Circuit City's Job Cuts Backfiring, Analysts Say

[OhioChick]

Source: Washington Post

Wednesday, May 2, 2007; Page D01

Circuit City fired 3,400 of its highest-paid store employees in March, saying it needed to hire cheaper workers to shore up its bottom line. Now, the Richmond electronics retailer says it expects to post a first-quarter loss next month, and analysts are blaming the job cuts.

The company, which on Monday also revised its outlook for the first half of its fiscal year ending Feb. 29, 2008, cited poor sales of large flat-panel and projection televisions. Analysts said Circuit City had cast off some of its most experienced and successful people and was losing business to competitors who have better-trained employees.

"I think even though sales were soft in March, this is clearly why April sales were worse. They were replaced with less knowledgeable associates," said Tim Allen, an analyst with Jefferies & Co.

In particular, the televisions showing disappointing results are "intensive sales" requiring more informed employees, Allen said. "It's a big-ticket purchase for somebody. And if they feel like they're not getting the right advice or are being misled by someone who doesn't know, it would be definitely frustrating. They will take their business elsewhere."


Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/01/AR2007050101623.html?hpid=sec-business

[momzno1]

1. not to mention

that people like me will never shop at circuit city for anything again due to the firing of those employees.

[hvn_nbr_2]

35. Exactly what I thought when I saw the OP headline

"Analysts" can analyze (i.e., rationalize) all they want about it, but I'm sure there are a lot of people like us who just won't include CC on the list of places to shop for something. Also not to mention the former employees who probably shopped there a lot and now have no income or desire to shop there any more.

[merci_me]

57. Me too. I hope they are forced

reduce prices in ads to attract customers, so we can all take those ads to competitors who have a policy to match the prices. Then if people will send a copy of their sales receipt to CC. Then maybe they'll learn a lesson and other retailers will get a wake-up call.

[BonnieJW]

41. Me, too.

I sent them an email letting them know that neither I nor any member of my family will ever shop there again. We recently purchased 2 HDTV's and they didn't come from CC. That's $1200 they didn't get.

[jhrobbins]

51. Where the heck did you get TWO HDTVs for 600 per?

I can't find even one for 1200 (sorta). I've found some brand I don't know for 900.

[whopis01]

59. You can get an LG 20inch LCD HDTV for 599.99 from circuit city...

479.99 with their discount...

[badgervan]

72. I'm With You

After purchasing many expensive items from Circuit City for many years, I too will never buy from them again. To punish loyal long-time employees for greed is happening way too often in our country since Ronnie Reagan ushered in the era of "greed is good". Maybe companies will realize that loyalty to it's employees matters if enough of us say to hell with them.

[wellst0nev0ter]

2. LOOOOOOL!

There is a God :rofl: :rofl:

[Vinca]

3. Does it occur to them people need to make a decent wage

to purchase the crap they sell? I'm boycotting, too.

[Kber]

75. There's a story about Henry Ford showing the head of his union

around a totally automated plant.

After the tour, he asked "So, you think you can organize these workers?"

The union guy answered "I don't know Henry. You think you can get them to buy cars?"

[Sherman A1]

4. Good News of sorts

I emailed CC and told them I would not shop in their stores again. Not that I really ever did much as they never really were convenient for me to do so. Nevertheless, we all need to email them (easily reached through their website). Also this thread is about what I have been seeing of late in my neck of the woods. For whatever it's worth....


http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Sherman%20A1/7



:thumbsup:

[rpannier]

8. Your description seems typical of most areas of the country I've been hearing about

But, as long as the rich get richer this admin is going to do nothing about it.

[Maeve]

5. The people they need to fire are making the decisions

And pulling down huge salaries for pretending to know more than they do. The Dogberts and pointy-hairs, in other words, who can't tell a company's true assets from a hole in the ground.

[Lithos]

6. Stupid move

Go ask Home Depot about their ex-CEO's attempts to adjust labor practices of a few years ago where similarly they drove out the DIY experts (mostly retired contractors who wanted the extra income) who helped drive upsell and kept people coming back for their next project; cost them big in market share.

Stupid git believed it worked because it didn't have an abrupt change, but when looked at over a multiple year time point, customers were moving on.

You can't spreadsheet these kinds of things, all it shows me is that the CEO does NOT understand the business he is in. Not good for CC in the long run for a variety of reasons.

[brg5001]

45. It worked for ex-Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli

Nardelli decimated what Home Depot employee loyalty remained by severely cutting back on staff hours and juggling schedules so that people COULDN'T get second jobs. They had to be married to the company while pulling down 8-20 hours per week.

