After shelling out some $6.5 million, you had to know that Systemax planned on doing something with Circuit City's trademarks and internet domain names. As of today, CircuitCity.com is back and better than ever, carrying on the legacy of a name that became synonymous with overpriced consumer electronics for nearly six decades. Of course, this doesn't mean that any Circuit City retail stores will be re-opening, but at least the brand is living on in the world wide web. The wonders of the internet: I Can Has Cheezburger?, Twitter and the continuation of an icon that would otherwise be six feet underground.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

While Wal-Mart will always be our hot spot of choice for picking up a mixed assortment box of granola bars and meeting other thrifty, outdoors-loving singles, the retailer is on a course to upping its electronics game, in light of the void left by Circuit City's closure -- about $11.1 billion in annual revenue just there for the taking. The store is rolling out new boutique sections for Apple and Nintendo products to some of its electronics departments this week, is adding to its selection higher-end Sony and Samsung televisions, will be expanding its Blu-ray equipment and selection, is nabbing some Studio One 19 all-in-ones from Dell next month, and obviously is getting the Palm Pre next month as well. Apple has been traditionally slow to offer up its higher-end products to Wal-Mart shelves, so hopefully this means that not only will Wal-Mart be doing Macs "right," but perhaps Apple will give a little in return and offer some more sub-$1000 macs beyond the Mac mini and low-end MacBook -- some Laptop Hunters fare, if you will.

[Via AppleInsider]

Just like it did in January of last year, Systemax is snapping up leftovers from a now-defunct national consumer electronics retailer. As part of the post-bankruptcy proceedings, Circuit City Stores Incorporated recently closed a deal that'll net it $6.5 million. The price for the coinage? Systemax taking control of its trademarks and internet domain names. Circuit City stated in the filing that the sale of its intellectual property and internet assets would bring "significant recovery for the sellers' estates and creditors," and we're also told that Circuit City would be able to snag an unspecified share of sales from the brand name. Look out, Best Buy -- we hear Systemax has eyes for you, too.

[Thanks, Sid]

To an icon in the consumer electronics retail space, we wave goodbye. And for the hordes of employees already / soon to be looking for new uniforms elsewhere, we empathize. Circuit City has just announced that on March 8th, all of its stores will lock up for the last time. Granted, some locations have already shut their doors in permanent fashion due to stock depletion, but regardless of leftover wares, March 8th is the end of the line for the laggards. We'd say you might want to stop by your local outlet to catch any last-last-minute sales, but even at a penny, you're not going to want that open-box 4MB SD card.

[Via HotHardware, image courtesy of wbeebe]

If you were waiting to get some fliers in the mail announcing the beginning of clearances at your local Circuit City, we're sorry to report you've probably already missed the best deals. The liquidation was just made official last week, but, when Christen over at Gadget Review happened by the trendy Santa Monica branch of the doomed franchise yesterday, he found lines of people already waiting for their chance get in on the "everything must go" action. It looks like the crowds were somewhat contrived, as sales associates were making people wait outside before going in, but just the same you might want to bundle up before heading out for bargain hunting today.

Even Circuit City's CEO admitted that liquidation was a very real possibility if a sale of the company didn't occur by January 16th, and needless to say, time's up. According to a breaking report from the AP, the once colossal electronics retailer will indeed be forced to liquidate, which should bring happy times for bargain hunters and sad times for employees. Now that details are starting to flow in, we're told that it will liquidate 567 of its US stores after failing to secure a buyer or refinancing deal. For those who care, Great American Group LLC, Hudson Capital Partners LLC, SB Capital Group LLC and Tiger Capital Group LLC have been chosen as liquidators.

[Thanks, Doug]

Things have been a little rocky (to say the very least) for Circuit City since it filed for bankruptcy protection back in November of last year, and now the acting president and CEO has sent out a letter informing a select few (or the world, as the case may be) of what exactly is going / could be going on. In short, the company has just recently "filed with the Bankruptcy Court a motion that seeks Court approval for a process that formally puts the company up for sale." There's a lot of fluff after that, but the long and short of it is this: a sale could be approved before an auction begins (and its working mighty hard to make sure that happens), but if that doesn't go down by the 16th, the outfit will be " forced to liquidate" soon. We're not trying to be overly dramatic or anything, so we'll encourage you to read the entire, soul-soothing email posted just after the break before going into full-on panic mode.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Okay, so maybe Circuit City only formally closed 155 of its retail locations, but let's put it this way -- if we're up at 3:00AM and looking at which store to camp in front of, we're picking the one that, um, isn't bankrupt. All that aside, five pages of mildly delectable Black Friday deals have leaked for the company, giving you a full fortnight to think things over and handpick the bargains that you'll be hunting for. Of course, savvy online shoppers like yourself aren't apt to find anything here too fantastic, but we'd wager that even a $7.99 laptop sleeve is a far better value than a $12 Guns N' Roses CD.

