circuit city has shorted out!

[panthera]

I think Laundress comes closer

to the reality I have seen lately. The fcuking asshole MBAs who have ruined so many retailers these last years do not make the rational decisions Chuck is referring to. Yes, I have worked behind the counter and in sales. These festering piles make the mafia look honest.

I wouldn't trust anything from those bastards, even if it looked originally packed....

Feel very sorry for the little people, hope the shareholders find a way to take the management to court and make their lives miserable.

 

[perc-o-prince]

"The fcuking asshole MBAs who have ruined so many retai

Keven,

These MBA's you speak of don't make the decisions once the liquidation has begun, rational or otherwise. It's all up to the liquidation company (LC), and they make decisions based on getting the most for their investment. From day 1 of the liquidation, CC is no longer in control of CC. The LC owns their stuff and makes the rules. The MBA's are likely the first ones to get the boot because decision making is done by the LC's own people.

Generally, a lot of the employees and some management are kept on for the sale, but they are under the direction of the LC and not, say, CC management. I would venture to say that even today, you could walk into any CC store and find there's at least one rep for the LC in every store overseeing things. These companies run the liquidations like a well-rehersed play.

As far as not trusting the stuff, originally boxed/sealed or not, that's up to the individual. It's the exact same stuff that was there when the store was still CC, except you're buying it from the LC. Now if you wouldn't have bought it from CC in the first place, that's a different story. I've gotten some pretty good stuff at these liquidations, but you have to keep in mind that there are no returns or exchanges.

You can also ask to open the box to check everything out. Buying something electronic? Ask to plug it in! And, surely there will be a pair of "house" speakers you can hook up to, say, a receiver to test it.

They'll stay at 10-20% for a while. It'll take a bit for the discounts to get to 30 or 40%, but once they do, the best goods will be gone. Once it hits 50-60%, you're looking at things like patch cords, toner cartridges, mounting brackets and all of the other stuff that is more accessory in nature.

And, as I said, if any of the CC store employees are even half good at their jobs, they'll get work in other stores. Retail managers are always looking to upgrade their staff. The ones that didn't know the merchandise to begin with, were of no help to customers, and were only there for the paycheck (as others referenced above) will be asking "paper or plastic" as they should have been in the first place.

Chuck

 

[panthera]

Good Advice, Chuck

Except, hate to say it, but the liquidators are also frequently the same asshole fcuking bastard MBAs who have ruined the economy.

I teach the jerks, know where they end up.

Gods, I hate that company.

 

[tolivac]

Its happened-just like Linens and Things-the "Going Out of Business" sign has now appeared over the Greenville Circuit City store.Vultures-I mean customers are looking around the "streets" for "Bargains"So far in that shopping center several stores are shuttered,dark,and empty.Bet the shopping center owner is thrilled about this.So if you want to lease store space--theres lots of it out here.The discounts so far are 10 and 20% depending on the items.

 

[whirlcool]

I wasn't aware that The Sharper Image also closed down. I only bought one item from them back in the early 80's, a radar detector for my car that had the unit hidden behind the grill of the car with a remote sensor mounted on the dash. Kinda cool.
I thought they offered neat items at exhorborant prices. In this day and age people don't often have enough money to buy stuff that's neat.

 

[launderess]

Like I Say

Ahem:

Loading…

www.mercurynews.com

 

[tolivac]

Like some of the other "vultures" circling the "kill"I was looking for bargains-but didn't find any as reasons in Launderesses link points out.Yes-you could get better prices at the neighboring Best Buy-and you could get service or return on the BB item.Guess will see as the sale goes on.Yes-"GAG" the liquidator-is trying to get the most out of the "kill" too-they are more of the "vultures" than the customers.
Sharper Image--Remember them from years ago-when I lived in the Wash DC area-they had a store in the Tysons Corner shopping center-was fun to go to their store and try the various gizmos and gadgets.Better than the catalog.You could try the items and buy them.I didn't buy anything at the time--the gadgets were cool-but the prices weren't.

 

[perc-o-prince]

Ahem, ahem, yourself.

Oh, yes, Launderess, I see the headline you've posted. Once again, you're displaying some ignorance as to the running of a liquidation sale (as are the people complaining that they're not getting something for nothing yet).

The discounts are off of full retail, a.k.a. Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price (MSRP). Those discounts will go higher and higher as time goes on. Every liquidation I've seen in at least 20 years runs the same way. Start at retail price and take the discounts from there.

Expecting prices to be lower than any other retailer is ignorant. The "staff writer" of the newspaper you provided the link to is merely making up news him or her self. At this point, it's no better than the average Sunday ad. Prices are bound to be less at other retailers for certain goods. In some cases, MUCH less. These are 'loss leaders' for the other merchants. They bring people into the store in hopes that they'll buy more than those particular goods.

If you want fire-sale prices, go to a fire sale. A liquidation sale isn't a fire sale. The best you can hope for at this point in the CC liquidation is to get 10% off of something that would normally never be discounted.

Chuck

 

[launderess]

Listen Pal

Be little more careful who or whom you refer to as "ignorant".

It may come as a shock to you, but not only does one have two degrees from a top college in retail business, one of them is in sales and marketing.

Furthermore spent more time working in retail stores than care to remember, and have seen many a bankruptcy sale.

In the case of CC, this is the second go around for us as we had the local CC store go through the same thing not three months ago when CC started shutting down some stores.

Then as now the thing was joke. As the linked story stated, the items that moved first and fastest were items such Wii, Playstation and other game related items that never go on sale. So saving 10 percent,even off CC's inflated prices, wasn't that bad. Electronics and the rest were priced higher, in some cases much higher than not only Best Buy (which was right down the street), but many other stores locally as well. A quick Google search of a item number would bring up several stores, and CC's prices were always the highest.

When CC first started the local bankruptcy sale for this particular store, discounts ranged from 10% to 20%, with higher discounts mainly on DVDs, CDs and non-electronic items. When the liquidators came in the actually RAISED prices on many items and in some cases reversed discounts. Items that had been 20% off the day before, were now 10%.

And for your information, the local Best Buy matched any price one brought in from the closing CC store down the street.This was not just for "loss leaders", but for ANYTHING. If you purchased the item at BB, and saw it at CC for less (after the discount), all you had to do was bring something or way for the manager to verify the fact, and you got your money.

Yes, the longer one waits the prices should come down, but you take the risk of what one is wanting won't be there. However at current CC prices there is not much to loose by waiting, as stated previously prices are still going to be lower most anyplace else.

While visiting the local CC each day on my way home from work, there was more than one person there taking notes and comparing prices. More often than not they all left empty handed saying the same thing. Prices were still to high and they didn't care if waiting meant they would loose out from getting an item at CC. There are so many other outlets for electronics, and prices are coming down anyway due to the global recession.

 

[DADoES]

Friend went shopping yesterday for a TV, called me for advice. She had already decided against setting foot in CCity.

 

[perc-o-prince]

Beg pardon, but,

I did not call you ignorant. That would have been ignorant of me since I don't even know you. Just voiced that I thought you were displaying some ignorance in this matter.

And re: "loss leaders," I didn't say anything about price matching or the like. I don't know where you got that from. I was making the point that sometimes prices at other merchants will be MUCH better, like when they're loss leaders for that merchant.

As far as a liquidator raising prices (I assume you mean above MSRP), I have yet to see that in about 20 years of practical experience in retail. The prices have all started at MSRP, otherwise known as "The Price Is Right" pricing, and have been discounted from there. If you've seen priced raised above MSRP for a liquidation, stay away from that store!

Chuck