This is not a repeat of Circuit City yet, but Best Buy is starting to head down the same road with the job eliminations and wage slashes.

Thousands of Best Buy store employees will see their pay slashed or their positions eliminated. Best Buy would not disclose the number of people affected, but New York investment firm Sanford Bernstein said in a research note Wednesday that as many as 1,000 assistant store managers would have their positions cut. Up to another 8,000 senior sales associates would be demoted to regular sales positions that would pay 25 percent to 50 percent less than their previous jobs.

The severity of the job and wage cuts led some industry analysts to draw comparisons to Circuit City Stores Incorporated’s ill-fated efforts nearly two years ago to slash costs by eliminating thousands of its higher-paid, but most experienced, salespeople. Service levels suffered, hastening Circuit City’s demise, some analysts argue. The Richmond, Va.-based retailer went out of business earlier this year.

In the future, as long as they don’t fire all their senior staff to save money, which results in horrible customer service, they shouldn’t suffer the same fate as Circuit City.

It’s not just the economy that is hurting Best Buy. Why get in your car and go to the store to buy a DVD? Just download a movie to your computer, you save time and money. The same with music, why buy the CD when all you want is one or two songs. Pay a few dollars and download the music, verses paying anywhere from $13.99 to $19.99 a CD, that is a huge savings for someone on a tight budget.