Circuit City to Close 155 Stores, Faces Delisting
Talk of Circuit City troubles has been doing the rounds for the last few weeks, however, recent evidence of store closures and threats of delisting from the New York Stock exchange now add a bit of credibility to the rumours.
On October 31st, news broke on Gizmodo that Sony had recalled their en-route shipment to the retail chain amongst fears that it would be unable to pay for the shipments. The same day, CNet reported that the New York Stock Exchange had notified Circuit City that it were at risk of being delisted, primarily due to the fact that their stock price had remained under the required $1.00 per share price for more than thirty days. While both stories certainly painted a troubling picture, neither had shown any immediate affect on the store level.
Just this evening, The Consumerist received reports that an official memo had been passed through that detailed the closure of 155 Circuit City stores across the nation, which would be a part of a complete withdrawal from twelve regions. Reports from insiders began to flood into The Consumerist confirming the news, along with an official scan of a notice of closure as evidence.
Per the information given to and reported by The Consumerist, stores affected by the close will be taken over by liquidators as soon as Tuesday, with an evaluation of the value of on-hand stock taking place shortly after. Discounts are expected to be applied to most products available, and a sell-off is then expected to take place by current sales associates. Circuit City credit cards, gift cards, and warranties will no longer apply to purchases at stores under liquidation. Consumers currently having their equipment serviced by Circuit City are encouraged to get in touch with their local store to verify arrangements of transfer, or to get their product back.
Tom’s Games contacted several stores in the Chicago area, each of which gave different answers regarding the news. Among the six stores contacted, five had already set their phone systems to report that the store was closed well over an hour early. The early notice was, however, bypassed with an entry request for the operator, with the employees hinting that the notices were set to avoid calls after receiving the news.
While we were unable to get any significant information on any upcoming events from standard level employees, we did speak with one manager who notified us that information regarding the locations closed and plans for liquidation should be available as soon as Monday, or Tuesday at the latest. We were also advised that corporate has instructed employees of all levels, including management, not to discuss the matter. According to our contact, a toll-free number will be available early in the week with an official statement.
This is certainly an unfortunate event, especially for Circuit City staff that now face unemployment. Bargain shoppers may be disappointed to see their local stores close just before “Black Friday”, however depending on liquidation valuation, one could possibly benefit from other exceptional deals from mass inventory sell-offs.
Related Links
Gizmodo: Sony Trucks Literally Turn Around to Stop Circuit City Shipments
The Consumerist: UPDATED: Breaking: Circuit City Closing 155 Stores
CNet: Circuit City gets delisting notice from NYSE
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I worked at circuit city in chicago, and now maybe 3 stores are gonna close down for good. God, i hated that place. That's what they get for not taking care of their customers and employees. So long ccity.
in Canada we have The Source by Circuit City shops which replaced radioshack. any idea if these will be closed as well?
yea i worked for future shop (aka best buy since they are owned by them) here in canada, worst experience ever
I agree, circuit city customer service sucks-price matching policy was also worthless, registers takes too long, everything is overpriced-a few reason I quit shopping there for years.
price matching sucks? they are better than anyone else at doing so.
not really supprised one bit.... circuitcity had this coming for a long time. The one where I live is down right horrible. There customer service was terrible and extremely unhelpful. Most the managers (or people they said where mangers) where 18 including the GM (I not downing young people but please if your 18 and General Manger of a store something not right)... There prices where all over the place you would see a item online then go to the story to buy and there would be a 30 dollar price difference which you would ask them to match and they would ask you for proof its there website give me a break look it up. They also said they had products online available at the store and you would go to the story no product (or you could call them say story its in stock tell you get there) Not to mention I even had them refuse a check of mine because I had made a purchase earlier in the week give me a break 1 check a week? wtf So no i not supprised one bet i not happy about it either cause best buy not any better but still going to be around
Sorry for any mis spelled words I normal spell check things first but didnt have the chance to this time
I hope "The Source" doesn't close down in Canada. Its horribly overpriced, but its pretty much the only place to get certain electronic components outside of major cities. Although I guess another store would take their place if the demand was there.
