Comments on: Is There Any Way to Save Circuit City? I’m Not Optimistic–But I Hope So

By: Fact Checker

Fact Checker — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:57:54 +0000

Tim Robertson is wrong. Circuit City did NOT announce they were closing these stores well over a year ago! This is NOT very old news in any way shape or form. These stores are closing NOW not one year ago.

By: Tim Robertson

Tim Robertson — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 02:02:20 +0000

This is very old news. CC announced they were closing these store well over a year ago. They are, simply put, getting their heads handed to them by Best Buy. That, and they seemed to employ the most uneducated people, who from personal experience, knew less about the products they were selling than the customer walking in the door.

By: Jack Diederich

Jack Diederich — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:16:10 +0000

That’s creative destruction at work. Circuit City does things marginally less well than other stores and thems the breaks. I’ve bought TVs, games, and movies at Circuit City over the years but for those kinds of general things I’m as likely to go to Wal-Mart. CompUSA suffered a similar fate – it couldn’t decide what kind of store it was and did nothing well.

If you want a good computer store check out MicroCenter. They stick to their specialization of computer stuff and do a decent job of it (the book selection is kinda meh but they devote 20% of their floor space to it). It is kind of a retail Fry’s.

By: ryan

ryan — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:32:25 +0000

some things about circuitcity that i’ve not liked.

1. computer section was never large/relevant enough.

not enough parts, not a comprehensive enough software library

2. low ceilings

makes it feel cramped and constricted, and i’m not claustrophobic

3. bad lighting

skimp on lighting and it’s like shopping in a cave

4. it’s just not busy enough

i know they can’t help it NOW because there’s not many customers left, but it is a strange feeling when you’re the only one in that store, and you can’t just browse they are all expecting you to buy something…

they need to crank the volume on all the displays, run some movies, some games, dial up the jams in the audio section, make it lively like an exhibition not hushed like a library

5. entrance is cramped.

wide entry on the side of a building is more inviting than a corner entrance. once you get inside you only have 90 degrees of available vision of where you can go, as opposed to a side door where your whole visual radius is taken up. it’s a psychological squeeze that makes the store seem even smaller. and again, i’m not claustrophobic…