Meanwhile, this prick bailed out with a payoff worth about $200 million. That's 200 MILLION DOLLARS. On his watch, numerous highly talented employees quit and sales growth evaporated. Yes, the housing bubble burst, but Lowe's grabbed business from HD by emphasizing consistency and SERVICE.

One of the employees who left in disgust was a close friend who is a degreed horticulturist. He had worked in the garden center and offered knowledgable service. His hours were cut from 32-36 hours per week on a fairly predictable schedule to 8-15 hours per week in a bizarre, random, unpredictable pattern. Everyone in the store was subject to this abuse so that a stuffed asshole could take home a little extra change when his plan unravelled. That stuffed asshole was Bob Nardelli, ex-CEO.

We're taught in Economics 101 that it's the job of the board of directors to keep close tabs on the operations of the company for the benefit of the shareholders. The market is supposed to reward companies that do so. And it does -- in the very long run. But by then, the company may have been looted by managers (or shareholders who consist of investment bankers or private equity firms) who can take the hobbled company private, hollow it out with debt, and foist it back on the public market.

Once you've got your $210 million, who gives a crap about what punishment the "market" will exact on the company, its small shareholders, its employees or its communities?

All of these shenanigans can be summarized as a crime called "fraudulent conveyance". They're called by other names -- "private equity deals", "leveraged buyouts", "operating bankruptcy", but somehow, a majority of the corporation's stakeholders get screwed while a relatively small group of insiders get rich -- REGARDLESS OF WHAT THE MARKET SAYS "SHOULD" HAPPEN.

So our glorious market punishes people with no power, whose conduct should entail individual rewards, and rewards people with power whose conduct should actually be punished. Part of the reason that this happens is that Economics 101 assumes that regulators will ensure that boards of directors actually serve shareholders and their larger communities. HA! That's not going to happen until management is not allowed to nominate directors or select audit firms, or until we go to a shareholder voting system that allows far more control over managerial perks, pay and parachutes. Or, better still, a system that allows workers at least some ownership stake in the company. GASP! Employee stock ownership! How Marxist of me!!!!

Yes, in the long run, the market will reward the best-managed companies. But as liberal economist John Maynard Keynes put it, "In the long run, we're all dead." The Bob Nardellis of the world get paid, and the rest of us are screwed. Conservatives who love all this say that we're anti-market and advocating "class envy." Give me a bloody break.

PS: My horticulturist friend? He started his own licensed online bamboo nursery and it's going very well. I say we all go on strike or start our own businesses...or both.

[Gman]

7. I will never set foot in another Circuit City again

and I'm not alone.

[AndyA]

9. I wrote to Circuit City, and told them this would happen.

When you go into an electronics store, you want employees who know what they're talking about. They know which items have the lowest rate of return, which are the most dependable, which models are newest, what improvements have been made to them, etc.

A new employee, making minimum wage, does not have the benefit of that history, and has no real reason to gain product knowledge, because it's just a temp job. They will move on to something better as soon as they can.

Our throw away society must learn that it should not tolerate this type of behavior by employers. We lose more than we gain when we support this anti-employee attitude.

[Vinnie From Indy]

21. I agree

It seems insane to replace skilled, knowledgeable sales people with clueless, disinterested sales people when you are selling a number of high ticket, complex items like home theater systems etc.

Sadly, CC has probably started into a slow decline that will affect thousands of others. Even more tragic is the fact that the author of this strategy probably got a huge bonus and will end up leaving for a better paying gig.

[NewJeffCT]

27. I know - there is a big difference

between buying a small transistor radio back in the day and buying one of those new LCD or Plasma TVs for $1,500 or more, and then spending several hundred more to get a good home theater system, and possibly still more to get it installed.

[jhrobbins]

52. I went into a store to find out about the difference between plasma

and LCD and was told that one was darker and one was lighter. So, there you go.

[louis-t]

79. My favorite story from buying my first CD player...

ABC Warehouse, young couple trying to decide between 2 Sony models calls the salesman over: "This one is $349 and this one is $379, but we would like to know what the difference is." I swear on my life, the salesman said "30 bucks."

[jhrobbins]

89. Another example of the 'dumbing down' of America...

[KansDem]

100. Here's another example...

Several years ago I went to a New Year's Eve party out of town (about a hour's drive). As I arrived in the town, I thought I'd better get some gas while the stations were open, thinking that I might not have enough gas to get back home after midnight when many of the stations would be closed. So I pull into the first station I saw and pumped $8.25 of gas into my tank. I went to pay and gave the clerk a $10 bill and a quarter. He pulled out a calculator to figure my change. I don't know, maybe I'm being unreasonable, but I just assumed the change was obvious...

