Circuit City is DEAD

[Groundbeef]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/8270330

Guess the holidays were not so good for them.

[Rich-n-Texas]

We're ALL dead!!!

DEAD!

Dead Dead Dead!

[Ajani]

We're ALL dead!!!

DEAD!

Dead Dead Dead!

Pix, is that you?

[Rich-n-Texas]

How the heck did you quote that so fast?

Mr. You must be psychic!

[GMichael]

It's not looking so good these days. Hope it starts to turn around.

[pixelthis]

It's not looking so good these days. Hope it starts to turn around.

Here is a link with a bit more info.
As for "turning around" well, we are going off of the cliff being chased by a tiger,
dont think it looks too good regardless.
Its really like a death in the family, I bought a 47" tv, and god knows how much other
electronic stuff in the last decade from this place.
It was always a great place to go and check out the latest.
A huge shopping complex opened in town recently with a CC at the center, wonder what
(if anything) they are going to replace it with.
With all of the dark storefronts(goodys, katbee, etc) the seriousness of the current mess
is starting to hit home.
http://www.crn.com/retail/212900983

[pixelthis]

We're ALL dead!!!

DEAD!

Dead Dead Dead!

NICE TRY ACE...
But nobody can say stuff is

DEAD


like I can.
Nice try tho

[GMichael]

Kobayashi Maru

[Rich-n-Texas]

And I thought vampires slept during daylight hours.

[GMichael]

Day walker!!

[Groundbeef]

Of note, the CEO of CC commented "We shouldn't have anchored ourselves to LCD. Had we sold more Plasma's we would still be in buisness."

[pixelthis]

Of note, the CEO of CC commented "We shouldn't have anchored ourselves to LCD. Had we sold more Plasma's we would still be in buisness."

GEE, the way you plasma fanboys lie it must be second nature to you(oh wait, it is)

BTW ever get that 2700 dollar catastropic failure fixed on your POS fanboy?

The people betting on Plasma are gonna be the ones needing plasma,
except not the kind that is in those POS tv sets they are peddling.

[pixelthis]

And I thought vampires slept during daylight hours.

This new suntan lotion is great.
YOU are just jelous that we vampires get more tail than you do.
(Oh wait, doesnt everybody)

[Woochifer]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/8270330

Guess the holidays were not so good for them.

Problem for Circuit City is that many of their suppliers cut them off back in November, when hundreds of their stores were already holding liquidation sales. When a retail store goes into liquidation, the inventory is no longer "owned" by the retailer, but rather the company holding the liquidation sale. In this scenario, the suppliers get screwed because they have to get in line with all the other creditors. They can't just take back what they shipped to the stores, so obviously if they saw this coming, they prepared for it by limiting their exposure and cutting off CC's supply line.

I recall that their sale prices over the holidays were readily undercut by BB and others (they were advertising a 40" Sony LCD TV while BB was selling the 46" version of that same model for about the same price).

This bankruptcy will leave a lot of pockmarked cities, since CC not only has its current and recently closed stores getting emptied out. But, they were also sitting on hundreds of other leases when they decided to try competing with BB by moving those stores into larger spaces.

[Woochifer]

GEE, the way you plasma fanboys lie it must be second nature to you(oh wait, it is)

BTW ever get that 2700 dollar catastropic failure fixed on your POS fanboy?

The people betting on Plasma are gonna be the ones needing plasma,
except not the kind that is in those POS tv sets they are peddling.

Spoken like the closeted plasma fanboy that you are! Your post probably just convinced several more people to buy plasma TVs.

[thekid]

We all knew this was coming, I just hate to see 30,000 people join the ranks of the unemployed. I hope we can get this economy turned around soon or at least stop the bleeding......

[bobsticks]

We all knew this was coming, I just hate to see 30,000 people join the ranks of the unemployed. I hope we can get this economy turned around soon or at least stop the bleeding......

True, so true. That many more to join the ranks of the walking zombies...

[mbbuchanan]

What a shame about C.C. Before they cut off their Commissioned employees and tried to restructure their way out of trouble a thousand times, they were a classy company.

[pixelthis]

We all knew this was coming, I just hate to see 30,000 people join the ranks of the unemployed. I hope we can get this economy turned around soon or at least stop the bleeding......

Dream on.
Obamanation let it slip when he said some were talking about a FOUR YEAR
recession.
Actually decade long DEPRESSION would be more APT.
The one great thing that always pulled our butt outta the fire, our manufacturing capacity...
IS GONE.

[sallysue]

Of note, the CEO of CC commented "We shouldn't have anchored ourselves to LCD. Had we sold more Plasma's we would still be in buisness."

If that's quote is accurate, I wonder what he was smokin'?

It's just a sign of the times and this I can tell you first hand and as I'm sure you've all read, the CE industry is in a lull to put it mildly. Some folks read about but I experienced it. At some unclear point in time, customers stopped coming in for audio video gear. The just stopped - this trend began some 8 months ago and we can see the results in another brick and mortar CE company. Everybody has a theory but at the end of the day it appears that surplus/disposable income vanished.

