Circuit City: Closing Time

It’s closing time at Circuit City. The company said Friday that it plans to liquidate the assets of its company.

Circuit City, which filed for bankruptcy late last year, said in a statement that its attempt to sell itself fell through. The company will now close its doors eliminating 30,000 jobs.

Acting CEO James Marcum said:

The company had been in continuous negotiations regarding a going concern transaction. Regrettably for the more than 30,000 employees of Circuit City and our loyal customers, we were unable to reach an agreement with our creditors and lenders to structure a going-concern transaction in the limited timeframe available, and so this is the only possible path for our company.

Circuit City said it will provide more details about the liquidation plan and properties such as its Web site and services operation. As is the norm in bankruptcy proceedings shareholders won’t get anything.

With Circuit City out of the picture Best Buy (BBY) has the brick-and-mortar electronics retailing field largely to itself.

Comments

[Tbarrettl:]

This is too bad seeing that where I live in Green Bay Circuit City is opposite of the usual being the superior store in Customer Service and prices to best buy, though I can see the great business practices that Best Buy has, they have one long line requiring less employees, they are considered the monopoly so they are busy, and they take no care of inventory which cuts costs though eventually they will be burned for less customer service and more ripping off than Circuit City.

Jan 16 10:57 PM

[ccsof22@yah...:]

Circuit City had the worst customer service. The last item I bought from Circuit City was a Cd. This should be a message to all stores in the United States. If you continue to treat the consumer bad they will go somewhere else. The car industry is a good example of how not to manage a company.


On Jan 16 03:04 PM Quickdraw wrote:

> Finally ... the trapdoor has sprung. Unfortunate for the 30,000 employees,
> but healthy for the marketplace. The company who became the poster
> child for 'the wrong way to do business' is validating our faith
> in Darwin's Theory, as it might pertain to retail.
>
> This story is less about the economy, than it is about Circuit's
> own shortcomings. I am certain we will all hear about "the good employees
> who lost their jobs, through no fault of their own" ... history will
> record Circuit's epitaph very simply. When you sell products that
> can all be bought elsewhere at the same price, and you suck at virtually
> every aspect of operations and customer service, then you hang.
>
>

Jan 16 11:13 PM

[ccityhater:]

Screw this company. i used to work for them and they treated their employees worse than the customer so to all who say that it is sad that circuit city is closing you are wrong. for the company to allow a man to drive the company into the ground with no recourse and no punishment it pure crap.screw this company and its senor management for the way they handled everything they can all go to hell.

Jan 17 12:27 AM

[User 339051:]

I am one of the 30,000 that just lost their job today... Things may not have always been great but that's everywhere... The most fustrating part in all this is the lack of human decentsy... NO compassion for those of us who depended on our jobs... but we should burn because we weren't symapthetic enough about their waranty concerns.. FYI they're backed by a 3rd party so you're fine!!! 8883332333 for more info.

Jan 17 12:55 AM

[k45:]

Last time we went to CC (a few years ago), the salesperson was totally clueless about his products. We ended up buying at Walmart. Of course they have no customer service people but at least we can read the box and pay less.

Best Buy should be next, their store management is customer hostile. We won't go there either.

Jan 17 09:05 AM

[Another Cci...:]

I fell sorry for the people who lost their jobs but the company sucked so bad after they fired their senior sales staff. The customer service got really bad all over!! I travel a lot and every circuit city store I went into the employees acted like " Why are you bothering me go find someone else". I also got the arrogant, "This is not my area" and they would walk off. I also saw a couple at one store at the Polaris Mall where this couple was looking for an HD TV and the 2 staff members were too busy talking about the party they went to last night to be bothered. The couple then went to another associate that was installing some cables into the back of one of the TV and he told them " Can't you see I'm working here go find someone else" The Checkout line there was always un-manned and people would have to search for someone to check them out.

Circuit City Epic Fail!!

Jan 17 09:09 AM

[Leftfield:]

Schoonover strikes me as embematic of the corporate culture today. Seems when business becomes a publicly traded company they have a CEO who can be unaccountable for a long time and a compliant board that is interested in a nice-paying easy seat at the table and not so much in the business. That is why I am skeptical of Apple's future.

Countless companies get run into the ground by stupid management that seems to stay forever. The more aggressive and talented go where the money is to rape and pillage there. Unfortunately, in finance, they have bought off politicians and gamed the system to their taste long enough to run the whole planet into the ground now.

I had watched our Rube Goldberg system skeptically for decades amazed how long it remained mostly intact. Amazed even more how the elites are pulling off this amazing bailout heist once things finally fell apart.

The system is now about keeping the perpetrators intact as i see it. But I hope the market forces that finally hit Circuit City will clean up our country eventually.

Jan 17 09:16 AM

[notsosmart:]

all of the above. you should spend a little more & support a local mom-pop type store that value you as a regular custumer.its worked great for me.this is the sickness of the whole country.nobody cares & where can i get it cheaper.if you have a problem you talk to india,phillipines,cent... america,etc.how concerned are they with your problem? the dumb-dumbs here brought all this on themselves.its going to get worse.no service,no back up for the chinese junk. you all better learn chinese.thats who is going to own you.