[louis-t]

103. Jeez, I used to figure the sales tax in my head

when I worked at a burger joint at 15 years old. I would see kids that had worked there for years still perusing the tax table laminated into the counter.

[Morgana LaFey]

107. I've got a funny story (or pathetic, actually) about a McDonald's

clerk -- the registers were down and she was trying to figure out the correct amount to charge the customer. Tried a bit, then was very frustrated, turned to her colleagues in the back and said, "Anybody know math?"

Hilarious, but very sad at the same time.

[KansDem]

97. My second to the last trip to Radio Shack resulted in a similar experience...

I wanted to replace the needle on my turntable (ok, ok, I know turntables are passé, but I've got a substantial collection of LPs) and had the old needle with me. The clerk took forever to try to figure (unsuccessfully) out what needle to order since RS doesn't carry needles anymore. I figured I would have to order one (see previous comment), but never figured that the clerk couldn't figure out which one to order...

The last visit was last Christmas. I wanted to check into a portable electronic chess game for my son. Although I found what I wanted, my experience with the staff was less than satisfactory. They dressed like slobs and had little, if any, customer-service skills.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

10. BOO fucking HOO, CC.

I wrote you then that I would not return until you changed your policies. Well, the talented old employees have not returned, and nor have I. Looks like I have a lot of company.

Fire those MBAs and CPAs who have run your company into the shoals. Rehire those you canned.
Then, apologize.

America is waking up to corporate responsibility. You are the first of many casualties. Certainly not the last. It may become necessary to go Chap 7 or 11 because of your MBAs' heartless, shortsighted, ill-planned, and stupid bizniss plan.

[kysrsoze]

23. This isn't about MBA's and CPA's. This company does everything it can to go out of business

I'm an MBA and have a number of friends who are MBA's. You're associating professionals who work very hard with a relatively small number of sycophantic ladder climbers and bumblers who got their positions via connections and bullshitting, not performance.

The problem with this company is their inability to deal with dwindling sales. I've joined the boycott, but recently walked into one of my local CC city stores to cash in a $50 gift card I had. Almost 50% of the store is occupied by big-screen TV's. Less shelf space is being devoted to everything else. The music and video section is worse than that of Wal Mart. They sell no appliances, vacuum cleaners, air conditioners, etc. The number of available computer peripherals is dwindling. Unless you want a TV, a low-end camera or a Verizon phone (all of which are available elsewhere), there is almost no reason to go there.

When you walk into Best Buy, there are tons of CD's, movies, computer accessories, appliances, etc. Then you have the Magnolia mini-store inside Best Buy selling high-end, high-margin home theater electronics. They also have Geek Squad tech support. Circuit City completely forgot about stacking sales, impulse buys, service and high-margin sales.

Circuit City sells too few products and got into tech support too late. There's absolutely nothing to differentiate them from Best Buy and online stores like Amazon and Buy.com. It's not as if Best Buy has much better employees. I've met really knowledgeable and helpful people, as well as complete dimwits, at both stores. The firing of its highest paid employees was a desperate and idiotic attempt to cut expenses, rather than increase sales and margins. It's just another nail in the coffin.

[quiet.american]

28. Nice analysis. n/t

[NewJeffCT]

32. Best Buy has seemed improved the last few times I've gone in there

It used to be that you would go into the local Best Buy store and there would be "nobody" around to help you with any questions. (there was even a parody of that on the web that made it into the Lounge here on DU: "Local group dresses like Best Buy employees and goes into store, but actually helps customers.")

However, I went in a few times before Christmas last year when thinking about a GPS system for my wife's car, and also for some "hands free" devices for our cellphones and I got very good help both times. And, then a few months back, we went in again and got some good information about televisions.

[kysrsoze]

34. You're right. They are getting better. I used to hate Best Buy, mainly for their dumb salespeople

But we ended up buying a kitchen full of appliances there last fall and my fiance bought a TV from a guy who really knew what he was talking about. I still hate some of their marketing practices, like the magazine subscriptions at the checkout counter, but they are much improved. You still run into some not-so-swift types sometimes, but I think you'll get that anywhere.

[bullwinkle428]

55. Apple is re-introducing their products into some Best Buy stores -

apparently using the "store within a store" concept. I guess this has been tried before, but Apple probably wants to try and take advantage of consumer reluctance to make the switch to Vista. It makes lots of sense to me, as the closest Apple store is about 2 hours away for me.

http://news.com.com/2100-1041_3-6078784.html

[wildflowergardener]

81. Best Buy

We don't shop at Best Buy anymore - which is why I wasn't happy to see Circuit City doing this.