On another point, I have to admit getting a little chuckle at Sony's financial down turn. They ran a wild west approach to product distribution and so no exclusivity rights were given to retailers. Brick and mortars can't compete with those that have vitually no overhead such as e-tailers. The customer is the winner by getting a better price but how is the brick and mortar to survive when customers can buy the sets online for damn near cost. It's a miracle some companies like CC have lasted this long. Soon your only choice for CE (medium grade )may be BB . I'm picking on Sony but Panasonic and Samsung did the same thing. Pioneer Elite held the line though, but that's not enough to a make a business.

Who's to say the e-tailers have to sell cheap any longer?

[Feanor]

Canadian residents will know that The Source is a subsidiary of Circuit City. However news is that The Source will be carrying on "business as usual" per this press release. That is, it isn't be included in the CC liquidation.

As you'll see however, The Source, (actually InterTAN), has obtained Ontario Supreme Court creditor protection and is seeking buyer.

[Woochifer]

If that's quote is accurate, I wonder what he was smokin'?

It was tongue in cheek. Thumb through some of the plasma threads if you want to see where it came from.

On another point, I have to admit getting a little chuckle at Sony's financial down turn. They ran a wild west approach to product distribution and so no exclusivity rights were given to retailers. Brick and mortars can't compete with those that have vitually no overhead such as e-tailers. The customer is the winner by getting a better price but how is the brick and mortar to survive when customers can buy the sets online for damn near cost. It's a miracle some companies like CC have lasted this long. Soon your only choice for CE (medium grade )may be BB . I'm picking on Sony but Panasonic and Samsung did the same thing. Pioneer Elite held the line though, but that's not enough to a make a business.

CE retailing used to be dominated by regional chains that sold a wide range of product lines, from mass market entry level lines up to higher end specialty lines. Once Circuit City began their national expansion, that changed the entire landscape. Best Buy wound up beating CC at their own game. In the meantime, most regional CE chains disappeared altogether, forcing the mass market CE manufacturers to distribute to anyone and everyone. The independent stores are largely propped up by territorial exclusivity and the higher end manufacturers imposing much stricter controls over online and unauthorized vendors.

What a shame about C.C. Before they cut off their Commissioned employees and tried to restructure their way out of trouble a thousand times, they were a classy company.

I don't know if I would call them a classy company, given that their employee benefits and training programs were a joke compared to what regional specialty chains gave their employees. Unfortunately, most of those companies have also gone by the wayside. Circuit City's commissioned sales setup was similar to other CE stores, and they were one of the last ones standing.

[mbbuchanan]

Whoochifer probably isn't old enough to remember but less than ten years ago all sales staff at C.C. were required to wear a full suit on the sales floor, know their stuff,and were compensated well. As far as training goes C.C.'s was head and shoulders above any other major retailer. The benefits there were (at one time) very competitive, they had health insurance and paid sick leave, 401k, vacation, and it was not uncommon for a good sales man to make close to 100k a year( ans this was in the nineties). All of this though went by the way side about 8 years ago when they and the Good Guys went in together to push DIVX and they lost some hundreds of millions of dollars. This eventually tanked Good Guys. C.C.'s stock plummeted over night from $45.00 to $9.00 a share and they have never recovered. So to make a short story long, yes Whoochifer , at one time they were a classy company.

[pixelthis]

If that's quote is accurate, I wonder what he was smokin'?

It's just a sign of the times and this I can tell you first hand and as I'm sure you've all read, the CE industry is in a lull to put it mildly. Some folks read about but I experienced it. At some unclear point in time, customers stopped coming in for audio video gear. The just stopped - this trend began some 8 months ago and we can see the results in another brick and mortar CE company. Everybody has a theory but at the end of the day it appears that surplus/disposable income vanished.

On another point, I have to admit getting a little chuckle at Sony's financial down turn. They ran a wild west approach to product distribution and so no exclusivity rights were given to retailers. Brick and mortars can't compete with those that have vitually no overhead such as e-tailers. The customer is the winner by getting a better price but how is the brick and mortar to survive when customers can buy the sets online for damn near cost. It's a miracle some companies like CC have lasted this long. Soon your only choice for CE (medium grade )may be BB . I'm picking on Sony but Panasonic and Samsung did the same thing. Pioneer Elite held the line though, but that's not enough to a make a business.

Who's to say the e-tailers have to sell cheap any longer?

a "LULL" would be putting it mildly.
And that "quote" was a dig aimed at me, had as much to do with reality as anything
else the poster puts up...
MAINLY, NOTHING

CE is a nonessential market, and the reliability of todays products is also a problem.
My receiver could stand to be replaced (and might) but the amps sound good,
and there are no new features I cant work around, and its got a phono preamp,
something rapidly disapearing.
So its bills and groceries instead of CE gear.
Also if things start to get rough I might have to start packing heat, that is 600 to a 1000
right there.
SMALL (pun intended) WONDER that the current CES is focusing on handheld portable devices, inexpensive stuff that wont hit you hard .

[thekid]

Dream on.
Obamanation let it slip when he said some were talking about a FOUR YEAR
recession.
Actually decade long DEPRESSION would be more APT.
The one great thing that always pulled our butt outta the fire, our manufacturing capacity...
IS GONE.

Pix

Doncha remember a few years back someone (who shall remain nameless) was walking around talking about the "new" economy. Manufacturing was part of the "old" economy and we did not need those types of jobs..........

If anything comes out of this mess hopefully the pols on both sides of the aisle will start getting back to basics in regards to sound economic policies and practicies but that is probably too much to ask.