, loudspeaker pages, and security alarms (which NEVER worked right) beeping, and the din was just chaotic.
It was hell to work in, but no one seemed to care because it was 'for the customers'. Yet, the customers didn't like it either. They'd bitch and moan that they couldn't hear our conversation over the noise. They'd complain to the front desk. They'd even walk out in frustration. The ones that went to a manager would be told "Well, you don't understand... this is something you're supposed to like! This way, we give you an exciting, vibrant store instead of a ghost town! You don't realize it, but you like this!"
So, despite constant complaints from both customers and employees, CC maintained their strick pro-deafening policy. All this, mind you, from a survey that said customers LIKED quiet stores. Don't give me any crap about the DOW or the value of the dollar or employment rates... if you have a company where the customers are saying "We patronize your business because you do this!" and your first reaction is to say "Well, FUCK! We'd better stop doing that!" your company will not succeed. Period.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why CC failed. It's not the sole reason, of course, but the poor logic that applied there is the exact same poor logic that applied to every other bad decision they made, which led them to where they are now.
[By:  linkv / 2009-01-17 linkv's Timesheet rule: Today I would like to sit on my couch, watch Star
Trek, eat cheeseburgers and pet my cat. If what you are asking of me does
not involve my couch, Star Trek, cheeseburgers, or my cat, then
my time is billable. Do you still need a favor?]
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I can't stand bb. they're sales staff are clueless. multi card reader? what's that? we don't sell those. It took my friend pointing it out to him and saying it in monosyllaic words before he could get the hint. -AdmiralLaurie
Bad as the RatShack kid who smugly told me "We don't have any metric sized plugs here, only American" when I went looking for a 2.5mm/3.5mm stereo adapter (or 2.mm male / 3.5mm male cable of 2 foot or longer). I said "Really??" He said "Sure." I pointed to the 3.5mm headsets behind him, said "Those there say you either lie, or don't know what you're talking about, since they're all 3.5mm not 1/8 inch". And left. -ralphp1024
My dealings with CC ended when I tried to talk to a manager about an issue I had as a customer and he kept answering his cell phone and telling me to hold on. After about the third or 4th time I walked out I also made sure to direct all my friends to other places. There management Sucked there stores sucked. BB ant much better now days I just buy online lol -Crai
That has to be the dumbest management idea I have ever heard. I will never understand the principal of ignore what the customers are telling you we know what they like. I hate all the noise some stores put on these days, It was great the day the manager forgot to turn on the music at Value Village when I worked there. -Icelator
Here's a few stories that will give more insight: Offsite Link -Starfury
When it come to electronics/computers/parts, buy on-line. -Stryker One
I went to my local CC last Saturday to get a new cable modem. They said they didn't carry them. On my way out, with the salesman still next to me, I spotted the modems and pointed them out to him. They were with the Vonage phone stuff, instead of by the routers (which is where they used to be). It is so nice to have well-informed and knowledgeable sales staff, don't you think? Luckily, it turns out that it wasn't my modem after all - just Comcast's signal to me has been 'turned down'. They come out to fix it Tuesday. I've lost my signal 3 times in the last week. -figglywig
And I'll bet the swarmy suit who made the decision got a massive bonus, vested stock options, and left the company shortly after to spread his expertise. Survivors are left with the fallout. -Wraith556
I agree with a lot of what you say. However, I think there's a significant piece you're missing. Walmart. Yes, them. They've spent a ton of money and effort on improving their electronics section. To me and most of us here at TSC, who care about selection, quality, and such - we wouldn't consider buying that stuff at Wallyworld. We'd probably end up buying most of it online anyway. But to the average idiot out there, they'll go and get a Tier3 LCD TV at Wallyworld and think they're saving a huge amount of money, not realizing it probably won't last them 2 years. -SirJosh
I never liked CC because it was SO obvious their salesfolks were on commision. Example: back in the days before digital cellphones, when analog phones were several hundred dollars, CC had a deal where you got the phone for $0.01 if you signed up for a 2-year AT&T contract. It was a good deal for the time. But the salesdrone spent 15 minutes trying to talk me into buying a $150 service contract. I eventually made it clear that he was p!ss!ng me off royally, and I was NOT buying a service contract. He made a point of actually asking me for the penny I owed for the phone. -rdwells
Kudos! It wasn't just the loud noise that I hated. It was the lack of anything decent on their shelves-if it was even in stock. -MacDaddy
MacDaddy's got it - as an example, I went to a CC for a replacement power supply. I was in a spot and didn't want to wait on shipping. They had a grand total of 3 for me to choose from. Three. It was at that point I never went back. -veaudaux
Bought a decent washer and dryer from them. TEN years ago. Have done nothing but roll my eyes at the computer sales-duds' attempts to snow me on various 'have to have!" systems since then, until I gave them up completely as a waste of time nearly five years ago. Come to think of it, it probably WAS the noise level that drove me out. Good riddance. -emdeebee
I have purchased *exactly* one thing from CC in the last 12 years: A USB 3.5 floppy disk drive. And then, only because they had it in stock and I could buy it online to be picked up that day. Otherwise, they annoyed the ever-lovin' shit outta me. -Grayhawk
I was a proponent of CC and a BB detractor until a few months ago. I would go into my local CC to get something and they wouldn't have it, once I just left what I was gonna by at the register after standing there with other people for a good 15-20 minutes with no employees ever coming near there. Invariably I'd go over to BB and they'd not only have it in stock but for less, and I'd be out of there in 5-10 minutes max... -SirBSOD
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