My parents bought a digital camera there, and when they brought it home they found that the lcd was cracked, and the company would not exchange it for a new one. If they are going to have this policy they need to open it in the store in front of you to make sure nothing is wrong and post big signs or something that defective items are not returnable (that's likely to happen).

We won't go to a company who won't even exchange defective merchandise.

Meg

[NewJeffCT]

95. were they able to get their situation resolved?

Unless the item was specified "as is", I would think they could at least write to their state consumer bureau and/or the BBB. I've had good luck here with Connecticut's Department of Consumer Protection. But, we're a pretty blue state.

I think there is some sort of minimum requirement for returns, if I'm not mistaken.

[wildflowergardener]

106. return

They had to get it fixed by the manufacturer.

Meg

[BonnieJW]

44. Maybe they woke up.

My husband went into a Best Buy about five years ago and wanted to purchase a TV. He couldn't get anyone to help him even though serveral salespeople were standing around. He announced loudly that he wanted to buy a TV and was anyone interested in selling him one. No one moved. My husband left. We haven't even considered going into a Best Buy for any reason.

[NewJeffCT]

47. My brother had a similar experience years back

at a different store (since gone out of business) - but, he is kind of short and always looked younger than his age. He went into this fairly high-end store and was prepared to drop $1,000 cash on a pair of Bose speakers. However, because he looked like a teenager at the time, and was wearing jeans and a sweat shirt, nobody helped him.

And, on a different note, I usually dress decently when I go out, and being male in my late 30s, you would think these guys at Best BUy would be falling all over themselves to sell to me because I'm in the demographic that has money to spend on their bigger ticket items. But, I couldn't get help at a Best Buy in years past. Heck, my wife is a very attractive woman and you would think some of these geeky guys would be falling over themselves to help her... and, even she struggled. (I say that as a geeky guy myself!)

[Bravo Zulu]

61. Be careful of rebates at best buy

I bought some PNY memory and sent in for a $8.00 rebate and PNY isn’t honoring the rebates, granted $8.00 isn’t much but it is the idea, I reported them to the PA AG, I leaned my lesson on PNY but will be more vigilant in the future, best buy has already lost some of my business!

[democrat2thecore]

77. Not to mention no more "Mail-in Rebates" at Best Buy!!

They listened to the customers and they are now gone. I hated those things.

[TygrBright]

94. We'd shop at Best Buy fairly frequently if they'd do something about...

...the horrible bloody NOISE. Every time we go in, there is a music video playing on DVD at full volume, plus some TV ad playing at full volume, plus one or more kid(s) playing demo video games at full volume, plus some CD player going at full volume, and all of the noise verberating and reverberating around the huge, high-ceilinged, sound-reflective spaces until it's just an incomprehensible, cacophonous assault.

We never go there to browse, though we'd probably like to if it wasn't for the noise. We only go in when we know EXACTLY what we want, exactly where it is, and there are enough cash registers going that we can buy it and get out before I end up with migraine. Too bad, because their selection really is pretty good and we're planning to purchase a television early next year and would like to do some research. But I think we'll probably end up buying online, instead.

regretfully,
Bright

[daleo]

65. It sounds like they just wanted to sell the high profit margin stuff

A lot of businesses make this mistake, it seems to me. Someone "discovers" that they make a lot of their profits from product X, so they decide to mostly sell product X, forgetting that the other things often bring people to the business in the first place.

[formercia]

11. The Bush-Bot School of Corporate Management

The results speak for themselves.

Brought to you by the International Chamber of Commerce.

fucking over the little guy.

[Craftsman]

15. Yep, there is a reason the call it the Human Resources Dept

You are nothing to them but a number.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

37. I have this theory about HR:

It's where all the Psychology and Sociology graduates go, after they come to the realization that they hate people.

[LostinVA]

76. That's been my experience, too

[martymar64]

101. I learned to hate people in HR

I was a nice person until I got a job in HR. Then ever so gradually over my three years there, I became increasingly misanthropic and bitter.

I'm glad that's over, now I can get on the long road towards liking people again.

[blondie58]

12. serves them right

when will companies learn that profit is not everything.

Unfortunately, it seems to be a sign of the times. My company, the USPS and my union, National Association of Letter Carriers are headed to arbitration over our contract. The USPS wants to do major contracting out and we don't feel that it is in the best interest of the public. Sure, they would save a lot of money not having to pay benefits, but at what cost?

I don't want my personal information or the security of the arrow key- the key that can unlock ANY mailbox in just anyones hands.

