Bye Bye Circuit City... (WEBSITE IS NO MORE, ONLY HAS CLOSING INFO)

[BleedGnW]

[url]http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/patterson/33343[/url]

[QUOTE]
[SIZE="5"]Circuit City, R.I.P.[/SIZE]

The troubled 60-year-old electronics chain tried its best to survive bankruptcy, but to no avail; now, it will liquidate its merchandise and close all 567 remaining stores.

Bloomberg reports that Circuit City Stores Inc. has hired a quartet of liquidators to sell off its existing merchandise, pending a green light from the courts. If everything goes according to plan, the fire sale will start Saturday and continue through the end of March, according to CNNMoney.com.

And unfortunately for Circuit City's 30,000+ employees, unemployment awaits.

The biggest consumer tech chain in the U.S. besides Best Buy, Circuit City filed for bankruptcy protection back in November. As Bloomberg notes, the struggling company had been looking for a buyer as late as Thursday, but failed to find any takers.

Of course, news of the Circuit City liquidation sale will draw plenty of bargain hunters, but (as I've blogged before), buyer beware.

Typically, closeout sales are final: no refunds or exchanges, so think twice before snapping up a big-ticket item like an HDTV. Also, keep in mind that closeout prices often aren't as rock-bottom low as you'd think; make sure to comparison shop online, and don't be fooled by big "75% OFF!" signs on items that have been marked up.

Finally ... a deep bow to Circuit City in general, where I've spent countless hours of browsing (and drooling)—and if nothing else, when it comes to tech retailers, less competition is never a good thing.[/QUOTE]

......

This sucks because that was the closest mega electronics store near me. The next closest one (Best Buy) is 30 miles away!!! Ridiculous.

[Sourceworx]

I remember working at the local Circuit City store for a summer when I was in college. That was back when the salespeople were still on commission. What a bunch of cutthroats those guys were.

I've been a loyal Best Buy customer ever since.

[BleedinGreenNC]

I worked at both Best Buy and Circuit City, and Best buy was head and shoulders above CC. You could walk it to each one and feel the difference, knew this was coming.

[J.E.T.Sfan4life]

"the consumer is in the worst shape they've ever been in." As for Circuit City, Davidowitz says "they got off track," diverting their attention with Car Max" and they "slowed their expansion, started to take wrong real estate." He says that's when Best Buy came along and "ate their breakfast, lunch and dinner."

[jetstream23]

Several Circuit City stores already closed out here in the past 2 months. I guess the rest of them are going now too. A couple of quick thoughts...

1. If you need a new TV, stereo, gadget, etc. don't miss the firesale and don't play the "It's 60% off now but I know it will be 80% off in 2 weeks" game because once stuff goes it's gone for good. I'm speaking from experience.

2. When this economy finally does turnaround, whether that's in 6 months, 1 year or whenever the few remaining choices are going to gobble the market. Best Buy is facing major margin pressure now and it will only get worse as CC sells the same stuff 30% cheaper over the next 2 months. But after that, when things finally get better, where else are you going to go for those electronics? If Best Buy can weather this economic storm they will come out as a virtual monopoly on the other side.

[Timmy®]

I'm gonna miss those pimply-faced kids trying to sell me, for 20 minutes, an extended warranty. I especially liked when they resorted to telling me that the product I chose was a piece of s**t that had a history of breaking down.

[Chad Pennington]

[QUOTE=BLEEDgreenN'white;2973617][url]http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/patterson/33343[/url]



......

This sucks because that was the closest mega electronics store near me. The next closest one (Best Buy) is 30 miles away!!! Ridiculous.[/QUOTE]

Ohh sh*t, you live in wyoming too?

[Sourceworx]

[QUOTE=Timmy®;2973642]I'm gonna miss those pimply-faced kids trying to sell me, for 20 minutes, an extended warranty. I especially liked when they resorted to telling me that the product I chose was a piece of s**t that had a history of breaking down.[/QUOTE]

LOL

The management really forced them to push and push and push some more for those crappy warranties. When I worked there they literally had training sessions on how to not take no for an answer.

