Been There, Done That

Posted by Michael Reagan

on Monday, November 3, 2008

Today was a rough day for many Circuit City store teams. It was announced today that Circuit City will close 155 stores in order to keep the company in business. If history repeats itself, and it usually does, the bell will soon toll for the remaining divisions and stores of the company. Circuit City was founded in 1949 as The Wards Company. For the next 60 years the company has seen its share of failure and fortune. Many are asking how did a company once more powerful than Best Buy fall so far. The answer, they worked hard at it.

Circuit City didn't get to this point overnight. Many believe that the decisions made by management over the last 10 years helped lead it to this point. It is thought that Circuit City's downfall began when they discontinued appliance sales back in the early 2000's. This was done at a point when the building boom in the United States was just beginning. They effectively gave up billions of dollars in sales because they felt they were not making enough in sales to justify carrying them.

In 2003 the company gave up on it's commissioned sales staff. The first of what would be nails in their coffin came in 2007 when they laid off over 3,400 employees. They felt were being over compensated for their position. This all leads up to today. 155 store teams lives turned upside down. I know what they are going through. It was almost 3 years ago that I was in the same predicament they are in now. I remember receiving an e-mail on the night of December 4th. It was for a manager's only conference call. On the morning of December 5th, I called in and was told that effective January 5th, I would no longer have a job.

I was in a state of shock. I couldn't believe that something I put 12 years of my life into, and had every intention of spending the rest of my working life doing, was now over. First it was shock, followed by anger, then finally disbelief. While it's very sad that another retailer is falling by the wayside, the American Consumer should really begin to take note. You see, slowly, but surely. we are losing places to go to find specialty items. I first took notice of this when Comp USA closed last year. Now all I have available to me when I want to purchase PC components is Best Buy, Office Supply Stores, or the Internet.

While everyone loves to go to Wal-Mart under the auspice of saving money, we are losing variety in this country. If Circuit City closes, where does that leave me to find electronics?
All I can say is that I wish the best for those 155 store teams. I know many of you feel like your world has come to an end. It hasn't. You will pull yourself together and find something else. I did that two years ago, I haven't regretted it since.

Keep Moving Forward!