[formercia]

14. Private contractors collecting personal information

Where you shop, what bills you pay,who you write to. I can see lots of problems there.

[zalinda]

16. What contracting? The public would like to know n/t

[TygrBright]

98. Well, this postal customer is on your side, blondie58!

Even though I currently live in a postal district that takes immense pride in giving worse service than you'd get in a corrupt third-world dictatorship where the postal service was handed over to the dictator's idiot brother-in-law.

I HAVE lived elsewhere and I think that with the remarkable exception of where I live now, letter carriers and other postal employees are some of the most conscientious, hard-working, high-performing individuals in the world, and give some of the most amazing service. I mean, think about it! I can get a 1 oz. letter from DC to LA in two days for FORTY CENTS! Still one of the best deals on the planet. And back when I lived in Chestertown, Maryland, once when the letter carrier came by and I was in the garden, he stopped and asked me if I knew whether our neighbor was on vacation or not. Seems the neighbor had always, always stopped delivery when she'd gone on vacation in the past, and the previous day's mail was still in her box, and he was concerned.

I was able to tell him that she had been taken ill and her daughter had come to take her home and look after her while she recovered, and he said "Oh, I know the gal who does her daughter's route, I'll have her take around a temporary forwarding form!"

Now THAT is service. Yer not gonna get that from contractors who are paying cheapest possible, shuffling low-wage workers around, etc.

So y'all hold out on that one! You guys put up with enough from those assholes as it is! (I have a friend who endured nearly 3 years working at a REC, I swear her e-mails from that era could be put together into a book titled "How To Abuse Employees.")

supportively,
Bright

[kurth]

13. Home Depot redux

Idiots.

[JPZenger]

17. Hershey Co. Shutting Down 5 Factories

On a related front, the Hershey Company (makers of Hershey Chocolate, Reeses,etc) will soon be closing 4 factories in the US and Canada, and they closed another last year. They also are cutting 1,000 jobs at their plants in Hershey PA. They are shifting much of their production to a new plant in Mexico plus "contracting out." They originally said the Mexico plant was mainly for serving overseas markets, but that turned out to be a lie.

They also are seeking to weaken the FDA Federal definition of "chocolate" so that they can make it without any cocoa butter.

"Hershey's - The Great Mexican Choco Bar"

[formercia]

20. Judging by all of the adulterants coming from foreign sources

they may have a hard sell.

This is a great chance for enterprising americans to bring back wholesome, locally produced food.

Let them sell their crap overseas.


We like to drive across the border to St. Stephen NB to buy Ganong chocolate. It's a real treat.

http://www.ganong.com/about_us/index.html

[B3Nut]

29. That will be good for the local chocolate shop's business

They have a range of high-end single-origin chocolates and other goodies, as well as baked goods, espresso, and free wi-fi. :) Even the entry-level (1.75 per bar, and fair-trade) Columbian chocolate mops the floor with anything you get in the mass market. It gets pricey, but if you're going to go for a treat, make it a good one!

Sounds like Hershey's is moving from acceptably mediocre to forgettable crap. Sad, but that's Corporate Amerika for you...

Todd in Cheesecurdistan

[hippiechick]

40. "Cheesecurdistan"

LOL! Never heard home called that before!! :applause:


:hi:

[B3Nut]

80. Well, it DOES fit....

;)

Especially the fried curds up at the Grumpy Troll in Mt. Horeb....mmmmmmmmmmmmm....heart attack on a plate but DAYUM they're good!

The Michael's joints in Madison have some rockin' curds too. Love those things...I had never seen them before first visiting Wisconsin in '02. I guess they worked as a lure, since I ended up moving. :D (Well, my then-GF/now-wife was the biggest factor..hehehe)

I've also called it "Beerbratistan" on occasion...in honor of all the beer and brats (mmmmmmm yummy!)

This state is hell on one's waistline, however. ;)

Todd in Cheesecurdistan

[hippiechick]

82. I've actually gotten fatter since I left WI ...

... stuck in Indiana, not much to see - not much outdoors to do.
Funnel cakes and deep fried goodness everywhere. :(

I miss WI terribly, especially the Madison area.


:hi: You're lucky!!

[Auggie]

48. Hershey's is crap when compared to Scharfenberger, Guittard, etc.

Yes, it costs more. But it's the same with most everything else out there -- you get what you pay for.

