Is it Any Wonder This Place is Going Out of Business?

By: Mr. Wilson on January 19, 2009
My father and I stopped by Circuit City over the weekend. We weren't really looking to buy. We were more interested in seeing what sort of deals, if any, they were offering. The sale was pretty simple: 10% off everything; 20% off CDs and DVDs; 30% off cables. There were a few deals to be had, but most of the time I kept thinking how much cheaper I could have bought items online. Many of the employees were hilarious. Not in a funny-ha-ha sort of way. More in a "you suck, this job sucks, this store sucks, now quit bothering me" sort of way. The contempt for customers was like something out of a movie. Not that I blame them. Would you be in a good mood if your employer had gone belly-up, but since you still needed the job you had to stick around only to be besieged by a flock of vultures looking for a deal? Then there was the huge line of people waiting to pay for their purchases. Nothing says "screw you" to customers like making them wait 30 minutes for the privilege of handing over their money. Can you tell I won't mourn Circuit City's departure? Anyway, did any of you pick up any good deals at Circuit City this weekend? I may check back in if the discounts get steeper. Then again, so will everybody else.

Comments

See what your friends and neighbors have to say about this.

West A Dad
January 19, 2009 at 3:20PM

they had the “you suck” attitude. Went there once to get a gift card for a co-worker.  Never went back.

What retail could fill that store and a need in Lincoln??

jwiltshire
January 19, 2009 at 4:18PM

Agreeing with West A Dad.  I haven’t noticed a change in their demeanor to customers one bit.  There’s a reason why I drive to Best Buy a few miles away even though Circuit City I can literally see from outside my window.

Andrew
January 19, 2009 at 5:52PM

I haven’t been to Circuit City since I’ve lived in Nebraska. The last time I went, was for something really specific that happened to be on sale. That was probably 6 years ago when I still lived in southern California. The service sucked really bad then, and I pretty much have been going to best buy ever since.

Fletch
January 19, 2009 at 10:23PM

Again I will say this - what I will miss the most about Circuit City is their ad pricing. Quite often they would have the best price anywhere in their Sunday ad. However, since shopping there is such a pain, I always just take the ad to Wal-Mart for a price match. Same price, better experience, closer location. I would say that I averaged one Circuity City price match every 60 days in 2007 and 2008.

As to what could go in the empty store? Ugh. It would be a good place for something like Michaels or Hobby Lobby. They like the locations with traffic (that the mall delivers) but they like having their own entry. Not sure either of them needs another location in Lincoln. Maybe another Westlake Hardware or something like that.

CP
January 20, 2009 at 3:51AM

I had not been in a Circuit City since I visited one in Denver in 2002. I remember that the employees were not only annoying, but they were dangerously un-knowledgeable. I actually interrupted one who was giving a lady in her 50’s misinformation about a computer cable. I never returned.

...until this Saturday. I’ve been shopping for a certain TV, and wondered if they had it, and if it were on sale. Mr. Wilson’s description is dead-on accurate of the employees and the situation inside.

BTW - they had the TV, and had one in stock. With the 10% discount, it was still $350 more than I could buy it on Amazon. Coincidentally, Amazon was running free shipping on that TV over the weekend. One guess what I did when I got home.

Fletch
January 20, 2009 at 5:15AM

Stopped in there tonight. Doesn’t really look any different than before. Plenty of merchandise, plenty of crappy employees. 10% off is not enough to entice me to buy, nor is 20% off CD and DVD - Amazon still beats them.

Maybe we’ve all been overlooking Amazon as a possible culprit in all this. LOL

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