Circuit City announces store closure plans, full list of locations revealed

Yesterday news broke that Circuit City would announce the imminent closure of 155 retail locations, and this morning the company confirmed the news. Detailing its next plan of action in a lengthy press release, the electronics-maker blames "waning consumer confidence and a significantly weakened retail environment" (amongst other things) for the closings, and says that it's considering "all available options and alternatives for the business." In the short-term, this means that we'll see store closings in 55 markets from coast to coast, and the retailer will axe 17 percent of its workforce. The company also plans to begin store closing sales this Wednesday, November 5th, so they're clearly not wasting any time with the process. We've got more info in the read links below, as well as a full list of the closing stores -- if you're an employee, we hope your number isn't on there.

[Thanks, Milachy]

Read - PDF List of store closings
Read - Circuit City to Retrench [Warning: requires subscription]
Read - Circuit City Stores, Inc. Provides Update on Liquidity and Announces Store Closing Plan

[Joe Humbert @ Nov 3rd 2008 10:44AM]

There are no circuit city stores within 50 miles of my house :-( So long Black Friday deals. So long price matching at Best Buy :-(

[Miles @ Nov 3rd 2008 11:37AM]

Maybe pricematching at Best Buy is why your Circuit City is dead.

You killed it.

[Grant @ Nov 3rd 2008 1:02PM]

Miles killed it because he touches himself at night.
They know Miles. Everyone knows. Even Grandma.

[Lowest Ranked @ Nov 3rd 2008 1:40PM]

Sounds like some of you are making road trips and have to take a weekend vacation just to go to a Circuit City. Save the gas and ride a horse or save the time and order online.

[MikeA @ Nov 3rd 2008 10:40AM]

What no west palm beach Florida location, that places needs to be shut down it's a SH*T hole !!!

Good By CC you suck anyway, you used to rock but now your a waste of space !

[dong @ Nov 3rd 2008 10:56AM]

I am sad to see CC close down. Sony Erickson firing 750 employee's, Motorola firing 1000s and many more to come... America is losing jobs rapidly. Its not funny when you dont have a job.

[Electromodo @ Nov 3rd 2008 11:00AM]

@MikeA

Well, maybe at your West Palm Beach Florida location the CC stores suck, as you say, but here in Northern VA CircuitCity is still great. Most of the stores I know will stay open. And I would be suprised if they close them, since those stores are always popular (despite BestBuys around).

They are closing two stores in Northern VA, one of which was small and empty in comparison to the others, and one I've never been to because of the neighbourhood.

Sorry for all the employees being laid off, but glad that CircuitCity in Norther VA stands strong!

[Zadillo @ Nov 3rd 2008 11:04AM]

The closing of the Tyson's Corner Circuit City in NoVA isn't too much of a surprise; I'd read a while ago they are looking to tear down that whole area across from the Tyson's Corner mall as part of the larger plans to change the Tyson's area into a new walkable urban area. So the writing was already on the wall for that location. They also opened up that new Tyson's Corner West location on Leesburg Pike not too far away, so there's still a Circuit City in the general area.

[Chin-Poh @ Nov 3rd 2008 11:13AM]

Yes, CC may suck but its because of the upper management, whereas its the operational employees who are really suffering and won't have a jolly Thanksgiving/Christmas. : (

[MikeA @ Nov 3rd 2008 11:19AM]

First of all i never said it was funny, Our Circuit City store " WEST PALM BEACH" not referring to all of them, SUCKS ! The one 10 mins away in wellington is always clean, the light bulbs work and the display TVs are always running and working.

The West Palm Beach store is in prime location and is wasting space, keeping that store open is a big mistake and id think it might be an over sight, I can't see it staying open any longer. There is never anyone in that location. I used to shop there alot and now i go next door to best buy not due to prices or anything but the display models work and the lights work as well.

Id like to see what I am buying and Id love to play with it or see it in action first. So again good bye CC .

and @ DONG why not stop crying and go vote tomorrow. and America is losing jobs because we are letting it get this way... You buy gas at almost any price , If we don't do anything about it nothing will change ! Lots of places are still employing just because the HUGH companies are laying people off does not mean the world is coming to and end..

