Consumerist reports on some bad news today. It seems that Circuit City, the giant electronics retailer, is planning to close 155 of its stores. The news comes as no shock to those following Circuit City’s recent tumbles in the stock market. Consumerist says,
“According to anonymous insider tips, Circuit City is closing 155 stores and withdrawing from 12 markets. This will be officially announced tomorrow at 8am, says our source. A scan we received of a letter distributed to CC employees helps corroborate the story.”
The story goes on to say that Firedog positions at those stores will most likely be the first to go.
This is sad news. No matter what you might think about Circuit City and its policies and quality, it’s always disheartening to see so many people lose their jobs. It looks as if the service departments will be the first to get their pink slips and that means that a lot of our fellow technicians will soon be out of a job.
This is likely to be a lesson to other big retailers. They’ll want to avoid the mistakes of Circuit City. Here’s what NOT to do:
- Don’t fire all of your best employees and hire lower paid unskilled and less knowledgable people.
- Don’t rip your consumers off with prices that are so much higher then your competitors.
- Don’t position your stores so close to your (bigger) competition. (<cough> Best Buy.)