They ended up pissing off a lot of customers.

[chesapeakejet]

Circuit City has had financial trouble for years.

Best Buy has to love this. Better get your 0% financing while ya still can!!!

[Roger Vick]

I used to go visit all of those crooks - Rick Sharp, Alan McCollough, Ann Collier.

I'm glad that company is out of business.

CarMax is next.

Crooks, all of 'em.

[simijet]

I've been out of NY for almost 20 years. Is PC Richard's still around? How about Newmark and Lewis?

[Sourceworx]

[QUOTE=jetstream23;2973640]2. When this economy finally does turnaround, whether that's in 6 months, 1 year or whenever the few remaining choices are going to gobble the market. Best Buy is facing major margin pressure now and it will only get worse as CC sells the same stuff 30% cheaper over the next 2 months. But after that, when things finally get better, where else are you going to go for those electronics? [B]If Best Buy can weather this economic storm they will come out as a virtual monopoly on the other side.[/B][/QUOTE]

Not entirely.

I don't know about where you live, but there's plenty of competition here. PC Richards is pretty big around here, and there's a new chain starting to sprout up everywhere called 6th Avenue Electronics.

Granted I hate both of those stores because the salespeople work for commission, so you don't even have one foot in the door and some slimeball is already hounding you. These guys are worse than used car salesmen. I feel like I need a shower every time I walk out of those places.

[Roger Vick]

[QUOTE=sourceworx;2973656]Not entirely.

I don't know about where you live, but there's plenty of competition here. PC Richards is pretty big around here, and there's a new chain starting sprout up everywhere called 6th Avenue Electronics.

Granted I hate both of those stores because the salespeople work for commission, so you don't even have one foot in the door and some slimeball is already hounding you. These guys are worse than used car salesmen. I feel like I need a shower every time I walk out of those places.[/QUOTE]

PC Richard is a mob outlet.

[Sourceworx]

[QUOTE=simijet;2973655]I've been out of NY for almost 20 years. Is PC Richard's still around? How about Newmark and Lewis?[/QUOTE]

Wow, Newmark & Lewis. That's been long gone.

PC Richard's is still around.

[parkwayjet1]

[QUOTE=simijet;2973655]I've been out of NY for almost 20 years. Is PC Richard's still around? How about Newmark and Lewis?[/QUOTE]

Yeah, PC Richard is still going strong. Newmark & Lewis went the way of Martin & Lewis about 10 years ago, maybe more.

[Timmy®]

[QUOTE=sourceworx;2973647]LOL

The management really forced them to push and push and push some more for those crappy warranties. When I worked there they literally had training sessions on how to not take no for an answer.

They ended up pissing off a lot of customers.[/QUOTE]

I believe it, I stopped going there for that reason. When they sensed I wasn't gonna buy they started getting testy at the end of the pitch. And when I still refused even after they trashed the product, they'd give you a look like,
"OK, it's your funeral cheap f***".

:P

[Roger Vick]

[QUOTE=parkwayjet1;2973668]Yeah, PC Richard is still going strong. Newmark & Lewis went the way of Martin & Lewis about 10 years ago, maybe more.[/QUOTE]

Newmark & Lewis was bougt by Bernie's, and they became "Bernie's Newmark & Lewis" for a couple of years. Then they lost the Newmark & Lewis moniker and were just "Bernie's".

They have closed a lot of stores, but they still have some stores in CT, RI, and MA.

They are not long for this Earth.

[jetstream23]

[QUOTE=sourceworx;2973656]Not entirely.

I don't know about where you live, but there's plenty of competition here. PC Richards is pretty big around here, and there's a new chain starting to sprout up everywhere called 6th Avenue Electronics.

