Circuit City closed its doors earlier this year following a last ditch effort to stay afloat that just didn’t pan out. Some, such as the 35,000 or so people left without a job, were pretty sad to see the company go — there isn’t much competition these days as far as brick and mortar electronics mega retailers go. While Circuit City’s physical locations have all been retired at this point, their spirit lives on in the newly revived CircuitCity.com. Earlier this week, Systemax completed a deal to purchase various Circuit City assets and the company wasted no time in relaunching the website, which is now live and boasting lower prices, a wider selection, faster shipping and 24/7 customer service. Cool. Systemax also owns TigerDirect and CompUSA (which it acquired last year) so consumer electronics is clearly nothing new for the company. Anyone happy to see CC back in action, at least to some extent?

[Via Gizmodo]

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…and over 35,000 folks prepare to start searching for a new job. So sad. This latest bit of bad news comes after Circuit City’s lengthy, and apparently fruitless, search for a buyer. The company has been trying to sell its assets for quite some time now. It seems, however, that faced with a ticking clock and an utter lack of interest from outside parties Circuit City has made an agreement with a liquidation firm to get rid of all of its material assets and close shop. The company filed for bankruptcy this morning in Richmond, Virginia. While there will certainly be a bit of a “all items must go” sale frenzy, this is ultimately very bad news for the economy, electronics industry, and the 10′s of thousands of employees that now find themselves without a job. Sadly, it also begs the following question: Who will be the next to fall?

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Black Friday is behind us now, thankfully, but that doesn’t mean the savings are going to stop any time soon. Electronics retail stores are hurting just like everyone else in today’s troubled times and as such, expect huge deals from the big boys in the weeks leading up to the holidays. Along those lines, Best Buy and Circuit City have both made their Cyber Monday deals available beginning today and it might be the perfect time to take a huge bite out of your holiday shopping. Special deals at both retailers can be found through COB tomorrow, although don’t be too upset if you can’t find the time to head down to your local store or even browse the sale sections online. There will be plenty more deals to come in December as retailers do everything in their power to get you to fork over some cash, even if it means watching their profit margins dwindle.

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Circuit City formally began the chapter 11 bankruptcy process earlier this month, announcing that it would be closing 155 stores by year-end as part of its reorganization. That isn’t however, going to stop the troubled retailer from making a big push during what is historically the busiest shopping weekend of the year. As brick and mortar locations around the country prepare to close, Circuit City has launched a pretty extensive online blowout sale today covering hundreds of products ranging from laptops, printers and routers to digital cameras, camcorders and even video games. Those of you looking for good deals on gift possibilities without having to do battle with the masses tomorrow should definitely browse through the sale items on the other side of the read link.

[Via I4U]

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If the story of retail giant Circuit City was a book, Chapter 11 was a section it had certainly hoped would be skipped. Just one short week after news that the retail chain would be closing up shop in 155 of its locations, Circuit City has now announced that it will reorganize under Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Under the protection of Chapter 11, Circuit City should be able to continue paying salaries and providing benefits to its employees as well as honor all current customer programs including returns, exchanges and gift cards. A blurb from James A. Marcum, vice chairman and acting president:

We recently have taken intensive measures to overcome our deteriorating liquidity position. The decision to restructure the business through a Chapter 11 filing should provide us with the opportunity to strengthen our balance sheet, create a more efficient expense structure and ultimately position the company to compete more effectively. In the meantime, our stores remain fully operational, and our associates are focused on consistent and successful execution this holiday season and beyond.

The good news in all of this is that locations not affected by the aforementioned closures will remain open for business during the reorganization, provided the Bankruptcy Court grants Circuit City’s request to remain operational as expected. As the economic struggles in this country continue, we can only hope a Chapter 11 reorg will be successful in stabilizing the retailer’s business and might prevent further layoffs as Circuit City begins a long and difficult climb out of its horrible current financial situation.

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Plagued by sluggish sales and a dreadfully low stock price, Circuit City has been in a downward spiral. Last week it was a notice of non-compliance from the NYSE threatening to remove the listing because its stock has been sitting at well below $1.00 for more than a month. This week it is the inevitable cutbacks which have taken the form of layoffs and store closings. According to the Consumerist website, Circuit City is set to announce the closing of 155 stores nationwide today, which is about 20% of its entire retail chain. Many stores held emergency meetings over the weekend to discuss the potential closings and reorganization of the company. According to letters handed out to employees at stores that are slated for closing, all employees will be terminated on or before December 31st, 2008, possibly without any form of severance pay. Dreadful news for Circuit City employees. A list of stores that are on the chopping block has not been publicly released but rumors suggest that those stores set to close are no longer appearing on Circuit City’s store locator. More details about liquidation sales and a full list of stores that are closing should be coming later today – our condolences in advance to everyone affected by this terrible news.

