Going over David Marino-Nachison's breakdown of Wednesday's quarterly earnings reports from Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) and Circuit City (NYSE:CC), I found myself nodding along. That is, until he implied that Circuit City was a good makeover away from relevancy.

With Circuit City's remodeled stores showing initial sales improvement over the rest of the tired chain, the implication seems to be that if you take a plain girl and doll her up, she will emerge as a goddess. Spare me. It doesn't work that way. All you will get is a plain girl that just happens to be all dolled up. Besides, I dated Circuit City back in college and I have to tell you, she didn't have much of a personality either.

Between hawking used cars through CarMax (NYSE:KMX), pushing the doomed DivX format, and building an unappealing commissioned sales team, Circuit City's past is ugly. Yes, all that is behind it now, but it's not going to get anywhere trying to copy Best Buy with easier product access and more ambitious displays.

RadioShack's (NYSE:RSH) Incredible Universe concept had that. It was Best Buy on steroids and it still failed. This very notion of reinvention is spirited but flawed. A dated chain that flourished in the 1980s should know that a Def Leppard can't change its liver spots. Toys "R" Us (NYSE:TOY) has gone through more makeovers than Madonna, and it's still no better for the wear.

Sure, Circuit City's latest incarnation is off to a good start, but that's the way it usually starts. The novelty eventually wears thin. The makeup eventually wears off.

Consumer electronics isn't easy. When Linens 'n Things (NYSE:LIN) is selling DVD players and Gateway (NYSE:GTW) is one of the leading sellers of plasma televisions, you know it won't be easy to set yourself apart. That's why it's amazing to see Best Buy set to grow earnings by 24% this year as it continues to grow its comps at a healthy clip.

Circuit City may be cheaper than Best Buy by just about any metric, but beauty that is more than skin deep is worth paying up for.

What have been your shopping experiences at Best Buy relative to Circuit City? Do you agree that Circuit City is doomed? What has set Best Buy apart in consumer electronics? All this and more -- in the Best Buy discussion board. Only on Fool.com.