Circuit City going under

[Dee8go]

They annonced this afternoon they are closing for good.

[MTI]

Thank goodness, the stench of death from their stores during the holiday sales season was overwhelming at times.

[pj67coll]

I wonder who will be next?

- Peter.

[Dee8go]

Bankrupt Circuit City Stores Inc., unable to work out a sale of the company, said Friday it will go out of business — closing its 567 U.S. stores and cutting 30,000 jobs.

The nation's second-biggest consumer electronics retailer is the latest casualty of an unprecedented pullback in consumer spending that has driven other brands such as KB Toys, Mervyns LLC and Linens 'N Things into bankruptcy. Experts believe there will be more to come.

"This is the only possible path for our company," Circuit City's acting Chief Executive James A. Marcum said in a statement. "We are extremely disappointed by this outcome."

The company had been seeking a buyer or a deal to refinance its debt, but the hobbled credit market and consumer worries proved insurmountable. Negotiations for an acquisition went past midnight on Thursday, Circuit City lawyer Gregg Galardi said in court.

[Dee8go]

We are increasingly at the mercy of bigger and bigger big box chain stores. Pretty soon there will be no one left who actually knows anything about the products they sell.

[MTI]

Originally Posted by pj67coll

I wonder who will be next?

- Peter.

Of the big box retailiers, I'd expect that the home improvement and furniture stores to be worried.

We are increasingly at the mercy of bigger and bigger big box chain stores. Pretty soon there will be no one left who actually knows anything about the products they sell.

Recent history is showing that specialty big box stores are at risk rather than taking over. As for expertise on the sales floor, big box retailers dumped those higher earning folks long ago, which left the sales floors manned by minimum wage inexperience.

[Dee8go]

I would guess that Lowes is in a better position than Home Depot. That's just my imipression from shopping at both.

[yal]

For electronics I would say online retailers are having more of an effect than big box retailers on the likes of Circuit City.

[TheDon]

I went to circuit city to buy a cd last week and the selection they had was a joke. maybe 40 feet of CD's. Best Buy has a whole quarter of the store for CD's.


I'll keep a watch for awesome deals shortly

[KarTek]

I'm a little scared for Ace hardware. There's a brand new store up the street and there's neer any customers in there. It's a shame too because they have, hands down, the best selection of oddball hardware, nuts and bolts that I've ever seen.

[Dee8go]

Yeah, I've been very disappointed with their CD selection. Plus, they don't seem to be in any real order. Their stores have seemed to show a lack of interest by the employees and local management for several years. Still, I'm sorry to see them go.

[Dee8go]

Originally Posted by KarTek

I'm a little scared for Ace hardware. There's a brand new store up the street and there's neer any customers in there. It's a shame too because they have, hands down, the best selection of oddball hardware, nuts and bolts that I've ever seen.

Isn't ACE a franchise operation?

[Kuan]

I thought they were just reorganizing

http://www.circuitcity.com/closed.html

[MTI]

CDs? Nationally, stores are cutting back on floor space for those soon to be extinct methods of digital entertainment delivery.

[Dee8go]

Originally Posted by Kuan

I thought they were just reorganizing

http://www.circuitcity.com/closed.html

Their reorganization was dependent upon them finding a buyer for the company. That deal apparently fell through today.