Black Friday showdown: Best Buy vs. Circuit City
My partner and I decided to brave the Black Friday crowds and got up at 6 a.m. to do some bargain hunting.
We planned to head to Circuit City first, given that its day-after-Thanksgiving sale had the most things we wanted. When we arrived at the suburban Los Angeles store--nearly two hours after the store had opened--there was a long line of people just waiting to get in the store.
Customers, including AJ, wait in line at Circuit City in Van Nuys.
(Credit: Ina Fried/CNET Networks)Figuring that the most-sought-after items were likely gone anyway and that the line might be shorter in a few hours, we headed to the nearby Best Buy in Sherman Oaks. The parking lot was certainly well filled and the store busy, but neither was overflowing. I'm sure there were plenty of people in line at 3 a.m. for the cheap flat-panel TVs and other doorbusters. But when we got there, some of the smaller items were still available and we walked out with $40 worth of stuff, including one season of the Office, the movie Borat and a Wii game that AJ wanted.
We moved on to Target, which didn't even seem busy for a weekend day. I picked up another season of the office and a couple of shirts and we made one other stop, before heading back to Circuit City. This time, we made it in without a line. Nearly the whole store, though, was filled with people waiting in line. After a quick assessment, AJ grabbed a spot in line while I picked up a few items from our list, including a 2GB flash drive for $7.99 and some West Wing and NYPD Blue seasons for around $15 apiece.
After half an hour, AJ had hardly moved forward in line. I left to get him a cup of coffee and returned 20 minutes later and he had still only inched forward in line. We tried to investigate the source of the holdup.
Whereas Best Buy had specific lines for the types of products people were buying, Circuit City had the lone checker for each line, head throughout the store to pickup big ticket items, such as a PlayStation 3 that someone ahead of us wanted. That move, along with what seemed to be the most outdated computer system I'd seen at a electronics retailer in some time, slowed things to a crawl.
The sign on the floor at Circuit City read 'wait,' and wait we did.
(Credit: Ina Fried/CNET News.com)I took the time to interview a few of my comrades in line. Matt Kaplan of Sherman Oaks had just a few DVDs, but told a friend on his cell phone that at that point it had become "a matter of principle," though he told me he was probably not saving enough to justify such a long wait.
A few spots further in the line, Nestor Gomez of Van Nuys said he didn't mind such a long wait, saying the price for two Acer laptops justified the standstill.
We were finally nearing the register, so I put my notepad away. But as we were only a couple of people away from finally checking out, I noticed that some people were breezing through a nearby register. What had been assumed to be a "cash only" line was actually an available checkout spot, though the place had no means to handle a queue and was thus not advertising its services.
Checking out our dozen items took him some time, but still saved us probably another 15 minutes over the line in which we had been standing. Who knows how much more time might have been saved for all concerned with a bit more organization. What were your Black Friday experiences like?
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
wasn't going to wait in line at CC for an hour. Best Buy was sold
out , so I got it online at Chaoticamusic.com. I guess iTunes has
it too, but I want the actual disc.
I ordered a couple more as gifts for my sisters teen boys, while I
was at it.
audio booth and unable to shop. I did however get to see
numerous stories from around the country and it seemed
Minnesota had the weirdest setup. The local Mall, Eden Prairie
Center (down the street), had over 50 stores open at 1 AM!!!
They even gave out three $1000 shopping sprees for the first
group of people. The lines were insane (I watched from our live
shot inside the mall) and the parking lots were at capacity with
people circling. The Best Buy (Not in the Mall) opened at 5AM,
and the parking lot was full well before opening, along with
people camping out from Noon on Thanksgiving to get their
$500 off the Generic Brand HDTVs. I am proud to say I did not
participate in the craziness, realizing the time wasted in some
lines isn't worth the discounts, along with the outdoor temp
dropping to 15 degrees overnight.
