Current Events > Why did Circuit City fail?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'd go there over best buy
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They had a Wii display box back when they were impossible to find, got halfway to the register before realizing it was empty. I don't like being tricked.
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Greed. Poor selection. Just capitalism doing what it does. It was not like the government was forcing you to shop there.
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They're just the same as all the other big stores... They're going out of business one by one.

Bad pricing, bad selection and I could swear that any lemon I ever bought came from them (including two laptops).

Also I remember the one in my town had CD's thrown everywhere, like there was no organization to it at all.
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Corman321 posted...

They're just the same as all the other big stores... They're going out of business one by one.

I am all for the local owned shops.
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Corman321 posted...

They're just the same as all the other big stores... They're going out of business one by one.

I thought they already were for years now.
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Recently there was going to be a Starbucks opening in a Boston neighborhood and the locals did not want none of it.
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Awakened_Link posted...

Corman321 posted...

They're just the same as all the other big stores... They're going out of business one by one.

I thought they already were for years now.

Yeah I mean all the big stores are going away one by one. Recently it was Toys R Us, currently Carsons is liquidating, Sears is next, soon enough it'll be Best Buy, GameStop, JC Penney... They're all on the way out. Nobody goes to stores anymore.

Awakened_Link posted...

Corman321 posted...

They're just the same as all the other big stores... They're going out of business one by one.

I thought they already were for years now.

They have. Big stores close down yet more are pooping up. Yes pooping because they are shit. However they are closings faster than they can replace in other locations
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People who work in stores will work in warehouses and local shops.
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Corman321 posted...

Awakened_Link posted...

Corman321 posted...

They're just the same as all the other big stores... They're going out of business one by one.

I thought they already were for years now.

Yeah I mean all the big stores are going away one by one. Recently it was Toys R Us, currently Carsons is liquidating, Sears is next, soon enough it'll be Best Buy, GameStop, JC Penney... They're all on the way out. Nobody goes to stores anymore.

Walmart, Target, etc are still going well
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Poor selection and bad prices. Messy stores too. Sort of like the Sears of the electronic stores.

Of course Sears is currently being operated as some sort of money laundering scheme by it's majority owner. It's over my head. But essentially he's intentionally investing money in it even though the writing's on the wall that it's going under completely. He sells off assets like Craftsman from it. And once Sears goes bankrupt he remains principal owner as it's creditor even though he loses his equity stake.
It's all highly scummy.
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Somehow, it always just felt depressing walking into a Circuit City compared to other retail stores. I'm not sure why exactly, but it just did.
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Corman321 posted...

Sears is next

Sears/Kmart could be next, or it could zombie along for another decade. Hard to say. The company is being intentionally ran into the ground, instead of running around in a panic trying to keep the doors open for another six months.

Penny or Macy's is probably going to be next.

Kind of interesting how Home Depot and other home repair/supply stores have been so good at weathering this onslaught of walmart and amazon
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Balrog0 posted...

Kind of interesting how Home Depot and other home repair/supply stores have been so good at weathering this onslaught of walmart and amazon

You can't very well order a bundle of 2x4s or half a dozen drywall panels from amazon. That would probably be a bad idea anyway.

Questionmarktarius posted...

Balrog0 posted...

Kind of interesting how Home Depot and other home repair/supply stores have been so good at weathering this onslaught of walmart and amazon

You can't very well order a bundle of 2x4s or half a dozen drywall panels from amazon. That would probably be a bad idea anyway.

ClunkerSlim posted...

Balrog0 posted...

Kind of interesting how Home Depot and other home repair/supply stores have been so good at weathering this onslaught of walmart and amazon

Cant really buy lumber and refrigerators at Walmart. And people need construction materials on the spot, they cant afford to wait for shipping.

Home Depot and Lowe's have both been very consciously fending off amazon, specifically improving things like the speed an price of their delivery by working on their distribution and supply chain management

it's not just a structural thing where the market they're in 'prefers' brick and mortar, though I am sure that is part of it
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I remember when Circuit City was trying to sell that proprietary DIVX DVD thing. You'd buy the disc and the DIVX Player would burn the disc in such a way that it would stop working in about a week.

It was their attempt to introduce a rental service with no late feels. It was utterly insane.
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Coffeebeanz posted...

You'd buy the disc and the DIVX Player would burn the disc in such a way that it would stop working in about a week.

It was a 'phone home' DRM, in the literal sense. The player wouldn't really function without a phone line attached.

Montgomery Ward. Now that was a store that always felt depressing to be in. Like you could just feel the subpar-ness everywhere.
I got dragged to the malls by my grandparents every single Sunday of my life from when I was a month old (with pictures to prove it) to when she died and still went after because that was the only place to shop for a while.
So 1 of every 7 days in my life more or less was spent at malls from 1982 to 1995.

Montgomery Ward, Harris', Gottschalk's, then Harris Gottschalk's. The May Co. then Robinsons May, Macys, The Broadway. Woolworth, Mervyn's, Newberry's. Then there was Cornet, Fedco, Best (not to be confused with Best Buy).
And of all that only Macys is still around. I think they absorbed half of those other mall stores.

Home Depot and Lowe's are basically immune to Amazon. Home repair items go into the thousands of specific items, many of which you need to see in person or take samples in. Plants, lumber, concrete, framing, doors, etc. Amazon is never taking that.
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Balrog0 posted...

Home Depot and Lowe's have both been very consciously fending off amazon, specifically improving things like the speed an price of their delivery by working on their distribution and supply chain management

it's not just a structural thing where the market they're in 'prefers' brick and mortar, though I am sure that is part of it

I might be part of the problem. I find Amazon prime to be so easy and convenient. And I don't have a car, so its more difficult to travel to stores just to buy something I could easily buy off amazon for cheaper.
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EternalDivide posted...

Montgomery Ward. Now that was a store that always felt depressing to be in. Like you could just feel the subpar-ness everywhere.

It got sucked into the same sort of debt death-spiral that finished off TRU about twenty years later.
Diverting revenue to service debt is less revenue that can be devoted to store upkeep and updates. As the stores get progressively more run down, less people bother to show up, which means even less revenue for store upkeep and updates. Repeat until liquidation.