Circuit City's Karmic Backlash, Or Why This Company Deserves to Go Belly Up
By: Catzmaw
Published On: 5/2/2007 2:23:24 PM
This morning's Washington Post carried the story of Circuit City's poor showing last quarter despite having cut all its most senior and highest paid sales and customer service people in an effort to boost profits. The WaPo reports that Analysts said Circuit City had cast off some of its most experienced and successful people and was losing business to competitors who have better-trained employees.
There's more
In a stunning example of how well "analysts" and "company spokesmen" are able to ignore the 800 pound gorilla in their midst we are told that Circuit City's spokesman said it was too early to tell whether the dismissals had caused any of the falloff in April sales.
"We will continue to monitor that," said Bill Cimino, a company spokesman. "Only two or three salespersons per store were impacted on average. Others were customer service representatives or warehouse employees," which would point to other factors for the drop in sales, he said.
Not to be outdone yet another analyst also puts in his two centsAlthough the impact on Circuit City was "sudden and severe," there could be other reasons for slower television sales, including a "softening of consumer spending," Mike Baker, a research analyst with Deutsche Bank wrote in a report released yesterday.
I would suggest that all these high-paid and utterly useless analysts and company spokesmen go to the comments section of the WaPo article if they want a clue to the big mystery of why Circuit City is losing money.
It's the CUSTOMER BOYCOTT stupid!
Dozens of customers have logged on to express their outrage at Circuit City's callous canning of their most senior and loyal sales staff and customer service representatives. These people averaged many years at the company and their so-called "high" pay was usually $10 per hour. Circuit City and the ivory tower analysts who pontificate about what makes economies run are ignoring the public relations debacle brought on by ordinary people's revulsion at Circuit City's behavior. Over the years I have purchased computers, peripherals, software, and other electronics from Circuit City, but I will echo here what others have said in the WaPo comments and say Never Again will I set foot in a Circuit City store and that I will be sure to ask everyone I know, including my three electronics-addicted children, never to patronize Circuit City again. Analyze that.
Comments
Need for good sales staff (PM - 5/2/2007 9:12:33 PM)
We have been very tentatively exploring high definition television. (We don't really watch much television, but we watch a lot of movies, and specials like the Planet Earth series.) It's a complicated purchase, and I'm sure not going into a store where the sales people don't know what they're talking about.
I'm guessing that other consumers were/are in the same boat. Having been in similar situations where sales people were not knowledgeable, I've just walked out (politely, of course).
Plus it's always good to support progressive stores. Wegman's, for example, consistently is highly ranked as one of the best places to work.
I stopped... (Terry85 - 5/2/2007 10:36:23 PM)
doing business with Circuit City two years ago. I absolutely refuse to even go in the store because of a "run in" I had with an extremely rude manager there once when I was attempting to get information on where to get my laptop I had bought in the store repaired (and when I emailed corporate about it, he actually called me and CONFRONTED me over the issue), and because every time I go in there, I feel like I'm more qualified to work there than most of the employees.
The Onion on electronic stores (Andrea Chamblee - 5/3/2007 10:50:03 AM)
I am so glad they now have a wahington, dc edition.
Here is the latest Circuit City store story:
http://www.theonion....
Here is the Radio Shack story that could just as easily be Circuit City:
http://www.theonion....
Radio Shack the funniest (Andrea Chamblee - 5/3/2007 10:50:51 AM)
"FORT WORTH, TX-Despite having been on the job for nine months, RadioShack CEO Julian Day said Monday that he still has "no idea" how the home electronics store manages to stay open.
""There must be some sort of business model that enables this company to make money, but I'll be damned if I know what it is," Day said. "You wouldn't think that people still buy enough strobe lights and extension cords to support an entire nationwide chain, but I guess they must, or I wouldn't have this desk to sit behind all day."
I love the place (Different Drum - 5/5/2007 2:53:52 AM)
Can't help myself. The prices suck, the service is a little desperate, and I'm often the only one in the store. But I love Radio Shack. I get stuff there I can't find anywhere else, and it's just down the road. I can buy thermal paste, audio jack adapters, oddball power transformers, rechargeable phone batteries, and an infrared room-to-room remote extender on the same trip. What's not to love?
the $10/hour figure (Not Robert Roberts - 5/4/2007 10:36:01 AM)
was an average for all CC store employees. The wages of those who were cut were all much higher than that with some approaching 18-20 dollars per hour.
Don't get me wrong-- it still sucks and CC is still making some terrible moves, but I just wanted to try and clarify that number.