[Andir3.0 @ Nov 3rd 2008 12:44PM]

"America is losing jobs rapidly. Its not funny when you dont have a job."

I know how to solve it! Let's tax businesses more and keep the businesses going!

Oh wait...

[THizzle7XU @ Nov 3rd 2008 12:56PM]

This sucks. Now the closest store to my house is 33 miles away (they already updated their store finder to remove the closing stores), which means I'm never going to CC again. Saving $50 on something vs. Best Buy or Walmart is not worth a 65 mile drive. I liked CC. Really sad to see this happen. Hopefully the former employees can bounce back with something else.

[teej @ Nov 3rd 2008 1:15PM]

@Zadillo,
the Circuit City in Tysons is not across from the mall. Best Buy's old location used to be across from the mall where Filene's Basement is now. CC and the new BB location are right across from one another near the container store. Tysons CC was one of the nicer ones. I'd rather they closed down the one in Sterling... kinda blows. i'm a BB guy myself, but i think they just appeal to a younger generation.

[panamnyc @ Nov 3rd 2008 1:15PM]

we need to vote for OBAMA to fix this shit!

[John @ Nov 3rd 2008 1:35PM]

Those sound as bad as the locations here in Maine, which I noticed none were mentioned on this list. All of them except the Portland,Me one are crap holes. I've never had worse customer service and it seems to be the same deal at each location I have visited. I thought the first time around it was just the one store, but I was proved wrong. I know stores have to try and sell things, but when it gets to the point of harassing your customers, thats too much. I hope the ones here close and then shortly followed is the Best Buy stores.

[PynkFloydd @ Nov 3rd 2008 2:41PM]

@Andir3.0:

Taxes have nothing to do with a flawed business model. Most of the companies bleeding jobs are ones with outdated plans (or just poor practices catered to making money as fast as possible with no long term plan). The rest are ones that are feeling the effects of people spending less money (because they have less money to spend). If a company fails to adapt then it faces extinction. You could possibly blame Best Buy, Neweeg, Amazon, and countless other internet retailers for Circuit City's failures. Sprint is another one... If you've been following that story at all, they choked themselves with a flawed Nextel purchase and poor customer service. The housing market...well, you can blame over development causing a saturated market and inexperienced house "flippers" causing an artifical housing inflation. The banking mess...you can blame their eagerness to lend without qualifications. Less spending also had a lot to do with gas (a necessary expense) being above $4/gallon.

There's a lot of things to blame but none of those are taxes. In fact, a lot of companies get huge write-offs, breaks and legal tax shelters. (remember how Enron bought its own asset through a shell company and wrote off the entire sale?) If people aren't spending money with the company, they're going to fail. ...but, hey! Look at the bright side! ...there'll be less to tax!

[Andir3.0 @ Nov 3rd 2008 3:51PM]

Apparently I forgot to bring my sarcasm tag with me. Failing businesses are a sign of healthy free market economics. Someone else has done a better job then they have and the customer is rewarded. The question on the fence is whether someone will be able to bring in a startup to compete with the others (BB, etc.)

[Andir3.0 @ Nov 3rd 2008 4:16PM]

Also, taxes have EVERYTHING to do with business models. Some business models wouldn't even exist without taxes. The more we tax business, the more we pay with fewer jobs. Our country is in a world of hurt because it's the businesses that run BOTH major parties. They are calling the shots with lobbyist money, bailouts, and other stupid economic decisions that shouldn't even be tied to the govt. Our government is afraid of failing companies because they know China can make it cheaper. There's one way to make money on that and keep jobs here. Tax imports, even imports from domestic owned companies. That money comes out of our pockets for buying foreign goods and goes into funding infrastructure within the US to make our businesses more successful. (At least it should...) Sure, that means the US would have a VAT tax on imported goods, but this is the price you pay to get luxury goods (and that's all imports really are... let's face it) but it would be more money to spend on roads, rail, education, and community rebuilding efforts all across America (and not in Iraq.)

[PynkFloydd @ Nov 3rd 2008 5:55PM]

@Andir3.0:

So... Basically your solution is to impose higher taxes on the consumers so they'll buy more? That's awesome! Where do I sign up?