Crazy! Just wait for "Cyber Monday"
Office Max had some prices in their ad that I just couldn't pass
up. I went to the store about 10 AM and was amazed at how well
staffed it was. It was almost like having personal escorts through
the store. I was able to get evetrything I went for (which really
amazed me) and was finished and on my way out in under 10
minutes.
want to help and are there to help. Circuit City fired their best
employees this year, Because they were paid too much.
How about I get up early this morning and place an online order
to pick up 1 seagate external hard drive at the Circuit City 7219
McKnight Road, Pittsburgh PA 15136.
I order 1 Seagate 500GB external drive for $129.99, after
rebates it will cost me $79.99....
Today is the busiest shopping day and I only want 1 item, this
external hard drive. I place my online order, receive an order
number and show that my credit card was to be billed. My order
status shows that I can go to the store and pick up my order.
1st I called the phone number for the store on my receipt for
my online order. I wanted to call ahead just to make SURE my
drive would be ready and waiting for me to pick it up. I call the
number and over the course of 38 minutes, I hear at least 9
people state, who are you holding for, what are you holding for,
please hold on, please hold, hold, etc... After 38 minutes and
never being able to ask my question ONCE, I hang up.
I drive over 40 minutes to the store thinking, I can only imagine
what my experience will be at the store. Low and behold I WAS
NOT DISAPPOINTED! First I am told my order isn't even in their
computer and I am holding in my hand the receipt for my online
order that specifically states the stores address and to GO PICK
UP MY ORDER AT THE STORE. Then the girl disappears for a
while in the back, so I already know what is going to happen, I
remain calm. Then she comes back up to tell me they have no
drives, they do not have my order and this is their busiest
shopping day of the year.
I said to her; It doesn't matter to me what today is, if you offer
IN STORE PICK UP and tell me I can pick up my order and I ONLY
order 1 item, that is all I care about. If you can't properly handle
someone ordering 1 single hard drive online for instore pickup,
then you SHOULDN'T offer in store pickup, period! Doesn't
matter if its a slow day, busiest day or fast day, you offer a
service, showed I could pick up my order, there is really nothing
else to understand. Then she told me that everything is
"HANDLED" through their corporation office. Pushing the blame
to some one else. I told her it didn't matter again, you offer this
service, etc...
I asked for the manager, JON was the managers name. He had a
slight attitude to start with, I briefly explained what was going
on, he said he would see what he could do. He comes back with
a 750 GB and tells me this is the best he can do and the drive is
$189.xx and I ask about rebates and he tells me there are NONE.
So for twice the rebated price I can get a price for 1/2 more
store space, pay twice the price, no rebates and so far I've only
wasted 3 hrs of my day now. I said to JON where is the win in
this offer for me? He said this is all he can do. He tells the girl
behind the counter to give me a $24 gift card for their 24
minute guarantee and I said forget IT. I do NOT want a gift card,
I only wanted my drive so I could go home and do whatever I
need to do... I call Circuit Citys customer service number and it
is solid busy for 2 1/2 hrs so nothing will happen there.
I am not being unreasonable and I didn't yell, scream or make a
scene. As I told the girl, it is SO EASY TO JUST SAY I am sorry
and brush it off like its nothing because only MY TIME WAS
WASTED, no one else's! This is BS and I know I can't be the only
one that had this problem. IF YOU OFFER A SERVICE OF THIS
TYPE, WHY ARE YOU HELD LIABLE FOR NOT KEEPING UP YOUR
END OF YOUR OFFER? This is CRAP and so is CIRCUIT CITY!!!!!!
innovation seems to be inventing new ways to botch.
On the other hand, I followed up with a visit to BestBuy and Target.
Target was most impressive, with a line as long as that at Circuit City, but I went from the end of the line to checkout in under 15 minutes. I have to say, I have never seen a retailer have it so together. Very impressive.
BestBuy was a breeze, as we had waited outside all night for a voucher, that sped us thru checkout in what was basically an entirely ignored department. (Major appliances are just not a doorbuster item most years). BestBuy smartly used those registers for all kinds of purchases, not just fridges and freezers.