Granted I hate both of those stores because the salespeople work for commission, so you don't even have one foot in the door and some slimeball is already hounding you. These guys are worse than used car salesmen. I feel like I need a shower every time I walk out of those places.[/QUOTE]

You're right and I remember PC Richards but the smaller guys and anyone even slightly mismanaged is crumbling in this market. Tweeter and Ultimate Electronics are big out West. Tweeter has already filed for Chapter 11 and rumors around Ultimate are that they could do the same or end up merging.


[url]http://briansullivan.blogs.foxbusiness.com/2008/12/04/best-buy-bull-case-tweeter-gone-circuit-city-in-chapter-11/[/url]

[QUOTE]
December 4, 2008 1:59PM
[B]Best Buy Bull Case: Tweeter Gone, Circuit City in Chapter 11[/B]

Best Buy (BBY) may turn out to be just that in the retailing sector.

Sure, the Minneapolis-based electronics vendor has seen some of the troubles facing other retailers. Sales and the stock are falling as consumers slow their spending, especially on pricey electronics. But the long-term outlook for Best Buy looks more rosy as one of its competitors shut its doors yesterday and another is in bankruptcy reorganization.

It’s biggest electronics retail competitor, Circuit City, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on November 10th. The company has secured financing to keep operating under reorganization, but as the CEO of General Motors has referenced, Americans generally do not like to buy big ticket items, especially when there is a warranty involved. Time will tell if that holds true with Circuit City’s sales.

Another Best Buy competitor, Tweeter, went under yesterday. The company decided against chapter 11 and trying to restructure it’s balance sheet, instead choosing to simply close its doors and lay off its entire staff. Even Tweeter’s website seems to already be down.

One competitor gone, another trying to reorganize. From Marketwatch.com:

“This is a major positive” for Best Buy (BBY), Wal-Mart (WMT), Costco(COST) 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.”

The big risk to Best Buy, as it is to all retailers now, is Wal-Mart. The Bentonville giant is taking share across numerous product lines and electronics are no exception. Same store sales rose 3.5% in November. This increased competiton has Pali Research analyst Stacey Widlitz concerned (subscription required):

The competitive pressure on Best Buy will only heat up – and it should have real effects on comps and margins. WMT has said that they will announce more rollbacks in electronics on Saturday and next week. We expect that Best Buy will have to lower their prices in response, putting further pressure on margins. As a reminder, Best Buy is price protected against price declines at the manufacturer’s level, but not against the moves of their competitors. We also expect BBY to get more promotional throughout December, as they will need to clear excess inventory due to greater than anticipated sales weakness.

She recommends avoiding Best Buy shares.

Wal-Mart, along with online retailers such as Amazon.com and others, will pick up some of the slack from Tweeter’s demise and the negative press around Circuit City. Best Buy should as well. High-end electronics are a hands-on purchase for most. Shoppers want to see and visually compare the 50″ flat panel and laptops they buy. Moreover, even with the overall downturn in consumer spending, electronics are only becoming more common in our lives. No longer are computers and cell phones “discretionary” for most; they have become core holdings, part of our lives. And there is always going to be a part of the population for whom shopping at Wal-Mart is simply not available, convenient or desired.

There is a Best Buy, a Circuit City and (until yesterday) a Tweeter all within five miles of my home. Three has become two, and as history has shown it is not kind to retailers entering chapter 11, possibly just one. That could be a big win in certain markets for Best Buy.

[/QUOTE]

[Roger Vick]

Speaking of out of business retailers....

Do you guys remember "Two Guys"?

When I was a kid growing up in northern NJ, we did all our back-to-school shopping at "Two Guys".

[oh well okay]

[QUOTE=BLEEDgreenN'white;2973617][url]http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/patterson/33343[/url]



......

This sucks because that was the closest mega electronics store near me. The next closest one (Best Buy) is 30 miles away!!! Ridiculous.[/QUOTE]

you should just buy your stuff online - cheaper, better selection.