I’m thinking about running right over there to get a job. Who needs job security these days anyway.

Actually… This picture reminds me of a local furniture store that has had a “going out of business” banner up for the last 10 years, but has yet to close it’s doors. I think it would be rather amusing if right before these Circuit City locations are ready to close they suddenly find enough capital to keep them open, and we find out this was all a ploy to help them dump off a lot of old stock.

The sad thing about Circuit City is that they really did not need to close so many stores. A simple restructure of the stores would have done wonders for them. During my stint in retail management I spent 7 years running a department store’s electronics department, and got to see the effects of Best Buy on our sales when they opened. What Circuit City did to respond to Best Buy was the wrong move. They remodeled their stores, but tried to keep a showroom style which just does not work these days. Not to mention whoever was in charge of their layouts was probably on some drugs at the time… My local Circuit City decided to put computer displays at the front of the store while the PC accessories were in a back corner… Honestly until last year I didn’t even know that stuff was back there. They also stuck video games at the very back of the store… Bad idea there.

I know when my store came under threat of Best Buy we responded by forgoing the showroom style and going full big box. Pack the shelves with merchandise, and focus on self service. Honestly It worked. During the whole time I was there we had 20-30% sales increases every year, and never really even noticed Best Buy’s impact on our sales. People don’t want to ask for assistance these days… They just want to walk in, grab what they want, and get out. I suspect after I left my store it did even better as the guy who took over for me really believed in the “stack it out” philosophy, and regularly stacked piles of merchandise right in the aisles. In my opinion Circuit City would have done well to employ this strategy, and probably would not be in the jam they are in now if they had simply changed with the times. Get the merchandise out on the sales floor, and come up with a sensible floor plan… Those two things work wonders in any modern retail environment.

On November 3, 2008 Circuit City released the list of 155 stores it will be closing in order to scale back it’s operation and avoid bankruptcy. Oddly 2 of the 3 stores in my town are closing leaving the only one way on the other side of town. One of the stores they are closing here was just completed and opened only a few weeks ago. Wonder how much they spent on that store just to open and close it within the same month. When I worked retail we spent $200,000 one year just to remodel our electronics department… I can imagine what a whole store must have cost. I really feel sorry for the employees at both locations that are closing here as jobs in this city are extremely hard to come by at the moment (I know this as I’ve been searching for a part time job myself to earn some extra winter cash).

I’m sure Best Buy will be thrilled though… Their store is right across the street from one of the Circuit City’s that is closing, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t buy the new location that is being vacated as well. Perfect location with no competition, and already conveniently set up for an electronics store.

The list of stores that will be closing after the jump.