Bye-Bye Circuit City

[Lemur]

Circuit City is liquidating. No buyer, no merger, no "reorganization"; they're throwing their stuff on the curb and selling it. 30,000 people will lose their jobs. I didn't even like the store, and I feel bad for them.

Liquidators will now sell off the firm's assets. The announcement comes two months after the firm was forced to seek bankruptcy protection.

Some 567 Circuit City stores will now shut for the last time. About 155 stores had already closed in December.

Circuit City vice chairman James Marcum said the decision was "regrettable".

More detail here.

[Xiahou]

I had always thought of Circuit City as a slightly less evil BestBuy... they'll be missed.

[Ramses II CP]

Honestly, I'm missing all the little local places that have closed a lot more than I'll miss CC. They flat out weren't competitive and haven't had anything unique to offer for the last few years. They did right by me on a repair job once, but I'd throw all five hundred of their stores under a bus to get my local bouncy house and bookstores back.

[drone]

I had always thought of Circuit City as a slightly less evil BestBuy... they'll be missed.

I've always felt that they were a slightly more evil Best Buy. Just the way the salespeople did things really irked me. They all were on commission, right?

When Tower Records went under, one of their stores sat vacant here in Fairfax for quite some time. A few months ago, Circuit City leased the place, started prepping it, and began hiring at the end of the year. Looks now like the store will never open.

CC will be missed, mainly because they were the only real Best Buy competition. Might be time to grab some electronics at a discount though.

[Xiahou]

I've always felt that they were a slightly more evil Best Buy. Just the way the salespeople did things really irked me. They all were on commission, right?

I dunno- I just remember one was more evil than the other.

They dropped their commissions years ago though- they were downright obnoxious before that.

[drone]

They did? I hadn't been in one for years, mainly because of that obnoxiousness.

I'm sure Best Buy will soon fill the void of evilness CC leaves behind.

[Spino]

CC had some great deals but like most electronic retailers those bargains were few and far between. Most if not all electronic retailers are inferior to their online counterparts (i.e. Newegg).

Got a great deal on my HP W2207 from CC back in early 2007 and I recently dropped some cash for a nice pair of Sony headphones & an 8gig Sony Walkman (mp3 player) which were priced quite competitively to other retailers and online resellers.

Thankfully NYC has plenty of competition in the area to keep the local Best Buys honest. J&R, PC Richards, B&H Photo, Costco, etc. all provide a bulwark against Best Buy's rapacious tentacular pricing & bait n' switch schemes.

[TinCow]

When Tower Records went under, one of their stores sat vacant here in Fairfax for quite some time. A few months ago, Circuit City leased the place, started prepping it, and began hiring at the end of the year. Looks now like the store will never open.

Hah! I know the exact one you're talking about, next to the Regal cinema. My wife and I were amazed that CC moved in there. They opened up that place almost at the same time as the bankruptcy was first announced and then had lots of ads about how they were hiring new employees. We were wondering how they could possibly be expanding like that while organizing for bankruptcy.

What amazes me more though is the empty shop at Fairfax Corner that used to be an Organized Living. That shopping mall is absurdly successful, yet that store has sat empty for something like 2-3 years now. I've never understood why they were unable to re-lease that space, given the traffic that goes through that area.

[KukriKhan]

A CC sales associate, seeing I was looking at mp3 players, asked me what "mp3" was. I seldom asked for assistance after that. However, they stocked decent electronics stuff, at reasonable prices, and had a good returns/refund policy. Plus, they were less than a mile from my house.

I'll miss all that.

[Husar]

I won't miss them.

[Proletariat]

Hah! I know the exact one you're talking about, next to the Regal cinema. My wife and I were amazed that CC moved in there. They opened up that place almost at the same time as the bankruptcy was first announced and then had lots of ads about how they were hiring new employees. We were wondering how they could possibly be expanding like that while organizing for bankruptcy.

What amazes me more though is the empty shop at Fairfax Corner that used to be an Organized Living. That shopping mall is absurdly successful, yet that store has sat empty for something like 2-3 years now. I've never understood why they were unable to re-lease that space, given the traffic that goes through that area.

They serve some mean kabobs around the corner from there. The 'za at Pomodoros is pretty good too.

