Circuit City files for bankruptcy
Even after shutting down 155 retail stores and announcing plans to cut around 17% of its 43,000 employees, Circuit City couldn't avoid the dreaded bankruptcy court. Today, the Virginia-based company (along with 17 affiliates) petitioned for Chapter 11 protection in Richmond as it attempts to survive under the crushing pressure from Best Buy / Walmart. Beyond that, details about the outfit's future are unclear, though Best Buy has reportedly stated that it "might take over stores that distressed rivals close." Please, no.
[Via Bloomberg, image courtesy of AFSmith; thanks Daniel]
[Via Bloomberg, image courtesy of AFSmith; thanks Daniel]























Best Buy will be next. Both BBuy and CC refuse to compete with Amazon. I bought 2 50' plasmas in the last 2 years ONLINE for about 300-400 cheaper than either store plus NO TAX. This trend will only continue as those in colleges today become the consumers of tomorrow.
but how much was shipping?
.....And how 'bout that 24 mo's same-as-cash? Bet you didn't get that either did you? So you just have $2000 lying around somewhere right?
Seriously? Consumer debt is everything that is wrong with our economy, currently. If you can't afford to pay for it, you can't afford it. I should hope that this guy bought his TVs with cash, as opposed to "buying" something he can't afford.
Debt is not a bad thing. Debt drives our economy and keeps businesses and our government operating.
Debt can be handled poorly, just as assets or cash on hand can.
No care I never about this store. The only reason I may ever go back to one is if they're going to be having awesome clearance sales before they actually close the doors. Good riddance Circuit City.
;_;
I watched my first LaserDisc movie at Circuit City back in 1995.
Mortal Kombat, of all movies too.
My heart just broke a little bit.
I have a circuit city credit card; if they go totally under do i still owe that balance or do i somehow get out of it??? Anybody know???
I will weep just a little when this chain goes away. I bought both my HD sets (a 50" Sony LCD-RP and more recently a 60" SXRD, just paid off in fact) on great "same as cash" deals that offered me the sets for far less than any online seller could have matched.
Of course, loss sales like that are why the chain is in trouble to begin with...
It's about time... anyone remember DIVX (Digital Video Express) :)
Do any of you realize that just because you file Chapter 11 doesn't mean you are going out of business?
looks like the one in serramonte mall, california.
I can see the news paper headlines two years from now... "Circuit City emerges from bankruptcy, buys Best Buy"... Good thing I go to Microcenter for all my techie gear!
Circuit City has (had) the worst customer service: nobody available on the floor, and nobody really knew sh.... about what they were selling.
Plus the stores look (looked!) kindda gross and cheezy.
Glad they're gone.
I'm a current Circuit City employee(store management)... and I cant say none of our long time employees didnt see this coming as early as last year. And i know what u mean about poor customer service. The truth is that we are forced to schedule the most minimum amount of people as possible to save on labor and most of the employees are brand new which is why they dont have product knowledge. Circuit City doesnt invest anything at all into training new employees. I also worked for Best Buy for two years and while the personal store experience was horrible when working there, the upper levels of management had their stuff together. Complete opposite at Circuit City.
I might have to call shannanigans on your "I'm a manager boo hoo" speech. I'm a manager in another store, and it's up to us to get the people trained on whatever we have, and to schedule labor properly based on sales. It's all about the guest my friend. Sooo the only way I'd agree that you were forced to have "no one in your store, and no one trained" would be that no one ever comes to your store at any time to support the cost of training and labor.
Don't make it seem like it's a mandate from the CEO to give out shitty service just because you're a bit behind in your managment skills.
I work at Circuit City and do not worry about your extended warranties, a third party company called assurant buys out the contracts, which means that assurant would have to shut down for your warranties to go void.
I wrote them off the last time they demanded my phone number when I was buying a pack of batteries. Good riddance.
Is there someone that's surprised?
Seriously ?
Man I won't feel bad for Circuit City at all. The quality of the service they offer is the worst i've experienced. The people they employ totally SUCK, they know nothing about their job, most of them don't even give a sh** about your requests, are slower than the laziest stoner on earth. The only reason i still go there sometimes is because its a bloc away from my place and when I know i have 2 hours ahead.
Maybe should they start focusing more on the casting of their members, the rest will follow ...
Bad karma for Divx has finally arrived.