Not surprised to read all the negative comments, since I have had a horrible experience with them as well. To net my experience out, Approximately a year ago, I spent over $11K (Plasma TV, upgrade electronics in new car). TV purchase was okay, although Circuit City's network got hacked during the transaction and my card was compromised. My worst experience was having $6K in car electronics installed, they pulled a product switch with me. Sold me one product and installed another, took 6-8 weeks to get a compromise. Plus, they scratched a brand new FJ Cruiser (2 weeks old). The management staff was non-concerned with my satisfaction once I paid the bill, which had to be addressed prior to the installation process. Needless to say, I no longer buy anything of substantial value from Circuit City.
They should treat their customers better. It's said to witness the demise of a retail chain that could have remain one of the top locations for electronics, but these things happen. Especially, when customers are treated badly...
I used to work for a Circuit City that competed for #1/2 spot in profit of all the CC's here on the West Coast when sales reps made commission. Our store was always flooded with people to the point that we sometimes had to make appointments with customers. The representatives were motivated to sell(we were able to knock down prices a bit to move merchandise as well - all you had to do was ask!), educated in their departments, and the managers were strict as hell and on top of everything. Inventory was accounted for at all times and we had a customer service office that usually ran 4-6 people helping out customers on the weekends. During that period we closed out GoodGuys (literally) and kept Best Buy from moving in for a few years. It was the one retail job I loved the most until they took away commission. After that, sales reps quit - CC was forced to hire anyone that put in an app to cover shifts and the quality of service went downhill from there. Now that Best Buy has moved in a few blocks away, no one bothers to turn the corner to CC. Hopefully this doesn't drive up prices now.
My local store isn't on the list. Darn. Was hoping for some liquidation sales.
@hotrodex
you cant really expect much from stores like cc and bestbuy and future shop
the objective for them is to sell stuff and most of the employees will say anything and do anything to get you to buy something and that includes lying to your face, and the lying is completely approved by "upper management"
product knowledge is not a prereq in getting a job at these places, you just need to have a pulse and be pushy
the only time i will go to the B&M stores is when they have a sale or something (which usually by the time u get there, it's already sold out) lol
Press release:
http://newsroom.circuitcity.com/re [...] eID=344747
Store closing list here:
http://investor.circuitcity.com/announcement.cfm
The ones in Cali are poorly ran anyway. It sucks that so many people are going to be out of jobs.
I think we are starting to see the effect of online retail. CompUSA's were the first to go and now CircuitCity.
The best price matching policy is Fry's, they have ads from all the local retailers ready. Circuit City wouldnt even bother to price-match Fry's, for whatever reason.
My guess is, no matter how many stores close and sales fall, upper management is still worried about unions, employee healthcare, employee job security, taxes for the top 1%. Everything except giving workers enough stability to think about buying something.
As for online retailing. Why doesn't eletronic stores (like CompUSA) copy the online model? I will personally love a big online store I can walk-in and take home something if I can't wait for it to come in the mail. This kind of store is for people that know what they want and where to find it. (I'm not trying to describe WalMart )
Probably because CompUSA is already out of business. The web presence was purchased by SystemMax and is not the original company.
I used to work for them for quite awhile and saw the exact same scenario occur. First it's closing down 155 stores to try and cut costs, but in a year I bet you will see the entire company go down just like CompUSA. An interesting fact; many CompUSA employees switched to Circuit City when CompUSA went down. Including the worthless VP of Tech Services Carin Falconer. Who of course became the VP of Tech Services for Circuit City. Fly by night upper management is what destroyed CompUSA, and I bet it's doing the same to Circuit City. Not that the economy and poor service aren't doing a bang up job as well.
enewmen. The whole reasons why the online stores do so well is because of the no retails stores that CC and best buy have. They have rduced prices that such stores can not do. guess is, no matter how many stores close and sales fall, upper management is still worried about unions, employee healthcare, employee job security, taxes for the top 1%. Everything except giving workers enough stability to think about buying something.As for online retailing. Why doesn't eletronic stores (like CompUSA) copy the online model? I will personally love a big online store I can walk-in and take home something if I can't wait for it to come in the mail. This kind of store is for people that know what they want and where to find it. (I'm not trying to describe WalMart )[/citation]
anything after the such stores can not do is not my meeage. my comment box is screwed up atm.