Circuit City bites the dust...

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GeorgeC

Circuit City bites the dust...

Post by GeorgeC » January 16th, 2009, 11:01 am

Another casualty of the economy is biting the dust...

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Circuit-C ... 83094.html


Basically, the remaining stores are being closed. Expect high discounts on remaining inventory as nobody wants to buy the chain.

All complaints about poor service and lack of competitive drive aside -- which is what's driving Circuit City's demise --, a bunch of people are going to lose their jobss.

Sad, very sad, but this is going to happen more often until the recession settles out and we start to climb out of it.

Yes, this is related to animation in the sense that another venue for people is drying up.

In lots of places, your only option is Wal-Mart or whatever's sold at the local supermarket.

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Re: Circuit City bites the dust...

Post by EricJ » January 16th, 2009, 2:49 pm

GeorgeC wrote:All complaints about poor service and lack of competitive drive aside -- which is what's driving Circuit City's demise --
Not to mention an entire generation of big-ticket home-theater fans that STILL blames CC personally for DIVx...
Ten years, and the stigma never went away. :x

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Post by James » January 16th, 2009, 3:01 pm

Circuit City has been in trouble for a while now. This has been a long time coming.

What's weird is that electronics, computers, the whole "digital lifestyle", etc... is so much a part of our lives, yet so many big stores that cater to that are going under -- CC, CompUSA, Tweeters...

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Post by Daniel » January 16th, 2009, 4:54 pm

Tweeters? Never heard of them.

Speaking for myself, this is sad news for the people who are losing their jobs. I know how it is currently and it's very sad. On the other hand, I could care less since it's Circuit City. I hate them. Whenever they had something I wanted, they didn't have any in stock. Doesn't sound that bad on the surface, but when it happens on more than one occasion, it starts to get annoying. And the staff, it was always a hassle to find someone to ring me up. My Circuit would never have anyone on register. I don't know if it was just mine, but yeah, it sucked. (among other complaints that I won't bring up)

For the past few months, I haven't even bothered to go, much less care about their ads. Why bother? When I found out a whole bunch of them were closing shop, I was shocked to see mine survive. Yes, it really was that bad. My Mom even said recently "how have they not gone out of business yet!?" Well, now I can tell her they have. In a nutshell, this news is bittersweet. Hopefully those who are affected make it out OK.

I'll pay my condolences by taking part in their deals... if any.

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Post by James » January 16th, 2009, 8:30 pm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tweeter_(store)
(have to copy and paste that URL since it is cutting off the last part)

I don't care about the staff since when I go to those places I know exactly what I want or need so I can safely ignore them. But it sucks not having much choice when you need some obscure wire that regular department stores don't carry.

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Post by GeorgeC » January 16th, 2009, 10:26 pm

To tell the truth,

I've developed a real big appreciation for Radio Shack.

When I need quality cables that I don't want to pay out the nose for (I'm looking at you, over-rated Monster!), RS is the place to go. Their brand of cables has never failed to work for me and I DO find what I need practically all the time I visit.

When I need an AC adapter so that I don't have to buy batteries for a portable radio when I'm near a power socket, RS is the place to go.

If I need advice about recording audio or finding a part, RS is the place that usually gets me the help I need.

Granted, I usually go to RS only when I'm sorta desperate, but it hasn't failed me the last half-dozen times I've needed it and I remember things like that.

I've been to Circuit City, CompUSA, and a bunch of those glorified electronic shops and frankly I rarely have bought things there. The staff generally hasn't been that good and when I was in the market for a new printer after my last one died, CompUSA didn't have anything in stock that suited me.

The redshirts at CC aren't generally much help, either.

As much as I sympathize with people losing their jobs now, CC's had it coming for a while. It's not much help for a bunch of people and frankly I think the stores have been going downhill even before Chapter 11 and now the announcement of the closings.

I expect another major franchise -- possibly Toys 'R Us -- is next...

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Post by Daniel » January 16th, 2009, 10:41 pm

Over my dead body! I already lost KB's. :cry:

But seriously, I don't see them being next, heck I hope no-one else goes out of business. Mervin's is gone, KB's is gone and... I forget the rest (shows how much I cared, huh?) R us has exclusives, and I haven't heard them doing too bad, financially.

Why can't Dominoes go away, I hate their pizza!