Jan 17 11:54 AM

[Jake Berzon:]

Circuit City is one of the many specialty retailers (and others) whose survival depended on irrational exuberance. There was really no need in them to begin with. During prolonged recessions, like the one we are in now, they should (and must be allowed to) go out of business.

Hope the Government stops bailing out everyone who asks, lest we will catch the "Japanese disease" and stagnate for decades.

Jan 17 12:34 PM

[phil'spal:]

bill:

looks like in the short term, anyway, BBY (up 8% y'day) is the biggest net beneficiary of CCTY's fall (other than lawyers and liquidators). here's hoping they dont get arrogant or complacent. it's a great opportunity for them to cultivate a whole lot more market share. there's a definite need for a specialist electronics outlet, the kind that dept stores just cannot provide. if they make sure that their training programs are a major priority and they can offer their customers a heightened sense of confidence in shopping there, i think they'll be able to create an incredible brand with a truly unique presence in the market. when the economy turns around, BBY should be able to offer what no other electronics outlet can and in so doing, will surely make some big coin for its investors.

Jan 17 12:34 PM

[a. palmer jr.:]

Let's see..mismanaged company, poor customer service, uncaring employees, products you could get cheaper somewhere else.
Sounds like the other companies we gave bailouts to!

Jan 17 01:15 PM

[notsosmart:]

uncaring employees are usually the result of uncaring employers.more& more the case today.im not a union person but this is the reason the unions came into existence.

Jan 17 04:38 PM

[jackooo:]

Give them a bailout!!!!! lol lol

Jan 17 07:09 PM

[User 265729:]

We call Best Buy the Flat Screen TV store. They've cut all of the DVD's. CD's. computers, cameras, etc. since everything is much cheaper online and now the store is almost wall to wall flat screen TV's.

When you walk into Best Buy it is something like Orwell would write about. Gives me the creeps, but I haven't been to a Best Buy in a couple of months, even the flat screens are a better buy (should I say best buy) via online with free shipping.

Having digital TV bomb-out bust have been a real hit as I think they were one of the FCC's so-called partners in this program (really means pumping the special interest dollars to Congress).

But really, the Circut City/Best Buy model is dead meat.


On Jan 17 09:05 AM k45 wrote:

> Last time we went to CC (a few years ago), the salesperson was totally
> clueless about his products. We ended up buying at Walmart. Of course
> they have no customer service people but at least we can read the
> box and pay less.
>
> Best Buy should be next, their store management is customer hostile.
> We won't go there either.

Jan 17 10:54 PM

[User 265729:]

Ya! Just wait until it's Target or WalMart...

WalMart employs over 2 million... Do I hear too big to fail from the Arkansas Clintons?


On Jan 17 12:34 PM Jake Berzon wrote:

> Circuit City is one of the many specialty retailers (and others)
> whose survival depended on irrational exuberance. There was really
> no need in them to begin with. During prolonged recessions, like
> the one we are in now, they should (and must be allowed to) go out
> of business.
>
> Hope the Government stops bailing out everyone who asks, lest we
> will catch the "Japanese disease" and stagnate for decades.

Jan 17 10:57 PM

[User 265729:]

Too bad you didn't nail them under the ADA... WHile they still had something you could get your hands on that is. I think it's illegal to do that... I'm not a lawyer, but I think the ADA doesn't allow employers to do things like that if it's related to your handicap.

Wow! What jerks!


On Jan 16 04:07 PM the hero wrote:

> i worked for cc. was great w/customers! they hired me disabled, n
> fired me when i called in sick. And I had my picture on the wall
> as a customer hero and was very popular with reguars. so im not surprised.

Jan 17 11:02 PM

[User 265729:]

You'll find work. Don't give up. You seem to have a level head and positive attitude -- you are bigger than CC!


On Jan 16 03:56 PM Gimp wrote:

> I was unfortunately one of the employees from one of the recent 155
> store closings. I unfortunately saw this point comming and they have
> not a single thing to blame but theirselves for allowing the company
> to falter for the past 4 years by making bad business decisions...
> I had worked there for the past 5 years and each year it got worse
> and worse.

Jan 17 11:04 PM

[User 265729:]

Don't forget all...

Hammer is starting to drop on commercial real estate...

Get ready for more mult-$trillion dollar losses.

Jan 17 11:06 PM

[Micha Elyi:]

Next, watch for BBY's lunch to be eaten by Fry's Electronics.

Jan 18 12:49 AM

[Kafkaesque:]

Wonder what the total Income to shopping center owners (capped at 8.%) would be in terms of net asset value lost to the commercial real estate industry by this liquidation. Most developers (& their project's lenders) underwrote CC deals at sub-7%. What a large hole this will create in many centers and the shopping center industry as a whole (no pun intended).
Those that truly watch the retailers and track their health have seen this coming for a long time; i think. Lets hope so.

Jan 19 03:24 PM