Last night, Circuit City was put down like a cancerous dog with rabies. When I was younger, I used to love going into this store and "shopping". Although I did visit Best Buy for most of my electronic needs, I always appreciated what Circuit City had to offer. Of course, that all changed once I got a job there. . . .
Circuit City was quite possibly the worst job I have ever had. Everytime I entered those sliding doors, a huge wave of dread consumed my body. On paper, this job seems like a paid vacation. During the interview, they convince you that all you do there is hangout and tinker around with all the fun "toys" they have to offer and occasionally assist customers. This is probably the complete opposite of what you have to do. Retail in general is a horrendous occupation but Circuit City decided to take it to another level. While other stores would just have you greet the customer and inquire about there visit, Circuit City took it a step further by FORCING it's employees to had them utterly useless pieces of paper that described the companies empty promises. Also, management forced employees to use ridiculous selling rubrics to push products on to people. These were constructed to help employees cover their bases when involved with a sale, however, over time, it became a chore. ( I could get into some liquidation horror stories but I may save that for a later time)
While I understand that the two methods mentioned above were created so that the company could make more money. It inevitably, in my opinion, killed it. How annoying is it to be constantly harrassed while looking at a prospective purchase or aggresively pushed into purchasing a warranty you have no need for. These tactics began to decrease the customer base of Circuit City exponetially. Before liquidation, there were nights where less than two people would come in and we were still held accountable for not getting any sales.
Another key factor that lead to Circuit Cities demise was the companies overall structure and decision making. While the in-store managers were fairly competent(I never really agreed with some of the strategies of some of my managers, I knew deep down that they had good judgement), upper management seemed to be completely and utterly clueless. Ciruit City was never wise about spending money or creating new revenue streams.
The more and more I researched about Circuit City the less and less I liked. For example, a few years back. The company decided to lay-off a large percentage of their top salespeople under the guise that they were costing them too much money. These employees were with the company for years and had a large a loyal customer base. So when those employees left, they took all their contacts and leads with them. So, where do you think all of these newly unemployed sales people with exceptional sales expertise and a strong loyal army of customers went? . . . . . . .If you guessed Best Buy you would be correct. However, they didn't just go there, they went everywhere and helped those companies make more money. While the decision to cut jobs and operating costs is never easy, it shouldn't hurt you in the long run. Circuit City may have saved money that year but how much money did they loose in the long run? Given their present circumstance I'd say too much. .
Their marketing campaigns were always few and far between. Think about all the Best Buy/RadioShack/Wal-mart ads you have seen in the past. Now think about the amazing Circuit City ads you see on TV. . . . . . This is may become very difficult because there aren't many to begin with, let alone, interesting enough for anyone to remember. I remember during one of our nationwide mandotory store meetings, we were made to sit down and watch these pathetic TV spots. It was almost laughable. It became even more laughable when I realized the only place these ads were being aired were on the Weather Channel.
In my opinion, CC should have concetrated more on sponsoring events or doing building more business to business relationships. Imagine if CC was to sponsor a concert or have an exclusive deal with a MAJOR business or an interesting product. The exclusive thing I have at CC was a printer and some ink. It was also one of the worst printers I have ever seen. Now, those people not only have a terrible printer, they have no easy way to get ink for it. . . . . .
My previous employer, Hollywood Video, also declared bankruptcy. Now that I think of it, CC and HV are very similar in nature. So why is Hollywood Video still around and CC dead. In my opinion I belive it was the fact that CC could not find a more useful way market their name. Circuit City relied heavily on two things, low prices and word of mouth marketing, the same way HV does and still does to this day. However, if you want to be the market leader in electronics you need a little bit more than just hope people tell their friends about the store. This strategy works for HV because they are in an entirely different market where that is acceptable. Big-Box retailers should not be taking on tactics of "mom and pop" stores. I did notice that there were a few loyal followers that would come in pledging allegiance to Ciruit City and spewing hatred for Best Buy. However, for every one person that hates Best Buy there is another hundred to replace them. People used to tell me during our liquidation sale that they "hate going to Best Buy." I respond the same way everytime and say"Apparently, not enough. . . "
While Circuit City did have a long tradition of fairly decent customer service and some pretty low prices, it wasn't enough to save them. I would love to say that I am going to miss visiting/working at Circuit City but I would be lying. In fact, I am mildly satisfied with their demise. I do hate the fact that myself, as well as thousands of people are out of jobs but I feel like that's the best thing for us. I have witnessed tons of my fellow employees sad and depressed over their current situation, solemnly counting down the days until the store would breathe its last breathe. I say screw that way of thinking. This is the best day of your life. No longer will you have to be held down by a failing company. No longer will you have to make yourself enjoy what your doing. Everyone will go onto bigger and better things. I know it's hard with the climate of the economy but anything worth having is worth fighting for. . . .
Ciruit City will not leave any legacy. It will be in the news for a few weeks and then slowly fade into obscurity. A few years from now it may become some silly pop culture refrence on a television show or thrive online as a web-based retailer but it will never be what it once was. Many people have stated that the world will end with not a whimper but a BANG! The complete opposite could be said about Circuit City. . . . . .
-Superman does exist, and he is American. .
No comments:
Post a Comment