Whenever a retail store chain disappears from sight, and there have been a number of notable instances during this current recession, the consumer is never surprised. The consumer knows what the competitors are doing so much better. One recent example is the closing of Circuit City while Best Buy continues to thrive. Circuit City which was once a great store and company, but under new leadership went right down the tube. Suddenly the shelfs were half-empty and the quality of staff dramatically changed. They employed a wonderful technology, that all stores should have, which allows checking to see if an item is in a particular store; if so, one could place a hold on the item online and pick it up later in the day. If the item wasn't ready for purchase within 24 minutes of getting to the counter, a $24 store credit was issued. I was the proud recipient of at least two of those store credits because clearly there was a lack of execution. It was obvious that no attempt was made to locate the item until I came into the store so, instead of it waiting for me, which is what so attractive about the service, an effort had to be been made to find it which was often difficult, therefore I received the credits.
Best Buy which has been offering a superior consumer experience and appears to be thriving, is not without its flaws. Consistently I find that when I go to the store to buy an advertised CD, the store signing does not reflect the sale price. Therefore I have to wait in line at the register to find out if it is in fact on sale, because frankly I don't intend on purchasing it otherwise. Fortunately, the register is right and the signing is wrong (unlike OfficeMax where the price that rang up on the register was always higher than the signed price) but what an unnecessarily frustrating experience!
Speaking of coupons, I am done with Office Depot. They regularly mail me coupons for $20 off a $100 purchase or $10 off a $50 purchase. I don't own a large business so the only times I have a use for these cards is to make a technology purchase; but when I get to the register, I find these cards do not apply to technology. So they are absolutely worthless to me and now I routinely toss them in the recycling bin.
I recently needed several couplers for cable TV cables. I assumed RadioShack would be the best place to go to but was surprised to find a very limited selection and quantity. I bought what the store had which was insufficient for my needs so I tried Home Depot. I was pleasantly surprised that Home Depot had a much more substantial inventory and was priced substantially lower than RadioShack. I don't see RadioShack having much of a future.
Home Depot though I predict will disappear unable to compete successfully against Lowe's. A most unpleasant experience occurred when I bought some shelving for a closet. When I got home I found that it was the wrong size. I brought it back to the store and was told it had been cut down. I explained that I had not cut it down and in fact bought the item exactly as is from their shelf. The manager told me that until he reviewed the "loss prevention tapes", he was not going to issue a refund. So in "Home Depot land" one is guilty until proven innocent. In the end, the tape verified my claim and I received a refund but nothing for my unpleasant experience so I now avoid Home Depot as much as possible and look forward to more Lowe's in my neighborhood.
The last retailer I will describe is Kmart. I cannot identify a single solitary reason why this chain is still in business and simply cannot imagine it will be much longer.
After all my complaining though, my favorite store is Costco. I try to buy everything at Costco. If you are not a member, join!
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