[jhrobbins]

53. I don't like Guittard, but I love Scharfenberger.

[KurtNYC]

68. Chocovic - a whole different creature

Chocovic sources from Ecuador, Venzuela and Trinadad. They use pure criollo in one of their bars - absolutely the most taste you will find bite for bite. Criollo is the the most flavorful strain. It was all but wiped out decades ago and what got replanted was the heartier and blander forastero. Central American chocolate smokes other sources (africa, madagascar) IMHO.

http://www.finedarkchocolate.com/Chocolate/Chocovic/index.asp

try the Ocumare (trader joes sells it) - and it is not pricey.

[jhrobbins]

88. Thanks Kurt - I'll try it

[lefador]

38. Even less cocoa butter?

I am a Chocoholic who grew up in the old world... so chocolate is like a second religion to us :-), and I can't stand anything that Hershey's makes, mostly because it has almost no cocoa butter and I like chocolate with little sugar, not sugar with little chocolate. I'll take a good bar of milka any day.


Anyhow, it seems that most American plutocrats have never consider that if they ship all the good jobs overseas no one here will be able to afford their cheap crap. I mean what is the point of selling cheap crap when no one can afford it? You simply can't "spreadsheet" common sense.

[philly_bob]

43. I'm curious. What US chocolate bar comes closest to your old world taste? /nt

[brg5001]

49. Ghirardelli Gourmet Chocolates

The best US Chocolate bars are Ghirardelli Gourmet Chocolates.

I'm also getting into some of the Organic chocolate bars (not necessarily American-owned, but who cares? We don't grow cocoa here!). Green & Black English Chocolate is AMAZING.

Hershey's plan to reduce the amount of cocoa in chocolate by changing the definition of chocolate is a disgrace. What's next, fish-free fish, orange-free oranges, oil-free olive oil, etc? It's madness.

[kimmylavin]

56. We always joke about...

We always joke about "mockolate" and "fishstacios" - mock chocolate and pistachios made mostly from fish products - that Monica had to try to come up with recipes for on "Friends." Seems they're going to be headed in to the market after all! (*ew*)

[lildreamer316]

18. No one could have predicted this.

:sarcasm:

[hatrack]

19. My experience EXACTLY

I went into CC a few months ago (pre-job cuts) to get some advice on buying a new stereo. I've been out of the loop for years and was clueless about stereo vs. home theater, etc.

Anyway, I asked the first two people I bumped into in the audio department, got snippy, dismissive answers and headed out the door. Went down the street to Best Buy and (to my stunned surprise) got a polite, responsive and comprehensive rundown of all my questions, along with a demo of various speakers & receivers. And when I finally broke down and bought a new system, it was at Best Buy.

Hmmm . . . I think there's some sort of lesson in here for Circuit City, don't you think?

[TommyO]

60. I bought a Sharp Aquos at CC before the firings

When I went back after the firings, I found out that the surprisingly well-informed sales person who helped me with my TV was gone (I went back specifically to find out). I let the store manager know that I wouldn't be buying anything else there because of the firings - though he couldn't agree with me that the firings were bad, I could sense that I wasn't the first person he had spoken with about this and was resigned to the fact that he had lost customers because of corporate garbage.

[Bob3]

22. gee what a shock.

A CEO makes a stupid decision. Let's see if he gets fired - or a bonus which the corporate world's medal of freedom.

[electricmonk]

87. I beleive he's retiring early this year

There was something in the paper a week or so ago about it but I can't find anything online at the moment. Of course he made 17.1 million in 2006 so if he does step down he's not going to be hurting like this guy.

"Most of that compensation came from the value of stock and options granted to Schoonover upon his promotion to CEO in March 2006. The stock and options had an estimated value of $16 million when they were granted.

Schoonover received a base salary of $894,615, according to a proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He also received $208,447 in other compensation, including $97,971 in use of the corporate aircraft and $50,000 for relocation expenses that were not otherwise reimbursable."

http://www.abcmoney.co.uk/news/01200764339.htm

[mwb970]

24. Duh.

This was as obvious an outcome as the Iraq War. I didn't really care for CC before (Best Buy seems, well, better) but after the firings I swore I would never even enter any of their stores ever again. Who needs them?

The management behaved in an arrogant, foolish, short-sighted manner. Oh, well. If the company goes under soon enough, they may be able to get jobs in the Bush administration.

[NashVegas]

25. Corps and Stockholders Only Cares About This Quarter's Stock Price

It's great if you are buying shares to turn around and sell. Not so great for dividends, is it?

[EnviroBat]

26. GOOD! F*%K THEM!

And every other one of these fascists corporations that sell out hard working people for their bottom line. Fuck Hershey too! I went to Best Buy recently and the people working there couldn't recite the alaphabet much less answer a question about flat panel HDTV's. But at least they tried. Fuck Circuit City, they'll be gone in the next year anyway.

