Circuit City: Back from the Dead?

Many will remember that back on January 16, 2009 Circuit City announced it was closing all of its stores. With Circuit City’s demise, it was clear that the economic collapse had claimed another victim and a big one at that. But I see that Circuit City is apparently back and has the Circuitcity.com website open and ready for business.

Back from the dead? Well, not quite. Apparently on May 19. 2009, Systemax (SYX) purchased the Circuit City brand name, Circuitcity.com website and Circuit City's customer list of names, emails and other customer information (it’s always comforting to know my personal information can be sold to the highest bidder).

According to its website, Systemax is "a leading multi-channel retailer of computers, electronics, and industrial products in North America and Europe." In business since 1949, Systemax is publicly traded on the NYSE and had sales in excess of $3 billion last year.

Depending on how much money traded hands, it was likely a smart move for Systemax which gets an immediately recognized and trustworthy name like Circuit City to promote its products. A list of past customers is a highly targeted and valuable asset as well. The company followed this strategy before when CompUSA went under. In 2008 it acquired CompUSA’s assets and brand name and reopened the CompUSA website as well as some of the CompUSA stores (some were reopened under the CompUSA name and some under the TigerDirect brand which it acquired in 1995). I actually made my first purchase from TigerDirect back in 1997 and though I haven’t been a very loyal customer since then, I have many friends who are. A wide selection of products, good prices and strong customer service (though the last would certainly be debatable by some) paired with strong brand names like CompUSA and Circuit City could really make Systemax a winner.

Disclosures: None.

Comments

[a. palmer jr.:]

After my first computer purchase at Circuit City left a bad taste in my mouth I am highly unlikely to ever deal with anyone who displays the Circuit City logo. They would have been better to just let the thing die!

May 25 05:26 PM

[User 419653:]

Not a chance in the world I will ever buy anything with the Circuit City name attached to it. Ever.

May 25 11:36 PM

[I.H.:]

I had many good experiences at Circuit City. I would definitely be comfortable buying from them again but this isn't the REAL Circuit City is it? If they follow the ideals that Circuit City did (quality products at good prices) I would give them my business. But how do I know they won't use Circuit City's good names to sell garbage? Has any one bought from the new Circuity City or Compusa websites?

May 26 08:26 AM

[Barry Blogs:]

I for one would be happy to see Circuit City back. I wonder if they'll be better or worse now that they are under new management. Thanks for letting me know, I bet they have a "grand re-opening" sale!

May 26 10:57 AM

[OGstuffedho...:]

It honestly couldn't be any worse than it was. I would definitely buy from circuit city again seeing that it is under DIFFERENT management. The old Circuit City was horrible. I have hope for this new one.

May 28 03:11 PM

[OGstuffedho...:]

On second thought, I just looked at the website and it is just like TigerDirect. On the one hand, it has a bunch of over priced older models. I'd be careful shopping at the new CircuitCity.com site. Unless you know it is a good deal for the model they have for sale, then don't bother. On the other hand, it is a great place for refurbs.

May 28 03:29 PM

[Boaz Berkowitz:]

Yes OGstuffedhotdog, in case it wasn't clear from the article, these sites are pretty much all TigerDirect with just a Circuit City or Compusa skin. For instance, doing a search on the "Iomega 34579 Select Desktop Hard Drive " brings up an identical page on all 3 sites. Compare these pages:

TigerDirect.com: tinyurl.com/o5x86y

Compusa.com: tinyurl.com/qu82aw

CircuitCity.com: tinyurl.com/qh6ms9

So if you hate Tigerdirect, you'll hate Compusa and Circuit City too. If you like TiderDirect, I can't imagine there will be any difference regardless of which site you order from.

But the point of the article was that not all online buyers are as sophisticated or internet-savvy as the readers on Seeking Alpha. Loyal customers of Circuit City who have never heard of TigerDirect will likely be happy to purchase from the Circuit City clone of Tiger's site. And remember, because Systemax also bought Circuit City's customer list, they know exactly who these people are.

Jun 04 03:18 AM

[JessicaC:]

I was a manager for Circuit City up until the bloody end of it all. To see that part of the company is still alive is refreshing. I am still mad as hell that they put my family through this. With better management in their corporate, there could have been so many jobs saved. I was the one who put food on the table for my family! How dare they make foolish decisions with so many jobs at stake! I was lucky and have an amazing job now.
If someone can turn a profit using the Circuit City name, why couldnt Circuit City manage to turn a profit using its own name??

Jun 04 06:55 PM

[Boaz Berkowitz:]

Good question, Jessica!


On Jun 04 06:55 PM JessicaC wrote:

> I was a manager for Circuit City up until the bloody end of it all.
> To see that part of the company is still alive is refreshing. I
> am still mad as hell that they put my family through this. With better
> management in their corporate, there could have been so many jobs
> saved. I was the one who put food on the table for my family! How
> dare they make foolish decisions with so many jobs at stake! I was
> lucky and have an amazing job now.
> If someone can turn a profit using the Circuit City name, why couldnt
> Circuit City manage to turn a profit using its own name??

Jun 05 09:28 AM

[Miroku:]

Circuit City filed for bankruptcy, but the thing is, they(the shareholders) still want to make "some money" of what they are losing. Meaning, they're in a "restructuring period" right now. The assets still have some worth, so by getting another bigger company to buy their assets, they can still make some money, or else it would be a complete loss. Make sense?

Jun 17 12:40 AM

[Moon Kil Woong:]

LOL with the brand name. What they really purchased was the customer list. It's nice to know that spam mail and trading in customer information is alive and kicking.

Aug 11 07:22 AM

[cpmodem:]

My biggest concern is if the warranty for my Optoma HD72 is still good.

Oct 26 05:25 PM