Thread: Circuit City shoppers find less than bargains at closeout sale

The new CEO of circuit city is a fucking idiot and a scumbag anyway. He drove the company into the ground.

Originally Posted by KelJu

The new CEO of circuit city is a fucking idiot and a scumbag anyway. He drove the company into the ground.

Yet people don't find anything wrong with the amount the make.

Originally Posted by min0 lee

Yet people don't find anything wrong with the amount the make.

His first idea to deal with the economic crisis was to fire all of their experienced workers and hire newbies at shit par.

That is right, thank you for your hard work over the years. You stuck with us for a long time and worked hard to advance through the company. We are going to reward you for your hard work by firing you and hiring and hiring someone we can pay far less.

Sincerly,
Circuit City Board of Directors. '

Originally Posted by KelJu

His first idea to deal with the economic crisis was to fire all of their experienced workers and hire newbies at shit par.

That is right, thank you for your hard work over the years. You stuck with us for a long time and worked hard to advance through the company. We are going to reward you for your hard work by firing you and hiring and hiring someone we can pay far less.

Sincerly,
Circuit City Board of Directors. '

I remember going there after this and asking a simple question about an amp.....guy gave me this lame answer.
For that they might as well not hire new salespeople and just sell exclusively online.

Originally Posted by min0 lee

I remember going there after this and asking a simple question about an amp.....guy gave me this lame answer.
For that they might as well not hire new salespeople and just sell exclusively online.

It was already too late. Vendors cut them off and refused to send them merchandise.

Kelju or Min0.. can you summarize this whole situation for me/us?

Stay away from liquidators, you will not find a good deal.

Circuit City files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy - MarketWatch

Circuit City files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
By Andria Cheng & Steve Gelsi, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Hurt by competition from Best Buy Co. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and by pressure from the downturn in the economy that led shoppers to cut back on discretionary purchases, the 59-year-old chain Circuit City Stores Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday.

The Richmond, Va.-based consumer-electronics retailer, which has seen its shares tumbling 99% from a 52-week high of $8.24, negotiated a commitment for a $1.1 billion debtor-in-possession revolving credit line that will allow it to pay vendors and operate business as usual. The credit line replaced its $1.3 billion asset-based credit line provided by the same lenders. Circuit City said in the filing, made through the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, that it plans to emerge from the bankruptcy protection in the first half of 2009.

The company disclosed $3.4 billion in assets and $2.32 billion in liabilities in the filing. Unsecured trade debt owed to vendors will total not less than $650 million, Circuit City said. It buys products from Samsung Electronics to Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ:Hewlett-Packard Co. CC 0.11, -0.14, -56.0%) fell 56% to 11 cents a share Monday, while shares of rival Best Buy (BBY:Best Buy Co., Inc BBY 25.21, -0.38, -1.5%) fell 1.5%, giving up a morning advance as the broad market turned lower.
Circuit City's filing came a week after the company, suffering from declining sales, traffic and cash, said that it planned to shut 155 U.S. underperforming stores and cut 7,300 jobs in a last-ditch effort to stay afloat. Despite its aggressive efforts to talk to its vendors, their loss of confidence and fear they won't be paid made it extremely difficult for the company to have the goods and support service it needed for the critical holiday season without a bankruptcy filing, Circuit City said in the filing.

"Despite aggressive efforts to secure vendor support, vendor concerns about the company's liquidity and ability to pay for its purchases in this difficult economic climate have escalated considerably" since Nov. 3, when the company provided a liquidity update, Circuit City said. It said vendors were demanding cash payment in advance instead of customary trade credit.
Circuit City had been hurt by having stores in less-favorable locations than those of Best Buy Co. (BBY:Best Buy Co., Inc BBY 25.21, -0.38, -1.5%) , by increased competition from the likes of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT:Wal-Mart Stores, Inc WMT 55.18, +0.79, +1.5%) and by an earlier move to lay off higher-paid staff who were able to push more profitable sales, according to industry observers. The financial sector meltdown also exacerbated Circuit City's woes as shoppers were unable to borrow through credit cards, with those purchases representing 75% of Circuit City's sales, the company said.

"This is a major positive" for Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST:costco whsl corp new com COST 53.00, -1.07, -2.0%) and others, Credit Suisse analyst Gary Balter said in a note. "We have not seen a consumer electronic retailer successfully reorganize in Chapter 11 in our 24 years in this space. Should (Circuit City) ultimately close all of its operations, we assume there's roughly $10.5 billion of annual domestic sales up for grabs. Best Buy should take a disproportionate share of that business."
Circuit City has removed its chief executive and explored a sale of the company earlier this year after Blockbuster Inc. backed out of its original bid. In addition to staff cuts from the store closings, Circuit City said it's also cutting an additional 700 jobs.

Circuit City has 39,600 employees and said in the filing it expects to employ another 11,000 additional part-time employees this holiday season
Circuit City had loss of $404 million in the six months ended Aug. 31, hurt by a double-digit decline in store traffic. That followed two straight years of losses.
As of Oct. 31, Circuit City had 712 stores and nine outlets in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Its international segment operated through 770 retail stores and dealer outlets in Canada as of Sept. 30.

Andria Cheng is a MarketWatch reporter based in New York.
Steve Gelsi is a reporter for MarketWatch in New York.

59 years...never knew they were out that long.

On another note, how does Radio Shack stay in business?

Originally Posted by soxmuscle

Kelju or Min0.. can you summarize this whole situation for me/us?

The layoff occurred in March and April of 2007. Circuit City basically announced that in an effort to cost reduce, it would fire 3,400 of its highest paid workers. It was also said that after the initial layoff, those who were fired could reapply for the same positions for less pay.