[Javaman]

30. I see CC tried the fast food mentality of hiring...

If you have read Fast Food Nation you will see that Mcd's and the rest are trying to stream line there work force to the point that no training or experience is required but at the same time the employee learns no new work skills. In other words "disposable employees".

They just wanted breathing robots to point people where to go.

fools.

[rocktivity]

31. Candidate for this month's "You Call This NEWS?" Award

Apparently, they've learned nothing from Jessica Lynch and Pat Tillman. They BRAG about replacing their more expensive employees with less expensive ones in order to increase their profits--and they don't understand why their profits have gone DOWN?

:rofl:
rocknation

[winston61]

33. it's easy to wish misfortune on Circuit City and they

have brought this on themselves. But who is really suffering? The execs who fucked the company? No. For these morons there is always another job, another company to move on to and destroy. The working men and women who took it up the chute and wound up jobless are the ones who pay the price. If you think age discrimination does not exist, think again. Once you are over 40 the job market can be a closed place. Keep in mind that greed never travels alone. Greed's companions are always stupidity, blindness and deafness. Greed, like rust never sleeps.

[brg5001]

46. And it's remarkable that shareholders screw themselves

By continuing to allow boards to select incompetent, self-serving managers. I guess when it's all over, they can laugh over cocktails and steaks at the 19th hole while their ex-employees struggle to pay their mortgages.

See my earlier post in this thread,
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2831095&mesg_id=2831350

[Mind_your_head]

64. May I use that line sometime?

Keep in mind that greed never travels alone. Greed's companions are always stupidity, blindness and deafness. Greed, like rust never sleeps.

[winston61]

78. yes, by all means do use it

with my blessing.

[Lautremont]

36. Come on, people, look at it from their perspective.

"We're greedy and short-sighted. What choice do we have?"

Corporate idjitism strikes again. It's a wonder any of these maroons stay in business for a week.

[lefador]

42. They don't

... that is why they go from business to business ruining them in the process. But what are you specting, business accumen from a bunch of idiots who spent $100K on a degree to learn that they should buy low and sell high?

[Lugnut]

39. Good!

It serves them right.

[Hobarticus]

50. And that magical "invisible hand of the market" strikes again...

Fools.

[brg5001]

54. Yes, the invisible hand that exacts punishment on bad actors

NOT! Somehow, management's mistakes (intentional mistakes) end up punishing employees who are intelligent, knowledgable and hardworking. Ooops! I keep hearing that by merely upgrading our skills, showing up earlier and taking better care of customers, we're supposed to get a big payoff. Looks like it's back to the economic drawing board!

Yet the Horatio Alger myth lives on, and on, and on....

[Hobarticus]

66. If there's ever been an example of exactly why good employees

need to be valued, this is it. This is like Business Management 101 stuff, right here.

I find it hilarious to see the company faltering after short-changing their customers, by canning good people and replacing them with lower-paid, less-experienced staff. And that much-ballyhooed "market" has spoken.

[Flatulo]

58. Oh, don't even get me started on corporate governance...

My last company was run into the ground by a gang of pirates who paid themselves hundreds of millions of dollars while sales and revenue plummeted. These idiots plundered the place to the last tangible asset and then sold the scraps. They've now moved on to a new host to feed on.

These locusts come in, fire all the top employees, move all the direct labor jobs to China, then lose the recipe for how to build the product. They then declare that the "system" worked, and a weak company went to a well-deserved grave.

You can blame Bush for this, but the current culture of executive narcissism goes back to the 80s. The difference is that is now having macro-economic effects; ie, executive compensation is sucking measurable amounts of wealth out of the economy. In the 80s they were content to make a few million a year - now they need to make 100 million. It's a game to them.

My blood pressure went up 20 points just thinking about this.

[Flatulo]

62. Oh yeah, one more thing...

The gang of locusts from my previous post even hired an Executive VP of Executive Compensation. Guess what her recommendations were? Yep, more "competetive" packages (read: more $$$) were the answer to all the company's problems. What a surprising outcome *that* was.

I still believe in capitalism, but this system has gotten way off track. There is absolutely no correlation between pay and performance, at least in the upper teirs.

I used to joke that our VPs could come to work every day, and do nothing but masturbate in the bathroom and go home at 10:00AM, and they would get million dollar payouts. About all they had to do to earn their money was to NOT FRIGGIN' DIE. If you read their employment contracts, you saw things like "the first year bonus plan objectives will be deemed to have been met on the first day on the job"

Un-freaking believable.

[KurtNYC]

63. As someone who sells electronics, I love it when my competitors fire

their best sales people!