[Gregoshi]

They have people on the street corners today with "store closing" signs already. The website just has information on the closing.

I always thought CC was a bit better (less "evil") than BB and had better prices and better sales. I didn't have issues with sales folks as I did my homework ahead of time and avoided them save to ask them to "ring me up please". I didn't buy much at CC but I liked going into their store to look at stuff. Guess I'll have to get used to BB now.

[Spino]

Went to my local Circuit City to check out the 'Going out of Business' prices. Pity there weren't any to be found. I mean, yes they had 10% discount off of small ticket items but whoopdeedoo. What a waste of time! Prices on HDTV's were more expensive than their competitors and certainly moreso than they were during their post-X-Mas & New Year's sales. I thought the whole point to a 'going out of business' sale was to sell your remaining inventory at discount prices so as to guarantee you'll having nothing left when the stores close?

[Gregoshi]

Supposedly, if you ask, they will honour the sale prices in today's newspaper flyer. It was a zoo at the local CC. Furniture/cabling was 30% off, CDs/DVDs 20% off and "everything else" was 10% off, but any signs were conspicuously absent in the computer section. Disappointing so far. From the forums at FatWallet.com, it seems the sales prices vary from store to store.

[Spartan198]

I think I need to take a trip to my local CC...

[Husar]

It's funny how everybody who caused the misery by not buying there now profits from it by trying to get everything for a discount price.

[KukriKhan]

Re: "discounts" that don't seem very discounted. We had a Mervyns close shop here last month. They had a "going out of business" sale that disappointed most shoppers.

It turned out that the unsold stuff got bought in bulk by Target and 99 cent stores, by previous (secret) agreement.

Maybe something similar is happening with CC; their big-screen TVs, etc going to WalMart, or the like.

[drone]

Hah! I know the exact one you're talking about, next to the Regal cinema. My wife and I were amazed that CC moved in there. They opened up that place almost at the same time as the bankruptcy was first announced and then had lots of ads about how they were hiring new employees. We were wondering how they could possibly be expanding like that while organizing for bankruptcy.

Yeah, that's the one. I never really understood why they chose that location. There's another Circuit City just down the road at 50 and Waples Mill, can't be much more than 2 miles away, plus the Best Buy in Fair Lakes. Money well spent.

What amazes me more though is the empty shop at Fairfax Corner that used to be an Organized Living. That shopping mall is absurdly successful, yet that store has sat empty for something like 2-3 years now. I've never understood why they were unable to re-lease that space, given the traffic that goes through that area.

That place is still empty? The only thing I can figure is the location, it's in the back corner of the place, it might not get enough traffic at that end of the complex. If I remember correctly it's a pretty good sized space, they might have more success leasing the place if they split it up for smaller niche stores.

They serve some mean kabobs around the corner from there. The 'za at Pomodoros is pretty good too.

Add Five Guys, Firehouse Subs and Baja Fresh, and you have my weekly lunch menu.

[lars573]

This means nothing to me. There never were any Circuit cities here. Here Best Buy's only competition is Future Shop. A retailers much like Best Buy that they bought.

[TevashSzat]

Discounts depend on the liquidators that bought the rights.

Many of these liquidators, though, are well known for marking prices up first before giving everything a discount. As a result, many items cost more before the "discount." This way, they can make alot of money from the huge crowds trying to find a good deal at the very beginning.

The real bargains will only come later as they start marking prices down then....My hope is that noone at my CC buys the Logitech G9 there and I can maybe get it for under $40...

[Hosakawa Tito]

They have people on the street corners today with "store closing" signs already. The website just has information on the closing.

I always thought CC was a bit better (less "evil") than BB and had better prices and better sales. I didn't have issues with sales folks as I did my homework ahead of time and avoided them save to ask them to "ring me up please". I didn't buy much at CC but I liked going into their store to look at stuff. Guess I'll have to get used to BB now.

Last year I purchased a HDTV from CC. I compared prices with BestBuy and CC was a little better. Like you, I research prices and I also check out Consumer Reports for their comparisons on make/model and reliability. I don't like the fact that BestBuy has lost a competitor, but what can you do.

[Lemur]

Apparently CC's death-rattle sale isn't.