So long

and thanks for all the fish...

Circuit City couldn't emerge from Ch. 11 banktrupcy, which means goodbye to the country's no. 2 electronics retailer and goodbye to my job. While I'm not too disappointed about being out of a job in 60 days (didn't really need it), I am not looking forward to going through the liquidation process. We could go on and on forever about Circuit City's mistakes over the last few years that lead to its downfall, (oh wait, someone already has) but that's not the point. I wonder how the market will be with a Best Buy monopoly. Will online sales be up? Will the Best Buy haters convert? Will consumers just rely on Walmart, Target, and other brick and mortar retailers? I'm really not disappointed about losing my job at all, it just sucks to see such a huge company go, along with employment for 34,000 others. What a sign of the times...

I still have quite a lengthy post on consumerism coming up, but I still find it hard to believe how people are behaving now. I went to work on Saturday, unofficially known as Black Saturday, the first day of the liquidation sale, and it was worse than Black Friday in my store. Everything is 10%, with 20% off movies/music, and 30% off cables. The deals really weren't that great, but apparently brought traffic into the store in massive droves. Most people weren't making any major purchases, but buying small stuff like DVDs and CDs. Ironically, last week all CDs were 30% off...where were these bargain shoppers then? Ironically, most of our real Black Friday and holiday deals were cheaper than the liquidation prices now...where were these bargain shoppers then? Apparently, despite our bleak economic climate (the term Circuit City loved to use), people suddenly have money to spend!

I didn't expect customers to be polite and friendly; I did expect some rudeness, and I did expect some crazies, but not at the overwhelming level that I witnessed on Saturday. When I came in on Saturday evening, the parking lot was more packed than Best Buy's for once, there were a ton of people in the store, and it looked a complete mess, as if people were shopping like they were at Ross. I jumped into my normal role in imaging, with a positivie attitude. Unfortunately that didn't last for long, especially after being told multiple times "our goal is to sell, sell, sell...just move product out the door!" and running into some of the rudest people ever. I can't even count how many times I've heard "that's why you're going out of business!" (no shit!) or "I can get it cheaper elsewhere" (duh, so buy it there) or "I want you to give me a greater discount" (that would be considered theft) or "I demand to speak to a manager" (like that will help). People have obviously watched the news or read the articles to know that Circuit City ws going out of business, but clearly they didn't pay attention, as most articles and broadcasts clearly stated that we were now owned by liquidation companies and there is really no such thing as Circuit City anymore. We don't even have a website. A lot of media outlets have even publicized the deception and scheming behind liquidation, but a majority of consumers know nothing of that. They hear liquidation and think "omg really cheap stuff must buy now!" Working retail for 6 months, I've come to realize it's often too much to expect a logical thought process out of the average consumer. Most people also don't seem to care that their 10 - 30% discount is also at a result of of 34,000 people losing their jobs. Actually, some people are extremely sympathetic, but that gets annoying after a while too. Most people have no idea that I'm only 17, so they think I have bills or college tuition and a family to take care of or whatever like 80% of the others getting laid off. Luckily, my store is covered under the WARN act, which ensures I have a job or get paid for 60 days as long as I don't do anything stupid. 

With what I've experienced on Saturday, I don't think I'll stick it out until closing on March 21st. We currently have a make-your-own schedule thing going on, so I can work as much as I want, whenever I want as long as I don't go over 40 hours, but I can't see myself taking advantage of that. The worse part of the day is recovery at the end. Even though there are no more vultures in the store, it looks like a battlefield, so we have to make it look sparkly and wonderful like a brand new store, just as if it was business as usual. When cleaning up at the end of the night, it sometimes looks like people came, in went shopping, and just said "ah, fuck it" somewhere in the process and just dropped everything they had wherever they were. So this is what working at Walmart must feel like...

I'm not really sure what to expect over the next few weeks, or if I'll even be there. If there was just a rush on Saturday and the hype dies down in the next couple of day, I think I can handle it and will stick around, but if everyday will be like Saturday...adios! No need for that much stress over 8 and change an hour. 

Goodbye, Circuit City. It's been an interesting ride...