While waiting to get into the store, they had even posted security guards to prevent cheaters from sneaking into the line. They directed all late comers to the back of the line.
The CompUSA late-night sale (also held Thanksgiving Day, just like KMart) was the friendliest. They handed out slices of pumpkin pie and bottled waters. And they handed out vouchers for the limited items about 30 minutes beforehand so you knew whether you should keep waiting, and they also had plenty of staff on hand to help out.
Or you could simply not read them in the first place.
Eventually the managers stopped the practice once it became known and deny any knowledge of it. Hmm.... I wonder what product line you put that sort of charge on your sales receipt as?
King 5 News (NBC):
http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_112307BUB_frys_electronics_KS.300a9b66.html
Bottom line: your mileage may vary - I was very fortunate and a very happy customer - and I was only buying a $22 product!
Ya'll are welcome to the 3:00 AM craziness. There isn't ANYTHING worth all that, I don't care what it is! Besides a lot of the Black Friday deals were available to online shoppers, LOL.
were worth crawling out of bed at 4 in the morning to shop at any
of those stores.
Was very happy with bf experaince. Much of my shopping done online sears that offered bf sales early.
We got our electronics eariler in the year and great sales.
- The CC Black Friday Experience
- by NateStreet November 24, 2007 1:58 PM PST
- I couldn't help but click on the article when I saw it on Cnet. My perspective is a bit different as I was working at Circuit City during Black Friday of 2006. All I can say is - NEVER AGAIN....
- Reply to this comment
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (69 Comments)The comments made by the author were not surprising, in fact, when I worked there, they scheduled the staff to get to the store at 3am to open up at 5am. When I arrived at the store at 3am there were 200+ people in line which ran all the way around the store.
The only thing I can compare the opening of the store doors to would be a football punt return led by the Patriots. As this was my first time working on a black friday I don't I was completely prepared for what I was about to see. Most, if not all of the staff at Circuit City all the way up to the store managers previously worked at Best Buy and seemed to be prepared. I was completely new to retail at the time, but the entire experience certainly put hair on my chest.
The story of the day was an elderly woman who fell and hit her head on one of the isles. As she was clutching her head and BLEEDING she asked an employee where the FLAT SCREEN TVS were. If you haven't been to a black friday, you might not understand this but I have never seen so many elderly adults push, butt and shove each other for spots in line.
I stopped working at Circuit City the following February and can probably address some of the issues or at least what was told to us from the managers.
MANY people comment on the out-dated system that was/is used in stores. Circuit City had been delaying releasing the new systems because it was simply too expensive. When you have one computer, it may be easy to upgrade to the next operating system without thinking too heavily, but if you have thousands of computers nation-wide, you can see how the numbers would easily sky rocket into the millions of dollars.
I remember employees who worked at Circuit City in the 80S, come into the store, and direct me through the menu system as it was quite possibly the most un-intuitive operating system you can imagine. With all of it's faults, it was relatively fast and stable. Although it doesn't look like it from the outside, in the 6-7 months that I worked there, the system only went down once for about an hour. It wasn't during Black Friday either amazingly enough, it was just a random weekday!
So, that said, since I've left it looks like most but not all of the stores have upgraded the system that they use. I ask the people working there if they like it, and to MY SUPRISE most of them say "NO". It's slow and doesn't do everything that the past OS did. I guess you get what you asked for...
I can't help but "sigh" at reading some of the stories of "bait-and-switch" and "false advertisement". I CAN assure you that the 18-year old ringing you up had absolutely nothing to do with that. I saw a lot of angry customers and I actually started to wonder if Circuit City was doing this on purpose. I guess I won't ever really know. Typically, items that were on "sale" were items that the store was discontinuing or trying to get rid of. So, there were times when people would show up when the store opened only to find that the items had already been purchased online!
If you have never worked in retail, it's an experience I think everyone should have at least once.