And big flat screen TVs are crappy quality. All the customer cares about is how big is it and what does it cost. The LCDs are horrible resolution, and they pixelate. The plasmas are even worse since they commit all of the LCD sins plus they posterize and fade. A good salesman can put the customer on any model he chooses because it is so easy to spot the flaws in "the other ones"

(btw, I don't sell TVs)

[BlooInBloo]

67. Good - fuck them and their anti-labor practices.

[leftofthedial]

69. capitalists--and capitalism--are profoundly stupid

you can ruin ANY capitalist with a short-term appeal to greed

[Flatulo]

92. Not a smart one... only stupid ones lack long-term vision.

The Japanese and Koreans have 50 year plans. We don't even have 50 day plans.

Capitalism isn't the problem, it's that the tax code and corporate law has been abused to favor short term gains.

I say tie coporate compensation to long-term success, not short term stock fluctuations that can be easily manipulated.

[leftofthedial]

108. regulate capitalism to the point that it isn't capitalism anymore

and it might have some limited usefulness

[gravity]

70. Circuit City makes all their profits selling TVs

Without quality salespeople, their profits will dwindle. The CEO was just looking for an easy way to cut labor costs, thinking he can do the same thing for much cheaper.

[diamidue]

71. More likely, they were driven out by WalMart

Evidently, the big flat screen tv's that Wal Mart started selling made up about 50% of sales and profits at stores like Circuit City. Trying to compete with WM may be one reason they felt they needed to fire their higher paid employees.

I'd bet that lack of "knowledgeable" sales people isn't hurting electronic sales at WalMart.

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2007/04/27/PM200704276.html?refid=0

[onehandle]

73. Good. nt

[Xithras]

74. Well, duh.

My wife and I were in Circuit City looking at plasmas just last month. I walked out when the sales associate claimed that there was no difference between a 1024*768 screen and a 1280*720 screen. When I pointed out that 1024*768 is XGA, not HDTV, he looked at me and said "XGA is the same thing as HDTV".

I'll never buy another TV from them. Even the associates at Sears were more educated about their TV's, and that's saying something.

[Oilwellian]

83. I'm another one who wrote CC at the time they canned their reps

It's good to see so many DU'ers did the same thing.

[Lochloosa]

84. I purchased a 40 inch LED TV and surround sound from them

before they announced the firings. Rob, my saleman, answered every question I could think of, showed me many options on the surround sound and helped me convince my wife that we REALLY needed it.

I went back last week just to see what happened to him. He was gone and so was my business with Circuit City.

[slackmaster]

85. The San Diego store's shitty service policy was enough reason for me to stop shopping there

That was about 18 years ago. I haven't set foot in that or any other CC store since then.

Fuck them.

[StarryNite]

86. It sounds like Karma

bit them in the ass!

[Initech]

90. CC's stores are the most poorly organized places I've ever been.

I hate going to one of them and not be able to find what I'm looking for. Fuck 'em, that is what I say.

[mvd]

91. Serves them right

That's what they get for being cheap and unethical. I haven't shopped there at all since I heard.

[shaniqua6392]

93. I would not go in a Circuit City if they were giving shit away for free.

Not after what they did to my fellow Americans trying to eke out a living. I used to shop there....but we will not even step foot in there ever again.

[McCamy Taylor]

96. Too bad they didnt fire 100 overpaid executives instead. Then they would be in the money.

Everytime a company cuts employees wages, that company is doing its part to bring about the Second Great Depression, by reducing the ammount of money the American worker has to invest in the economy and by increasing the ammount of bad credit floating around. And company's like Circuit City wioll be the first to go under when we go into a Depression.

It is true. A capitalist really will sell the rope that is used to hang him.

[madrchsod]

99. the store my son worked at hired devry students

the older guys sold appliances,home stereo,
and tvs and the devry guys sold cd`s,car stereo,computer stuff. they made over 9 an hour part time plus a small commission and got really really good discounts on merchandise. the full time employees made base plus commission. it was`t a bad place to work back then...

[shenmue]

102. Good. They suck.

My father went there and said nobody knew how to do anything. They'd fired all the people with experience. He left without buying anything.

I'm not going in there again either.

[Nikia]

104. Of course, companies should realize that employees are an important resource

I could have told them that it was not in their best economic interests to fire the employees who could really sell products. Maybe, business managers will finally learn.

[JerseygirlCT]

105. I looked there when I was buying a new computer

the sales staff was so completely ignorant, and pushy, that I left right away. Their prices were nothing terrific, either.

Smart sales staff are very important, especially when people are making what can be major purchases.

Stupid move on CC's part.