[Via The Consumerist]

UPDATE: The official release just hit, along the closure list and some more info. Again, we can’t express enough how sorry we are for those affected – best of luck to you all.

[Thanks, Juan]

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We have to wonder if the culmination of Microsoft’s $300mm marketing endeavor will be a battle royale on Monday Night Raw or Pay Per View. Windows Gurus vs. Mac Geniuses in a cage match to the death. Not only would we totally be willing to buy that event on PPV, we guarantee that everyone on the BGR team will pick up a shiny new Vista PC if the Windows Gurus get out alive. Let’s get it on! In the meantime, the Gurus have a slightly different task at hand that likely requires a bit less training and a bit more sweating. According to Reuters, Microsoft will be setting up camp in hundreds of Best Buy and Circuit City locations around the country. Their mission: Educate the masses and show potential customers the many benefits of Vista. Brilliant! Think about how economical this plan is compared to Apple’s scheme. Apple has to plant dedicated Geniuses in each and every Apple store it runs. Microsoft on the other hand, can double its return by having each Guru team run back and forth across the highway to cover Best Buy and Circuit City in one fell swoop. Who’s the genius now, Stevo?

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Too funny. Circuit City headquarters recently had a fit when it discovered that the latest issue of MAD Magazine, a publication that it offers in its retail stores, ran a spoof called “Sucker City”. The four-page feature pokes a bit of fun at Circuit City and apparently when some higher ups caught wind of it they were none too happy. Our favorite quote from page one of Mad’s spoof:

Visit our new store on Rt. 17 directly across the street from Best Buy or visit any of our other 600 stores directly across the street from 600 other Best Buys!

Outstanding. As soon as headquarters was notified of the Circuit City spoof, it removed the magazine from inventory systems and issued an official notice to all stores. In a nutshell, the memo stated that all copies of the current issue of MAD should be destroyed immediately and discarded. Shortly after the internal memo was released publicly however, Circuit City PR kicked in and went into crisis control mode. They did a pretty good job actually, issuing a comical public statement and informing the original post author that affected stores would be replacing the magazines on store shelves immediately. Good show fellas. Hit the jump for page one of Mad’s feature, a copy of the internal memo issued by Circuit City headquarters and then the body of the clean up letter.

Hi, Ben,

I spotted the article about Circuit City and MAD Magazine on your site.

fyi, I became aware of this “situation” only this morning, and I have sent a note today to the Editors of MAD Magazine.

Speaking as “an embarrassed corporate PR Guy,” I apologized for the fact that some overly-sensitive souls at our corporate headquarters ordered the removal of the August issue of MAD Magazine from our stores. Please keep in mind that only 40 of our 700 stores sell magazines at all.

The parody of our newspaper ad in the August MAD was very clever. Most of us at Circuit City share a rich sense of humor and irony…but there are occasional temporary lapses.

We apologize for the knee-jerk reaction, and have issued a retraction order; the affected stores are being directed to put the magazines back on sale.

As a gesture of our apology and deep respect for the folks at MAD Magazine, we are creating a cross-departmental task force to study the importance of humor in the corporate workplace and expect the resulting Powerpoint presentation to top out at least 300 pages, chock full of charts, graphs and company action plans.

In addition I have offered to send the MAD Magazine Editor a $20.00 Circuit City Gift Card, toward the purchase of a Nintendo Wii….if he can find one!

All the best,

Jim Babb
Corporate Communications
Circuit City Stores, Inc.
Richmond, VA

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As the economy continues to decline and unemployment rates continue to rise, now is a tough time for everyone. Particularly tough perhaps, if a big part of your business involves selling luxury items like HDTVs. In times of economic crisis people most often forgo big ticket items such as plasma and LCD TVs and opt to spend their money on, say, food and fuel. If you’re not one of the unlucky Americans hit hard by the current state of the union however, you might as well take advantage of some serious and wide-spread price dropping. The HDTV price cuts are manufacturer-instigated in most cases so the result will impact retailers across the country. While these new prices at major retailers still might not be the lowest you’ll find on the internet, it’s safe to assume eventually the price drops will be reflected in non-brick and mortar pricing as well. If things like a warranty and knowing for a fact that you won’t be screwed by some shady fly by night website, we say stick to the major shops and enjoy these cuts that bring most price points down to at least near-internet levels. Hit the read link to check out the full list of price drops, which includes 30 different HDTV models. The new pricing ranges from $100 off to $500 off; even up to $700 off taking a few new Best Buy sales into account.

[Via Unplggd]

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