Being a Circuit City employee that tries hard to please the customer it really makes me sad too see how some people are glad were not doing so well. Circuit City has been around for 59 years and they have been nothing but great. I grew up with my parents shopping there and then I started to shop there. Now i work there as a guest service associate. I think this is a great company with potential! We will come back, I have hope for this company. All the employees there are like family and to those who say management tells their employees to lie is untrue!!! We care about our customers and their money and understand that they are choosing us to spend their hard earned money with and we are always thankful for that! Many of you out their are joking around with how your happy this company is not doing well, but if you don't understand that if more stores were to close then thousands of people will be left jobless...so please be more respectful to the company and their employees! Without this job I will have to stop my college education because finding a job right now is very hard. So give us a chance before you judge!
Yeah, I'm also a CC employee working at a closed store, and all of the people expressing happiness that we're closing are all selfish bastards. Maybe you didn't like the *one* store you frequently shopped with but that does not mean that every store and every employee was of the same caliber. I worked at my store for nearly 4 years and always provided the best service I could and enjoyed working there. I've made many life long friends while working for this company, and even more life long memories. So yeah, maybe the company has completely mismanaged itself into the toilet, but don't take it out on the employees as a whole and at least have some sympathy for those of us who will now be jobless this holiday season. If you found out that your place of employment was going under like we did, I don't think you'd appreciate much of what has been said.
Then treat your situation like an opportunity, maybe your next job won't involve working for a company with an outdated business model.
They are closing 155 of the 700+ stores, however. And I work at one of those 155.
I despise Best Buy. Circuit City had better quality products and better service. A shame to see it go; it's sad how people settle for watered down service (Best Buy) since it's "cheaper."
I know from a worker perspective at least circuit city had carpet on its floors. Makes a big difference to the people who walk the aisles all day. When I worked retail my feet hurt like a mutha.
Only some BBYs have a lino racetrack, and the ones that do are slowly being converted to all carpet.
I actually haven't been in a CC in more than three years, due to working at BBY. I applied there at the same time as BBY, and they brought me in for a group interview and didn't hire me. BBY didn't even call me back. Then I reapplied at BBY and was hired as OS.
But, before working at BBY, I actually went to CC before BBY, because I felt that their stores felt more like geeky, electronics stores than BBY did. I remember buying a Logitech Wireless Gamepad, a Canon LiDE 20 scanner, a couple pairs of noise canceling audiobahn headphones (which kept breaking). My mom bought her digicam (old Canon A-series, I believe it was an A530) there, and I believe her JVC TV. Also my JVC shelf system, and a DVD/VCR. I still have pretty much all those things, save for the scanner (sold it) and the headphones (broke again).
I never thought CS was all that bad there. When I had to return things, I was treated fairly. I never really want to talk to employees unless I have a question, so I never had a problem with them not asking me for help. I'm guessing they have gotten a lot worse in the past three years.
To everyone saying "oh no BBY is going to have a monopoly and become a behemoth"...nope. It's been a while since CC was our biggest competitor. WM is now. They undercut us on price much more than CC. Even if the products they sell reflect their price, there are certain people who shop on price and price alone, regardless of the quality of the product. CC isn't even mentioned in our meetings anymore. I think the last mention of them was when they launched FailDog. Hmm, I wonder if they'll have time to fit this in at our 11-15 meeting.
But the CC employees posting are right: you have to think of the line level guys. While a HS student can work at a grocery store or restaurant, if you like electronics, it makes much more sense to work at an electronics store. Everyone has a first job, and for most of us it's a minimum wage gig at a chain.
About consumer spending, you're damn right it'll be low. We haven't hired a single OS person, and every PT is getting crap for hours when everyone in the store is usually scheduled 30+. This is going to be a bad, bad, bad holiday season, but hopefully retailers try to combat it by having massive BF sales.
#4 electronics retailer emerges to buy #1 electronics retailer!
Uh, yeah, right. Next thing you know, Target will buy WM.
I can't speak for Best Buy as a whole, but the stores in my area are not selling much at all. Hopefully Best Buy won't follow Circuit City into bankruptcy, I just bought a Toshiba Laptop from them.
I'm with other people in that they just built a brand new Circuit City near me a few months ago, and now they're filing for bankruptcy? The store near me is terrible anyways - barely any stock, disorganized layout, clueless staff. There's a Best Buy 45 minutes south of me that has always been great. The other one I go to sometimes has been iffy, however. I find that Best Buy typically has lower prices and a better selection anyways, so if I want to buy something from a brick-and-mortar store, it's Best Buy. I hate to see any company fail like this, especially with everything like it is nowadays, but they should have fixed their issues.