Rather than reviewing some new piece of technology, I thought I’d take a moment this week to remember some fine moments I have spent in the past inside the now defunct…

Circuit City

In case you haven’t heard, Circuit City is going out of business in the United States. Here’s what CircuitCity.com has to say about it:

Due to challenges to our business and the continued bleak economic environment, Circuit City is going out of business and the company’s assets will be liquidated to pay off creditors.

The process was extremely difficult and we were left with no other choice but to liquidate.  Circuit City had a proud heritage of serving the public for 60 years and we deeply regret the impact this decision will have on our associates, our customers and the communities where we have operated stores and other facilities.

 
Remember this old logo? Simple, yet effective when combined with the giant red buildings that at one time signified one of the best places to buy stereos, televisions, appliances, and other electronic equipment. Even those red buildings represented something unique, as their TV commercials indicated, making them out to be the ends of giant power cords that were “plugged” into the ground:

In honor of their demise, here are a few of my fondest memories from within Circuit City:

My First Portable Audio Player

In elementary school sometime in the ’80s, I had the opportunity to get my first portable audio player. Being a young kid, I thought it would be cool to get the yellow Sony Sports Walkman, even though I didn’t play any sports. It was water resistant, which is always a neat feature even if you have no intentions of using it anywhere near the water, and it had a hinged door on the side with the buttons that prevented it from unnecessarily opening. I just liked it because the door was fun to play with. Anyway, I ended up getting it at Circuit City.

I used this cassette player for several years, mostly during long car rides. Over the years, it got pretty beat up. Remember, I was an elementary school-aged kid. The great thing about Circuit City was that if you had their replacement plan, you could bring in something that looked like it had been smashed to bits with a hammer and they’d replace it with hardly any questions asked. If the same model wasn’t available, they’d give you a new one. I think I went through at least three different Sony Walkmans this way.

 

My First Digital Scanner

After receiving a $100 Circuit City gift card from my aunt for Christmas in the early ’90s, I decided to head there and see what nifty gadget I could pick up. A digital handheld grayscale scanner is what I ended up getting (for $99 and no sales tax since the gift card was purchased in New Hampshire). It looked just like the Scanman Plus pictured here, though I don’t think it was this exact model. To use it, you’d have to launch their proprietary software, find a flat surface, and slowly run the scanner (by hand) over the photo or page being scanned while holding down the button on the side. The end result was usually a wobbly on-screen rendition of the original, as it was very difficult to roll the scanner across a straight line. The quality was terrible but it was still a lot of fun to use, especially by rolling the scanner up and down repeatedly, resulting in a double- or triple- scanned image.

 

My First After-Market Car Stereo

The stereo that came with my used ’98 Dodge Stratus was less-than-stellar. The speakers were pretty awful too. Prior to heading off to college, my dad made the excellent decision of taking me to Circuit City to buy a whole new system that I could listen to while making the 10-hour drive from Miami to Atlanta. We bought the Kenwood KDC-215S head unit and some Polk speakers. Everything sounded great and made my many drives to and from college much more enjoyable. A couple of years later, the head unit decided to inhale a Pink Floyd CD and not spit it out. The auto shop guys at Circuit City were kind enough to show me the magic hidden reset button that would make the CD pop out. No charge for that quick service!

 

My First HDTV

After graduating from college, my girlfriend (now wife) and I decided that it was time to buy an HDTV. Where did we turn to? Circuit City! Around six years ago (maybe seven?), we purchased the Samsung HLN437WX DLP and are still watching it today. It has since been moved from our main viewing area to the bedroom, as its 43″ became too small and was replaced by a 56″ HDTV (also Samsung DLP). Many have complained about having to replace the bulb on their DLP or their color wheel failing, I have had neither problem. We are still on our original bulb and though the color wheel now makes a high-pitched squealing sound, it’s still manageable for casual bedroom TV viewing. The picture looks just as good as the day we bought the television and I’m glad I didn’t let Circuit City talk me into buying the replacement plan.

 

Overall Impressions

Only in recent years have I had negative experiences at Circuit City. It used to be that you had to go through a training program to work there, but lately it seemed like anyone that could barely speak English had an equal shot of manning the floor, giving misinformation to customers. That’s where Circuit City went wrong. Being able to walk in and talk to an intelligent sales staff who could offer advice and guide you to make a great home electronics purchase was one of Circuit City’s strong points. As soon as the chain became just another big box store, focusing on deals and sales rather than customer satisfaction, that’s when Circuit City was headed down the path to failure. I believe Circuit City could have survived if only they had continued to be the place “where service is state of the art.”

What are your thoughts on the demise of Circuit City? Did you visit the store often? Did you have good or bad experiences there? Post your stories in the comments.

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