Circuit City was one of the most successful electronic speciality stores in the 1980 and 1990s. After that time period the store never changed.
A main reason for the downward spiral may have been because of the failure to secure prime real estate. Most circuit City's were out of the way for consumers. A second reason may have been that Circuit City stopped selling appliances. A big success for competitor, Best Buy. Third, with new technology Circuit City just didn't keep up. Circuit City never did in store promotions with the newest technology like Apple and the IPod which Best Buy made huge profits from. The biggest mishap may have been the neglect of building up a website like Amazon.com or Best Buys user-friendly web page. With the new generation everything is based off online shopping. Circuit City did not keep up with the current times.
According to the Times, one of Circuit City's biggest downfalls was basic inventory management. The management didn't know how to move their inventory.Leaving all of the old merchandise in the stock but was unable to move in new products, which enables them to pay off the debt from all of the old merchandise. With all of the debt equals more debt until finally, bankrupt.
Another key issue that drove customers away was the decline in customer service. The company was said to have laid off its top hourly employees, and replaced them with workers that were payed less, losing focus of the customer and services, according to consumerist.com
I did take advantage of the discounted merchandise when Circuit City had it's Going Out of Business Closeout. I think it was the second time I have gone into a Circuit City, and now I know why I didn't go before!
CITES: *Times Magazine time.com
*Consumerists.com
Photos by: PhotoBucket.com
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