Circuit City Seeks Approval To Liquidate U.S. Business

[jzuena]

Best Buys is not doing all that well. BUT what Best Buys has is appliances. Appliances is only about 3 to 5 percent markup but it will still pay the bills when the economy takes a hit. EVERYONE needs a fridge, washer, dryer, maybe dishwasher microwave. But when it comes down to ma and paw having to wash and dry clothes/ keep food cold or get that new computer/ Plasma. Well guess what the clothes and cold food win out.

The CC near my house has appliances, too. And it in a good location across from a major mall (Burlington Mall). They do have low, black ceilings in the TV area but I thought that was somehow to give a better viewing area, since the back half of the store has higher ceilings and is a lighter color (more of the warehouse look described above for BB). The local BB is in another major mall (CambridgeSide Galleria), but you have to pay to park so we rarely go there (BB is just about the only store that isn't already at our local mall... and that includes Apple). The local MicroCenter is free parking but it is on Memorial Drive between Harvard Square and MIT, so it is a pain to get to. So you can't say that BB always has better locations or a more inviting setup and at least some CCs did try to diversify. The only good news is that maybe BB (or Fry's) will see Burlington as a good location now, because Cambridge can be a pain for anyone living outside of 128 in the Boston area.

 

[cdinca]

Found this on another forum where someone has already been to CC today and posted what they found.

What to expect from the liquidation sales:




And from consumerist.com (this article is from previous liquidation sales at CC in November, but can still probably be used as a general guideline):

Thank you.

That was a very helpful post.

 

[gkarris]

Thank you.

That was a very helpful post.

Yep..

http://www.circuitcity.com

How much will merchandise be marked down, and can customers negotiate prices for the merchandise?
There will be clearance pricing, but specific discounts are not being announced. All sale prices are at the discretion of the liquidator. Prices are non-negotiable and all adjustments must be approved by the liquidator's on-site managers.

 

[Freis968]

Not surprised one bit. The store reminded me of going to a flea market.

I can see the sale on their BluRays now...

Used to be $34.99 NOW - $29.99!

PS I do feel for those 34,000 people who are losing their job...just what our severly paralyzed economy needs now. Perhaps our government will now get serious about a bailout FOR THE PEOPLE...oh I forgot those are only for the big banks, big business whose CEO's need the bailout money to buy them their 5th house in the Hamptoms and have to send their kids to Harvard....what was I thinking?

 

[xlosltove777]

Not necessarily, I am sure the 18 year old stoners that made $8.50/hr there can find another job.

I pay 10/hr to mow my lawn or shovel snow.

My store was closed in December so most of us did because other stores needed people for Christmas. But even then I sent out an application to maybe 10-15 different stores and only got an interview with a few and one job offer. I got lucky and I love my new job and they're keeping me after the season but around here nobody is hiring in retail. If I hadn't gotten that job I don't know how I would've have payed for gas to go to actually drive to my college.

Also some of the kids that had been there for over a year got $1,000 tuition reimbursement per semester, part-timers got that benefit! That's a really big loss for a student.

 

[Romanesq]

no more Apple Care....

If you plan on holding onto your stuff for as long as possible, then a warranty is a good idea.

I, on the other hand, like to change computers often because I like to have the latest tech. For me, a year to year and a half is the maximum I'll hold onto one computer (or any piece of technology for that matter). In that case I only have a few months of out of warranty usage.

I'd rather sell the thing and take a $300 hit, then buy the newest thing I want, rather than spend the $300 on a warranty and use my computer until its horribly out of date (and chances of reselling it to someone else disappear).

If AppleCare offered Accidental Damage Protection, however, then it just may be worth the while (though I bet the price would then go up, and it would again be questionable).

Apple Care is still good but if you want that broader protection I now go with SquareTrade. They are now my first choice for my Macbook Pro, Blu-Ray, iPhone 3G.

Expect that will continue.

Sorry to hear about all those folks losing jobs. That's the sad part of this story.

 

[macintologist]

I just order everything on Amazon. CC/Best Buy and the rest of them are useless, and you know how God hates anything that is superfluous. (I've been reading Aristotle and Dante)

 

[jzuena]

There is no geek squad a consumer can rely on to get tech support for the product they bought.

Circuit City had a geek squad, they just couldn't call them "Geek Squad". They were called "Firedog" and did the same thing (except they didn't drive around in new Beetles).

I liked their shopping environment much better than Worst Buy's. And the procedure for picking up big box items like TVs or computers -- waiting for it to slide down the conveyor belt from the warehouse in back -- was very reminiscent of Service Merchandise, another store I miss.

That was exactly what I thought the first time I ordered a big box item at CC! If you remember far enough back, Sears used to be like that, too.

I felt that our store was probably the most knowledgeable in our district, all of our customers loved us, we were always willing to go above and beyond. I remember back when we first filed for bankruptcy the customers I had were hoping that we didn't go anywhere, as half of our customers couldn't stand Best Buy, and did all of their electronics shopping through us.