Here's an article:
Circuit City's plan to fire 3,400 will have ripple effects - USATODAY.com

Another:
Blue Herald » Circuit City Layoff Will Target Higher Paid Workers

This pretty much sums up the shittiness:
"The laid-off workers, about 8 percent of the company's total work force, would get a severance package and a chance to reapply for their former jobs, at lower pay, after a 10-week delay, the company said. "

Originally Posted by min0 lee

59 years...never knew they were out that long.

Yeah, they have been around longer than Best Buy.

Originally Posted by min0 lee

On another note, how does Radio Shack stay in business?

I've wondered this myself. Radioshack sucks!

Originally Posted by KentDog

Yeah, they have been around longer than Best Buy.


I've wondered this myself. Radioshack sucks!

They were good for resisters, diodes and relays...great place for the ham radio, 2-way radio and electronics buff.
At one time they were OK with the Tandy computers.
Another case of mismanagement.

Circuit City largely went bankrupt because of the tightening credit and consumer spending.

This is largely the result of......deleveraging.

There will be more of this to come.

Originally Posted by min0 lee

On another note, how does Radio Shack stay in business?

Science Projects and hobbyists like that guy from Gremlins dad.....I buy little gadgets from there all the time like when we went on our vacation I bought this universal battery pack for our dvd player so my GF could watch more than one and a half movies on the plane and while waiting in the airport....I also recently bought a little audio adapter to route my digital guitar foot pedal through my computer.....they keep those little obscure parts that you couldn't find elsewhere.....circuit city and Best Buy don't stock those things...oh and they have the tips for my soldering gun which I use to repair old solar modules and other old electronics that just need a quick swap out.....

Originally Posted by Big Smoothy

Circuit City largely went bankrupt because of the tightening credit and consumer spending.

This is largely the result of......deleveraging.

There will be more of this to come.

They have been in trouble for a while already, way before this economy went down.

Originally Posted by maniclion

Science Projects and hobbyists like that guy from Gremlins dad.....I buy little gadgets from there all the time like when we went on our vacation I bought this universal battery pack for our dvd player so my GF could watch more than one and a half movies on the plane and while waiting in the airport....I also recently bought a little audio adapter to route my digital guitar foot pedal through my computer.....they keep those little obscure parts that you couldn't find elsewhere.....circuit city and Best Buy don't stock those things...oh and they have the tips for my soldering gun which I use to repair old solar modules and other old electronics that just need a quick swap out.....

It's changed a lot though, they sell merchandise you can buy anywhere at a better price and they love to push cellphone plans in your face all of the time.

Originally Posted by min0 lee

They have been in trouble for a while already, way before this economy went down.

Very true, min0, but the liquidity tightening pushed them further. Making it happen sooner.

Originally Posted by min0 lee

On another note, how does Radio Shack stay in business?

Because of people like me. If Radioshack carries it, I will buy it from them over other dealers. Radioshack carries certain specialty items that you can't find at other places.

I probably spend at least $2,000 a year at radioshack.

Originally Posted by min0 lee

On another note, how does Radio Shack stay in business?

I always assumed that they had some "other business" besides the retail stores.

Originally Posted by min0 lee

59 years...never knew they were out that long.

On another note, how does Radio Shack stay in business?

A couple weeks ago, I went into Radio Shack looking for a car power cord for my Sirius radio. My old one died. The guy behind the counter said they didn't have any in stock, but he took the time to take apart my old cord, tried replacing the fuse, and stuck the cord onto a power meter before believing me that it was dead. Then he went into the back room and came out with a new power cord that was in a box from a radio someone had returned. He charged me $10.

Pretty sure Best Buy, Circuit City and the like wouldn't go to all the trouble for me.

Originally Posted by I Are Baboon

A couple weeks ago, I went into Radio Shack looking for a car power cord for my Sirius radio. My old one died. The guy behind the counter said they didn't have any in stock, but he took the time to take apart my old cord, tried replacing the fuse, and stuck the cord onto a power meter before believing me that it was dead. Then he went into the back room and came out with a new power cord that was in a box from a radio someone had returned. He charged me $10.

Pretty sure Best Buy, Circuit City and the like wouldn't go to all the trouble for me.

That is exactly why I shop there. There are actually helpful. Can you believe that shit? A Retail store that hired workers that are helpful. What a novel idea.

Best Buy seems soo overpriced...alot of time your local, private store, if you have one, will match price or beat. At least here the owner of a local, but fairly large, electronic, appliance store will not allow himself to be beat by Best Buy or such, and he does VERY GOOD business. Constantly expnding and growing. Also, Wal-Mart nowdays, in the flat screen tv market, is very strong. They have really grown that facet of their business, and now carry major, top brands and the prices are well below Best Buy. I do NOT like venturing into Wal-Mart(makes me nauseaus), but for flat screens, I did, and save a shit pot of cash.

Originally Posted by min0 lee

I found out about this years ago, when Woolworths was going out of business
I went there to buy a mirror, the original WW price was $20.00 the liquidators jacked it up to $25.00 and then put a sign saying it was %20 off....something like that....my math is bad but anyway it went back to the original WW price of $20.00.
, 2008

I noticed some years ago that professional liquidators took over the closing of stores, there are really no great deals to be had. Used to be, a store going out of biz was the place to save lots of $$$. I don't bother going into "going out of biz" sales anymore knowing it's a crap deal. There's a big Circuit City and Tweater up the road both going out of biz, but I aint going in either.

I always liked Circuit City compared to Best Buy or crappy Walmart myself and my last big electronics purchase was at Circuit City. For what ever reason, the Best Buy across the st is always much busier.

Oh well....