(The concept of taxing a limited resource like a consumer makes no sense whatsoever. You'd actually completely destabilize the American economy if you did that. People would put a complete stop on their spending and businesses would die off like a plague. You'd return to market conditions that existed prior to World War I. ...you know, when everything cost a fortune and nobody spent their money, they only saved and bought what they needed. Globalization works both ways... It also allows American companies to sell their products to a wider audience while gaining cheap, unregulated labor so they increase their profit margins both at home and abroad. Globalization is the reason why we're the richest nation on the planet.

Even "American" companies like Apple, Microsoft, General Electric, General Motors and Ford have too many operations overseas to avoid your proposed consumer tax. Next time you go to a domestic car dealer, read the percentage of American parts and labor. Depending on the car, there can be very little. Your "solution" would put all American companies out of business within 5 years...)

[thedesolate1 @ Nov 3rd 2008 7:27PM]

You guys forget to factor in the federal reserve pumping more money into the economy giving the country a false sense of prosperity. Our country is going bankrupt. I feel bad for all the people losing their jobs right now but this is only the tip of the Iceberg. We as a nation have to start adapting to change from businesses to consumers and start digging ourselves out of this whole.

[PynkFloydd @ Nov 3rd 2008 9:41PM]

@thedesolate1:

Are you being serious? Our country is NOT going bankrupt. At all. Not even close. We have the highest Gross Domestic Product of any country. In fact, our GDP alone almost equals what the entire European Union does. No single country touches us...even remotely. Our country does something like $14 trillion a year. Even if American industries needed a trillion dollar bailout...it'd be meaningless. It'd suck but, it wouldn't mean anything in the long term.

In the market, this is called an "adjustment". It's basically when reality catches up to unjustified expectations. ...like when these banks were overlending to anyone and housing prices shot up over a short period of time. Alone, these things are meaningless. Together, it happened to hit specific industries hard because the housing market became flooded and banks were left with undervalued collateral that they would normally cash in on. The bailout basically just covers the banks so they can ignore their losses until the market picks back up. Think of the bailout as "Sam the loanshark" giving you a break until you can pay him back and then expecting a large return...or getting some legs broken if you can't pay back the bailout. Normally, banks would require a down payment or limit their exposure to hedge against this (also called Loan to Value or LTV) but, they got caught up in the deregulation craze and making quick cash. Oh, those silly banks...

The reflection that the current earnings from this quarter suggest is that consumers are readjusting spending. Companies like Exxon, Microsoft and Apple are making record profits. This is suggesting that all extra cash is going towards what consumers find are necessesities (gas and computers).

In the words of the great Balki Bartokomous, "dun be reedeekulus!!".

[SimbaDogg @ Nov 4th 2008 12:18AM]

as much as anyone dislikes CC, no american should be happy about thousands of americans losing their jobs right before the holidays

[thedesolate1 @ Nov 10th 2008 3:11PM]

@Pink

Your precious GDP numbers are full of shit spun by the government to reflect positive economic health in order to keep foreign governments buying U.S securities and lending us money with faith in the American economy and dollar. They are inflated numbers of witch most of it is accounted by excessive leverage and no real "growth". We are a country with a service based economy with mostly consumers/retailers/businesses offering services not manufacturers creating and exporting things. That is why so few of your gadgets are made in China and Japan and not the U.S. The GDP is simply the total sum of all money spending +exports -imports. Money spent fixing the effects of a natural disaster or billions of dollars spent bailing out fledgling American companies adds to the GDP. Computer purchases for instance add to the GDP and the numbers are skewed. If I got an intel core i7 fragbox for my business and it is 5x more powerful than a computer I bought 4 years ago it will not be reflected as its real cost. So my fragbox cost me $5,000 and my old pc cost me $4,000 then my fragbox gets counted as a $20,000 sale in the GDP because my business is 5x "more productive" than it was with my old p.c. But everybody knows that having a computer 5x faster doesn't really make you 5x more productive and so it shouldn't be valued as such.