I'm not looking foward to the end, much less the struggle it will be to find a new job.

If you still want to work in retail, use the fact that CC was better than BB in your area to your advantage. Go into BB and let them know you would like to put whatever secrets you had that made CC better in your area to work for BB. Tell them that you know who of the CC staff to bring along and that they could get rid of some of the dead wood they have now. 34,000 job losses are bad, but who said that only CC employees should be the ones to lose?

 

[gkarris]

Not surprised one bit. The store reminded me of going to a flea market.

I can see the sale on their BluRays now...

Used to be $34.99 NOW - $29.99!

PS I do feel for those 34,000 people who are losing their job...just what our severly paralyzed economy needs now. Perhaps our government will now get serious about a bailout FOR THE PEOPLE...oh I forgot those are only for the big banks, big business whose CEO's need the bailout money to buy them their 5th house in the Hamptoms and have to send their kids to Harvard....what was I thinking?

.... and it's $25.95 on Amazon with no tax and free shipping

Yes, those execs who got a bail-out so far are laughing in their Private Jets on the way to their "Winter home" in the Bahamas...

 

[Romanesq]

So untrue....

"Yes, those execs who got a bail-out so far are laughing in their Private Jets on the way to their "Winter home" in the Bahamas..."

That is so false. There are plenty of other "execus" laughing in their private jets heading to their winter homes offshore.

There's the guy awaiting the fax in the Cayman's to start stimulating the economy in Nevada with a Mob Museum..... etc.

Nancy "Queen of Syria" has been busy. And I hear Harry Reid has the shovel ready in Nevada for the ground breaking ceremony.

This "stimulus" will be the biggest political handout to friends scam since the UN and the French bank Paribas was circulating bribe money from Saddam all over the globe.

But this time, the money will be kept in the US.

CHANGE

 

[akm3]

They're sharing at .10 a share. Best Buy's sharing at 30 a share. Talk about getting crushed by the competition.

And Berkshire Hathaway is at $90,660/share they are killing EVERYBODY!!!

Please read http://www.investopedia.com/university/buildingblocks.asp?viewed=1

 

[daverso]

I read macrumors so I can hear just that, mac rumors; in other words, plesant news. If I wanted to hear about more companies falling through I'd read CNN.

 

[wingnut8]

I read macrumors so I can hear just that, mac rumors; in other words, plesant news. If I wanted to hear about more companies falling through I'd read CNN.

It has an effect on Apple somewhat, get over it.

 

[zioxide]

Newegg FTW


I don't know why anyone would buy stuff in store anymore. Its always cheaper online.

 

[Tampa Tom]

Do they have any Apple products?

Looking for bargains on Apple care or .mac family packs.

 

[Tallest Skil]

Looking for bargains on Apple care or .mac family packs.

They don't sell those. .Mac doesn't exist anymore.

 

[wingnut8]

I'm looking for a new MBP or iMac!

 

[puffnstuff]

I went today all they basically did was jack up the prices. No discounts and a lot of customers realized this I heard a lot of "WTF this was cheaper a week ago" going on. Even though the store was packed a lot of people walked out empty handed.

 

[pcorajr]

I checked it out today nothing that great. Only 10 % off the original price. Very few items have a 25% off. I would wait a few weeks to see if they come out with better deals

 

[SactoGuy18]

I went today all they basically did was jack up the prices. No discounts and a lot of customers realized this I heard a lot of "WTF this was cheaper a week ago" going on. Even though the store was packed a lot of people walked out empty handed.

Oh brother. Let's see how long before a lot of the unsold stock ends up being bought up by other retailers.

I've never liked Circuit City, especially given what I said about Best Buy's vastly better-stocked and organized video and game software sections.

 

[TEG]

Circuit City is the second largest U.S. retailer behind Best Buy. While Circuit City does not sell Apple computers or iPhones, they do sell iPods and a variety of 3rd party accessories in addition to other electronics gear.

Actually Circuit City does sell a large number of Apple Computers, and has ever since CompUSA left the market. They were in the middle of rolling out a nationwide series of kiosks, but that was halted in September.

Also, I can tell you two reasons why it failed... Everything was overpriced, and they had commissioned sales people (which BB doesn't have, they get an hourly wage). It also doesn't help that the places were always do dark. Now the local chains will have to compete with BB only, it might make the whole enterprise fun to watch.

TEG

 

[Full of Win]

Best buy made the bet that the super large store format was the way to go...and they were apparently right.

 

[happydude]

i only feel bad for those losing their jobs. other than that, i'll lose no sleep over circuit city closing down. they've sucked for years. good to see that company go.

 

[Macintosh¯Lover]

When will the sales start?

 

[headfuzz]

Firesale eh? Will they be taking web orders? As it's a little difficult to get to my nearest store. Namely due to the 3000 odd miles of water.