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]

Yes -- it's happening again. Another installment of the beloved Engadget Podcast has made its way to the virtual airwaves of the ever-loving internet, and now you can listen in for personal enjoyment and edification. Today Josh, Paul, and Nilay get to the heart of our recent "preferred OS" poll, Apple's treatment of iPhone developers, Amazon's abandonment of painful packaging, and more. Included in this podcast is a first-ever (for Engadget at least) on-air unboxing. That's right, hear the sounds of a Gears of War 2 Zune getting ripped open.

As a treat to our faithful listeners, we'll be giving away that very special edition 120GB Zune! Follow the instructions after the break to learn how to make it yours.

Update: We've also included that Best Buy rap discussed in the podcast. Enjoy!

Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Paul Miller, and Nilay Patel
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: Smells Like Teen Spirit

01:43 - Poll: Which OS do you prefer?
12:38 - Apple adds OTA podcast downloads to iPhone firmware 2.2, continues to burn developers
27:14 - Amazon takes a stand to eliminate wasteful, hard-to-open gadget packaging
34:30 - Circuit City announces store closure plans, full list of locations revealed
45:51 - Dash cuts 50 employees, drastically changing business model
55:05 - Gears of War 2 canvasses special-edition Zune

Subscribe to the podcast

[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (enhanced AAC).
[RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.
[RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator.
[Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace

Download the podcast

LISTEN (MP3)
LISTEN (AAC)
LISTEN (OGG)

Contact the podcast

1-888-ENGADGET or podcast (at) engadget (dot) com.

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

According to a slew of tips we've received, Circuit City will be closing down 155 of its retail locations, possibly even before Black Friday. Right now details are sketchy, but it seems that the company's traditional "holiday kickoff" meeting was actually a "holiday layoff" discussion instead. Apparently, a full list of store locations getting the axe will be revealed. In the words of a current employee:

"I'm an employee @ Circuit City and today there was a mandatory store meeting for the holiday season and to welcome all the seasonal employees. There was also some tension as rumors were rampant the days before that we were all going to find out we were out of a job today. Luckily, but still somehow unfortunately, I'm still an employee of Circuit City. The same can't be said for the employees of the 155 stores that are closing, possibly even before black Friday. The list of stores that are shutting down will be made public tomorrow. The idea behind closing the stores before Black Friday is to transfer product from the failing stores to the stronger ones to save some money."

This makes sense given the rumors we heard in October and the fact that the company's stock has been been essentially put on death watch by the NYSE -- but that surely won't soften the blow to everyone whose job will be affected by this. If you have more detail on the situation, feel free to drop us a line.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

AT&T's not messing around with spreading the good word on its U-verse services, as it has just nailed down an agreement to sell the aforementioned products in two of America's largest retail outlets. Beginning this month, U-verse kiosks will emerge in over 600 Circuit City and Walmart locations, which will give unsuspecting consumers the chance to ditch their current cable / satellite / fiber provider and sign up for AT&T's own programming / high-speed internet / digital phone suite. The move comes in the midst of its nationwide Total Home DVR rollout, which enables any connected TV in the crib to watch a recorded SD or HD show. Of course, U-verse still serves a comparatively small amount of the country at present time, but with an initiative like this, we feel pretty good about future expansion.

Contrary to what LG coerced us into believing at CEDIA, its Netflix / Blu-ray-lovin' BD300 will actually be sold a full $50 cheaper than the previously quoted $399.95. Circuit City has the deck up for pre-order right this very moment for $349.99 (okay, so maybe that's not a full $50, but c'mon), and better still, the retailer is listing an October 10th release date. Now that Netflix has inked deals with CBS, ABC and Starz, there's just one question left: are you in for three fifty?

[Thanks, Joshua]