Of the total amount of the GDP only a small percent are attributed to expenses that create wealth as oppose to debt such as companies spending millions for creating factories to manufacture solar panels and thus creating jobs and businesses that sell these to lets say a contractor who installs them. Or millions spent building rechargeable EV batteries that are then exported to European and Asian car companies and used by our very own Tesla here. That adds to the GDP and is positive *wealth building* money spent. Unfortunately most of the GDP is comprised of consumption through leverage. If you don't believe me check the U.S savings rate.

Our economy is a house of cards and our entire system is hanging in the balance as I speak. So you people can low rank me and high rank him and continue to live in your fantasy land thinking and going with whatever sounds convenient for you but reality will continue to prove me right. It is a fact that people tend to sway towards information that makes them feel good. Unfortunately this is not the time to be playing around and really start analyzing this and looking at this for what it is. Then maybe we can start finding some solutions. Economics teaches us that the world works with incentives. It is no mere government oversight to tell us that our economy is doing great by spinning numbers when it is in their and your best interest to do that so that we can maintain our standard of living and continue to dig ourselves into debt to foreign governments like the Chinese one. GDP is used to so called boost "confidence" and the Bush administration will do anything to spill this mess onto the next president by holding back the bubble through flooding more money into the system and increasing inflation. We are not feeling the effects of it right now because we are witnessing deflation. Eventually it will boil over and we will see hyperinflation that will extend to the rest of the world. It wont happen over night because it is a process. This is only the beginning as you will slowly see many of these companies starting layoffs and becoming bankrupt as the years go by. And please don't get me started on the housing bubble.

/end rant

[Brent Schmidt @ Nov 3rd 2008 10:41AM]

Jeez... practically all the stores around me out here in AZ (closest being Chandler, living in Maricopa). The Murrieta closing doesn't surprise me, as the location is weak not being near many other places. I was hoping they weren't closing the Temecula one, as that's in the mall parking lot... so that's nice.

[Josh @ Nov 3rd 2008 2:05PM]

Maricopa FTW. Sucks about Chandler location I agree.

[geekmorgan @ Nov 3rd 2008 10:41AM]

I wonder if they'll put everyone in stock on sale at locations that are due to close, or if they'll just move it to other locations.

[Xicot @ Nov 3rd 2008 10:59AM]

Then in the México city one is going to open a store in the north of the city

[Benson @ Nov 3rd 2008 2:30PM]

What, "put everyone in stock on sale"?\

I suppose, since their employees are working for slave wages anyway, they could try selling them as slaves, but I hadn't expected it...

[billy goat @ Nov 3rd 2008 10:41AM]

hahahahahaha "are you taking a video?!"

[wendall @ Nov 3rd 2008 10:44AM]

Yay ....sales!!!!?????!?!??

[waiownsyou @ Nov 3rd 2008 10:44AM]

QUICK: What's worth buying at a liquidation sale at Circuit City? SOMEBODY GIVE ME SOME IDEAS! I was thinking games but they all suck now.

[iEye @ Nov 3rd 2008 10:48AM]

Here is a crazy revolutionary idea;

Put the money in the bank!

what is this mentallity of spending money just because there is a sale?



(if you allready have an iPhone, there is nothing else you need...)

[waiownsyou @ Nov 3rd 2008 11:09AM]

I don't recall Circuit City having iPhones. And you have to spend money when you can. It's how the economy works. Everyone spends money, employers need more (hopefully skilled) workers, you get hired, you get more money, you spend again. It's a cycle. When everyone saves, we get a recession and giant stores start closing.

O SHI--

[iEye @ Nov 3rd 2008 11:14AM]

So basically, your choice is to spend all your moeny, live paycheck to paycheck, never save a dime, and hope that you will never hit hard times?

Yay! lets all go nuts, spend every dime we have make more babies because there are not enough people on this planet as it is...

[Opie and Anthony @ Nov 3rd 2008 11:26AM]

I went through a few of these, if they hired a company to do the dirty work for them it goes like this:

1. Raise all prices to the highest price they ever were in the company. example if a 56" Sony LCD TV had a MSRP of $2999.99 and they sell it now for $2299.99 then they raise it back up to $2999.99

2. Post big yellow signs everywhere with percentage off that gets everyone in to a frenzy.

3. Make more profit in two months than you did in the past year.

4. slowly raise the percentage off amount over months, until almost everything is gone.

