Circuit City: Beginning of the end

Circuit City is closing 20 percent of its stores ... including one it was just about to open right across the street from where I live. Looks like their conversion to become more like Best Buy came too little, too late....

Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081103/ap_on_bi_ge/circuit_city_store_closings_6

 

I am a big Best Buy fan, but the Circuit City across from the one nearest to me blows BB away.
Also, no CC in Western PA are closing.

 

Best Buy sucks.

 

There are 10 of them within 35 miles of where I live. I can live without 2 of them.

 

I used to work at one in the late 90s. Just for the holiday season though. Back then, they were a very good employer. I remember getting sizable bonus checks months after I had quit.

;D

 

Guess the plan to jettison expensive sales help backfired, huh guys?

However, I do feel very bad for those losing their jobs in this closing, especially so close to Christmas.

 

I've heard one of CC's biggest problems was the fact it owned all of its storefronts. If it built in a bad location it was stuck with the building if it has to close the store.

 

That's possible, Armchair, but in the release on their site, they said they were looking to reduce or eliminate leases.

http://newsroom.circuitcity.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=344747

 

Way prefer Circuit City over Best Buy. Also liked their use of the Cars "Just What I Needed" in their advertising campaigns.

Maybe this is a smart move--an offensive maneuver. Based on the economy, this could be a very, very dismal Christmas season for retailers, and perhaps CC is just trimming their operations to match the expected demand/revenues.

 

Circuit City is swirling the drain, their stock is way less than a buck and will be delisted soon. This isn't belt-tightening, this is bracing for impact when your car is going 80 and the brick wall is 100 feet in front of you.


And oh btw, this is just another example of how commercial real estate (in this case mall owners) are the next step in the chain of ruin. Too many anchors going bye-bye (mervyn's, Circuit City, Steve & Barry's, etc) as well as smaller stores. The vacancy rate in malls are going to be a real problem in 2009.

 

The CC my apartment overlooks is spared.

I prefer it to the BB in town because the BB is hidden and the path to it isn't able to deal with the traffic that visits BB, especially between Black Friday and New Year's Day.

 

I last went to the nearby mall about 2 years ago to get a haircut at the place I used to go to. The place was shuttered, and the Old Navy and Penney's anchors had moved out to the new strip mall on the highway. Not a teenager in sight in the whole place.

Strug-gal-ling.

Sears and Dillards were still there and about the only thing keeping it open.