Circuit City Shorts Out

[Snowman]

http://www.circuitcity.com/closed.html

Circuit City would like to thank all of the customers who have shopped with us over the past 60 years. Unfortunately, we announced on January 16, 2009, that we are going out of business. Please check back later for updates about the status of our website. In the meantime, we hope the information below will help answer most of your questions. What's going on at Circuit City? Due to challenges to our business and the continued bleak economic environment, Circuit City is going out of business and the company's assets will be liquidated to pay off creditors. The process was extremely difficult and we were left with no other choice but to liquidate. Circuit City had a proud heritage of serving the public for 60 years and we deeply regret the impact this decision will have on our associates, our customers and the communities where we have operated stores and other facilities. We had hoped to be able to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as a stronger, more competitive company and we made significant progress during the reorganization to improve our business. Unfortunately, the economic climate is so poor that we have no choice other than liquidation. Liquidators will start arriving in our 567 stores across the U.S. over the weekend, and closing sales will start as early as Saturday, January 17. Closing sales will run as long as it takes to sell existing inventory, but are expected to wrap up by the end of March. When the liquidation sales are completed, the stores will be closed. At the company's corporate offices in Richmond, Virginia, a small staff will remain on duty during the completion of the liquidation process; most associates will be relieved of their duties immediately. Consistent with federal labor laws, Circuit City associates are receiving 60-days notice of the termination of their employment. Those who stay on to help with the liquidation, of course, will receive pay and benefits. Those who are dismissed earlier will be receiving pay and benefits for the 60-day period beginning January 16, 2009. Associates at our company headquarters will be asked to come back on Monday, January 19, to find out more about their status and to retrieve their personal belongings.

[westie1]

Unfortunately I think we are still only at the start of a recession that is going to bite much harder and deeper than many think. I think there will be many more "Circut City" stories. Pity the store clerks and support staff that have lost their jobs.

I saw today on TV discussion that some US banks are still teetering close to insolvency.

[Sipper100]

Worked at a CC for 5 years some time ago... they paid my way through undergrad. I worked damn near every position there, audio sales, computer sales, warehouse worker, customer service (where I learned to hate people), I ran the music & movies section for awhile, and I was even the janitor for a time. So I have mixed feelings on this, I met a lot of great people there and the company was good to me but I was never happier than when I left.

Ultimately CC was killed by a changing marketplace and questionable upper management. It doesn't really go much further than that. Did the downturn in the economy hurt them? Of course it did, but that doesn't change the fact they've been struggling for the past five years. The current economy just hastened their inevitable demise.

[Snowman]

With Circuit City gone, that doesn't leave much competition for Best Buy and that's never a good thing. We do have Fry's here in California, but that's about it now for large electronic retailers.

I remember the days when Best Buy wasn't even in California and Circuit City was easily the king of the hill. Their closest competition back in the late 80's was probably Federated, a distant second.

Overall, I liked Circuit City better than Best Buy, so I'm not too happy about their demise. CC's online web ordering with 20 minute in-store pickup was especially slick. I tried Best Buy's version and got jacked around several times. Now I won't even go near it. I also liked the customer reviews on the Circuit City website. It's too bad they will disappear now as they were a valuable shopping resource.

[yoda57us]

I liked CC much better than Best Buy. Sorry to see them go. We had Tweeter close down around Boston a few months ago as well so Best Buy has become the only game in town other than the internet and private club stores like BJ's and Costco.

I bought a new flat screen TV right after Christmas and I have to be honest, I really wanted to buy it at CC but, even with them being on the verge of bankruptcy I was able to get a much better price and 24 months with no interest financing at Best Buy. CC had no interest in trying to compete for my business.

[Snowman]

Circuit City stores here are going into the final four days. Discounts are as high as 80% (off of the MSRP).

Did anyone purchase anything at the City liquidation sale?

[yoda57us]

Tried to buy a printer last week but everything I wanted was already gone and I won't buy a floor sample. FYI, I ended up getting a printer directly from HP with an instant rebate and free shipping for the same price that CC was "liquidating" it for.

There are some good deals but there is also some BS. Beware before you plunk down the cash.

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by yoda57us There are some good deals but there is also some BS. Beware before you plunk down the cash.

The liquidators here are still holding printers at 30% off, which is not much of a deal. Same with flash memory sticks which are jacked up to crazy prices. The store close to my home has quite a few external hard drives on sale, but they are only 40% off and Fry's sells them on sale weekly at better prices.

I purchased a few CDs for about $5 each (Bruce Springsteen "Magic", ELO "Essential", Jeffery Obsorne "Ultimate Collection"), Season 6 of "24" for $20, some utility software titles (Webroot's Spy Sweeper & Window Washer Bonus Pack $12 and Computer Associates Internet Security Suite 2009 with 3 computer license $20) and blank Sony DVDs ($4.50 for 25 DVD+R).

[Mark069]

Their liquidation sale was bullshit. I went in to their Daly City store looking for a pack of DVD-R's, not wanting to risk a big ticket item and they were MORE EXPENSIVE than the Office Depot store next door to them.

I also found better prices on big ticket items at other stores like Best Buy with a return policy and a warrantee.

Originally Posted by Snowman The liquidators here are still holding printers at 30% off, which is not much of a deal. Same with flash memory sticks which are jacked up to crazy prices. The store close to my home has quite a few external hard drives on sale, but they are only 40% off and Fry's sells them on sale weekly at better prices. I purchased a few CDs for about $5 each (Bruce Springsteen "Magic", ELO "Essential", Jeffery Obsorne "Ultimate Collection"), Season 6 of "24" for $20, some utility software titles (Webroot's Spy Sweeper & Window Washer Bonus Pack $12 and Computer Associates Internet Security Suite 2009 with 3 computer license $20) and blank Sony DVDs ($4.50 for 25 DVD+R).

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by Mark069 Their liquidation sale was bullshit. I went in to their Daly City store looking for a pack of DVD-R's, not wanting to risk a big ticket item and they were MORE EXPENSIVE than the Office Depot store next door to them. I also found better prices on big ticket items at other stores like Best Buy with a return policy and a warrantee.

I went again on the next to the last day and the very last day since there was a Circuit City within a couple of miles of where I live. Even on the very last weekend, really good deals were few and far between.

On the next to the last day, I picked up a small portable Toshiba hard drive (400 gigs) for about $65 and a Dummies book on Digital Video for $5. This was a good deal, but hardly what I would expect within hours of the final closing. Nearly every DVD and all but a small handful of CDs were sold out. No electronics, computers, cameras or the like remained except a few broken down open box units that probably didn't even work.

On the last day, I got there around 1:00 PM and the store was nearly entirely empty. I managed to get another copy of Webroot's Spysweeper that was in an open box at 90% off ($3). This turned out to be a good deal because they just added virus protection at no extra charge and the license apparently is good for two years. I also got a cheesy camera case and few cables including a nice firewire one for $1. Lastly, I got a Digital Photography for Dummies book for $1.