5. Try to make workers leave the company so you don't have to pay unemployment.

6. Write employees up for every infraction to make it so you can fire them without paying unemployment.

7. Also do 5 & 6 so you don't have to pay benefits or bonuses.

[Josh @ Nov 3rd 2008 12:13PM]

I doubt there will be any liquidation sales, since one thing I read is that they are closing these stores to move the merchandise to other stores that aren't closing.

[Opie and Anthony @ Nov 3rd 2008 2:44PM]

@Josh:
Where the Hell did you read that?!?!?!

Their press release:
"The company expects that impacted stores will not open on Tuesday, November 4, and the store closing sales will begin on Wednesday, November 5. The company expects the sales to be completed no later than calendar year end."

Cnet:
The company plans to begin a liquidation sale at its 155 stores targeted for closing (PDF) on Wednesday and is expected to continue the sale through the rest of the year.

WSJ:
Circuit City said it would close the stores in 55 U.S. markets Tuesday and immediately begin liquidation sales on Wednesday.

[phanbouy @ Nov 4th 2008 5:20PM]

once a douche, always a douche, eh wai?

[DJ SlipStream @ Nov 3rd 2008 10:46AM]

awesome, the majority of stores on the east side of Cleveland are closing...

[Nate @ Nov 3rd 2008 1:13PM]

Yea, I am sad and surprised to see so many on the east side of Cleveland closing. A weekly trip to CC in Mayfield Heights was a tradition for me... I can't justify stepping into a Best Buy. I feel dirty every time.

[THizzle7XU @ Nov 3rd 2008 1:24PM]

Majority on the East side? Try ALL of them on the west side too! The closest one to my house in Cleveland (I'm in Cincy for Grad school) is 33 miles away in Aurora! I'm surprised the Elyria store is closing too since it usually had a decent crowd in it. Although Midway Mall is slowly becoming a ghetto due to its surrounding shady residents unfortunately.

[Chad McCan @ Nov 3rd 2008 10:47AM]

All of the Kansas and Missouri stores in Kansas City will be closing. Including a BRAND NEW (less than 1 year old) Shoal Creek store, which as of last Thursday, still had a "Now Hiring" sign in the window. This store had to cost a boatload to build (it's stand alone) and is in a very high end new area. What a shame, I refuse to shop at Best Buy.

[Brian Popp @ Nov 3rd 2008 10:49AM]

They are closing all five stores here in the Kansas City Metro area. This is sad, I always liked Circuit City better than Best Buy. Website is WAAY better than Best Buy's. I bought three different computers (for family) plus several different sound systems, etc.

Sucks to have bad management. There is no good reason Best Buy has surpassed them.

[Jack Storm @ Nov 3rd 2008 11:45AM]

The Circuit City website is disgusting, all cluttered up and search feature is 50% of the time way off. Only other retail store website thats worse than them is P.C. Richard's site.

[Michael @ Nov 3rd 2008 10:51AM]

Wow they already purged the Atlanta stores from the store locator online.

No big loss to me here. I have not liked CC since maybe the 2nd day they were open. At first they had pushy commision employees, then in recent years they went with the whole understaffed / can't figure out where to pay setup.

Bestbuy and online sources are where I feed my consumer electronic addiction.

[Mote @ Nov 3rd 2008 10:54AM]

I feel badly about the jobs lost here. Unfortunately Circuit City has been making all the wrong moves for a long time.

[raptorspike @ Nov 3rd 2008 10:54AM]

I just got hired at a Circuit City nearby. The outlet nearby is closing, but I'm not sure about the store I'm going to work at. The sad thing is one of the stores on the list was just opened two months ago.

[htd @ Nov 3rd 2008 10:56AM]

on store closing in MN. I dont like CC/Ultimate eletronics but they at least offer some competition to BB. More fry's stores please, also microcenter needs more than one store here.

[phoofdawg @ Nov 3rd 2008 2:11PM]

What store in MN. Is there one that's not on the pdf link?

[Opie and Anthony @ Nov 3rd 2008 11:00AM]

That's all? These is going to be a long process until they all close. They should have axed more stores, change the name to 'The City' at the remaining locations and do a complete reboot.