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Post by Neal » January 16th, 2009, 10:51 pm

There was an awesome toy store called Zainy Brainy when I was a kid. It went out in 2001, but, that was a hard-hitter for me. It was a very special occasion every family trip to the store.
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Post by Daniel » January 16th, 2009, 10:58 pm

Zainy Brainy!! I remember that store, didn't know it went out of business though. I found a couple of rare toys, stuff I never saw elsewhere. Pretty big store, they even had on occasions a guest reader.

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Post by James » January 16th, 2009, 11:31 pm

I worked at Toys R Us for six years! They've had trouble since Walmart added more toys. But Walmart has no where near the selection of toys. Toy manufacturers better hope TRU stays afloat or there will be hardly any outlet for their stuff.

Radio Shack is OK, but if you're not there to buy a phone I can't get anyone to check me out at the register! And they're pretty expensive.

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Post by eddievalient » January 17th, 2009, 8:41 am

I agree. Usually, I only go to RS if I need blank discs and can't get to walmart (which is 30 miles away). Last summer, I needed an S-video cable but the lowest price at RS was $30. I waited and found one at walmart for $5. I'm not making this up.
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Post by Neal » January 17th, 2009, 11:51 am

Wal-Mart's toy selection is horrendous. I had to do charity secret Santa shopping through the Student Council and on one of the boy's lists he asked for (thankfully, this restored some of my hope in today's youth) 'science stuff'. He broke that down into a rock tumbler kit, a microscope, bug collection kit, etc. Wal-Mart had not one of those. Nothing at all. All they sell are board games and licensed toys. When I was a kid, the aisles were "puzzles", "crafts", "baking", "tools", etc. Kids wanted to imitate life and play doctor, scientist, chef, detective. Now the aisles are "Hannah Montana", "Dark Knight", "Neopets", "Jonas Brothers". There isn't one aisle at my super Wal-Mart (and it's the biggest in Wisconsin) that isn't a licensed product. That really rubs me the wrong way. Sure, when I was a kid I had Thomas the Train and Dragon Ball Z - but I also had a schoolhouse set, detective kit, a microscope, etc. I played fantasy and dress-up equally. Today's kids are only into the fantasy aspect and that's probably why today's children are so focused on getting rich quick, being material, and wanting to be famous. Ten minutes of American Idol auditions shows how far we've slid.

GAH!

/rant
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Post by GeorgeC » January 17th, 2009, 10:28 pm

For some of us on a budget (including me!), you might want to check out Big Lots.

Seriously!

I remember when I went into my first one over 20 years ago. It was a junky store full of "cr**" to be charitable. Since then, they've started carrying discontinued items, leftovers and overstock from chains like Best Buy, as well as (I think) some of their own brand stuff.

Big Lots has definitely grown into something a lot better than it used to be. Think of it now as the evolution of the old corner drug store/Montgomery Ward for the 21st century. It's really not that bad and you might find some really good stuff there!

If you don't mind slightly out-of-date DVDs, you could find a gem in the rough from 3-5 years ago. I saw some anime videos at the store I went to selling for $3 a piece, 4 for $10. Granted, it was nothing I wanted and I passed. You also won't find Disney stuff there to be sure, but something else might pop out.

It's also worth looking in in their electronics aisles. I bought a new mousepad for 79 cents, a new pair of comfortable iPod earclips (brand name iLuv available in pearly green, blue, and black colors) for $9, and the remake of "Attack of the 50-Foot Woman" starring Daryl Hannah on DVD for $3! Then, on the way out, I bought myself a strawberry shortcake ice cream treat for $1!

$15 for 4 things! How many places can you leave now paying so little for that much stuff?

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Post by Ben » January 18th, 2009, 10:39 am

We have the same thing going on here: Curry's, PC World and Dixons are all apparently in danger and were looking to good Christmas sales. It's a good time to buy: everyone is cutting prices to compete for you cash, which is why we laid out for a new TV as it was too good to pass up.

But generally, average non-geeks are saying "hey, I can deal with my old TV set...I don't need this or that". With enough of these people not going into stores to buy all the upgraded products, the more specialised establishments are finding it hard to continue.

We don't have Radio Shack here, but Maplins does the same job. I'm often in there if I need a decent cable or want to have a customised one made up for me.

But you know times are tough for everyone when you walk into a Costco and even <I>they're</I> priced a little more than the average high street stores!

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