[who_would_fardels_bear]

I used to go to Circuit City. They paid and trained their salespeople more than Best Buy. I generally found their people more informative and helpful and ended up saving money in the long run buying the right thing at a slightly higher price than the wrong thing altogether.

The management of Circuit City decided to try and increase profits by lowering their salespeople's salary and training. They lost their edge and went out of business.

I've noticed that in the wake of Circuit City's demise that Best Buy now seems to have better trained employees that give good information rather than trying to steer me toward a particular purchase.

Your results may vary.

[Mastador1]

I've noticed that in the wake of Circuit City's demise that Best Buy now seems to have better trained employees that give good information rather than trying to steer me toward a particular purchase.

Well they did just help out my brother in law who was shopping for a new computer, the salesman was quite insistent that Microsoft was not going to release a Windows 10 version, so yeah, I guess they are well informed. : ) Still I agree your experience will vary by location.

[Future Snake Eater]

The management of Circuit City decided to try and increase profits by lowering their salespeople's salary and training.

I worked at both. CC was a commission sales job. So, to get good sales, you had to know your stuff. Then they became BB with just a straight hourly pay rate. Product knowledge was terribly high on the priority list. Oh, sure, BB pushed it--kind of--but the motivation really wasn't there. Then, CC, went hourly for its sales folks, and the experienced people left en mass. There were people who worked sales on the floor for decades. They could support their families on what they made in sales.

Going hourly probably buried CC quicker than anything else.