This isn’t a Michigan ping, but there is a place called Birmingham Television Company on Woodward and 14 Mile in Birmingham. I lived right around the corner from it in 1960 (when I was 4) and I remember walking there and watching the 20 or so TVs they had in the front window. They sold and repaired TVs. It’s still there, still open, same sign and same name. I don’t know what they do but it sure seems like an anachronism.
To be honest, very few big box stores are going to be able to compete until they learn that they have to compete with the internet.
I’m not saying they should compete on a dollar for dollar basis, because they can’t, but they need to be within a 10% - 20% based on the price of the merchandise and then offer a reason for the greater price.
To give you an example, I’m looking at various computer video cards for my HTPC, now a Radeon 4670 in stores locally is $150, at Newegg.com it’s $85 - $90 shipped, I’m willing to buy online than in the store to save $75 - $60.
Now if it was priced at $100 then buying it locally would be my first choice based on convenience, but with their inflated prices and horrible sales staff, I’ll buy online.
Stores need to learn to not only be within reason of online retailers, they need to offer something for that extra money I’m spending, like knowledgeable sales staff.
I was at Circuit City some weeks ago poking around when I heard the sales manager trying to sell some guy on a BluRay computer drive they were selling for $250, they had the same one on Newegg for $90, and I told the guy so after the sales manager left, I hate seeing people get ripped off.
It seems the execs that run these chains believe they’ll make more money by marking up the product %50+, but they make less because they sell far fewer, if they marked them up %20 +/- they would sell more and make more money.
There’s also the general treatment you get from the staff, they don’t give you any reason to be loyal to the store.
The only retailer I show any modicum of loyalty to is Sears because of what they do for the US Military, when I heard of what they were doing this Christmas, giving gift cards to soldiers, I got misty eyed reading about it because that means something to me, so I have no problem spending money there, plus their sales staff in the electronics department actually seem to know something.
None the less, until management that run these stores learn the hard lessons and change their business strategy, they’re going to get beaten by the online retailers every time.