Inside, as supplied by Circuit City, a complete list of their 155 stores that will be closing, a story we broke yesterday.
Breaking News [Circuit City] (Thanks to Cheviot!) (Photo: adria.richards)
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Damn; mine’s closing.
I guess I’d be heartbroken if I ever went there.
@gyroball: HAHA, mine’s spared! Surprising really, as there’s not only a Best Buy in sight across the street, but the only Frys in Illinois is 3/4 of a mile away.
I really don’t care to shop there, with the exception of my two big TVs. They seem to always have the best prices on those.
@gyroball: Wow! Both of Memphis’ stores gone! That sucks from a price competition perspective.
@rushevents: Don’t feel too bad. Amazon has free shipping over $25 with no tax, and newegg.com has great prices.
@gyroball: I may not go to mine but I use their ads all the time to price match stuff. Thus it is important one stays open around here.
Looks like all of NY is safe, excepting metro-NYC/Long Island.
@acknight:
well the Nyack mall looses another large store. That mall has so much unused space it’s silly.
At least my wife will be happy. The union square CC is one of her fav bathrooms to use when she is in the area.
@harlock_JDS: Where’s the bathroom in CC? The one in Virgin Records is disgusting!
@crackblind: DITTO! If you’re in a jam, come to ABC Carpet & Home the bathrooms on the sales floors are pretty decent (not as good as the one in my office but still)
@harlock_JDS: oh and is that the one in the palisades mall?
Good riddance! Closing down stores should be the reward for corporate & store ineptitude.
Here’s their 11/03/08 media kit on the store closings
http://newsroom.circuitcity.com/announcement.cfm
@AliyaBabasaur: It is funny how they use the term “guests” there.
all 3 of mine within 20 miles are closing(NW subs of chicago)….oh well. I haven’t bought anything from them in a while.
@logicalnoise: The Schaumburg (Woodfield) store survived the cut.
@FSugino: That is quite surprising to me considering that place is a craphole. I would have thought that one would be closing down as well…oh well.
@FSugino: Not surprising…it’s a prime retail spot that they’ll give up last. The store sucks but they know that you can still get traffic from the mall.
@logicalnoise: They had just opened up the Circuit City in Arlington Heights not too long ago…
@Warbrain:
Where was that store in Arlington Heights? The only one I knew that was close to there was the old Randhurst store. But then again, if it’s on Rand Rd., you’re talking Best Buy land over there.
-Adam
@Adam C:
it is on Rand Rd., just north of Willow. It was a really nice store since it just opened in March/April(?).
@logicalnoise: Unfortunately the one on Elston and Fullerton near Logan Square is not closing… so you could hop on 90-94, its about a 1/4 mile off of the expressway.
@logicalnoise:
Gurnee store made it too…
@logicalnoise: Naperville survived as well. Not batavia though.
@darkjedi26: The older one in Bolingbrook is closing, but the new one at the Promenade is staying open. Not a surprise, since there’s a giant Best Buy just down the street from the older store.
As Worst Buy and Circuit City are struggling, the local computer parts shop in town is expanding.
@bohemian: I noticed that too! If my mac ever broke (heh), I’d be quicker to send it to a small parts shop… there’s no way they could screw it up more than best buy or circuit city.
@bohemian: Maybe because their employees actually know what they’re selling?
I know this is a crazy theory, but I just noticed that both of my CC’s that are closing are adjacent to Best Buy’s. Granted, you could be facecious and claim that every Circuit City is next to a Best Buy, but I’ve seen some that aren’t… and, well, they aren’t closing. I wonder if they closed them down because of the inability to be totally competitive.
@skitzogreg: The Circuit City in Sugar Land, TX is not closing, and it’s within half a mile of a Best Buy.
@skitzogreg: Every single Circuit City in my area (Sacramento) is within one mile of a Best Buy, and none of them are closing. CC just opened a new location less than three months ago in Folsom.
@skitzogreg: The two near me that are RIGHT NEXT TO a BB are not closing.
@skitzogreg: The four cloest to me in MA aren’t closing (in fact, it looks like none in MA are) and three of them are all pretty close to a BB. Does anyone know how they determined which stores would be closing? I would have expected at least one near me would be.
@skitzogreg: The one in my town that is closing is across the street from a BB.
@skitzogreg: @skitzogreg:
There are 2 in Knoxville TN, neither are closing. 1 is right across the street from a Best Buy and the other isn’t next to one yet, but they are building a “Super Best Buy” within a 1/4 mile. It’s odd they are closing these locations down seeing how no one ever goes. I stopped by the other day for a audio cable for my ipod. CC had one for $24.99, I went across to best buy and got the exact same cable (length and quality but different brand) for $14.99. No wonder CC is going under.
@skitzogreg:
My Jerkit City is right across the road from BB, and it’s not closing. I’m shocked to, as they hardly ever have the business BB doesn’t, and their store seems to be selling less and less every year. Their lossleader selection has gone to the dogs, while BBs would fill the entire Jerkit City store.
I’m glad they’re not closing, even if I don’t shop there.
@skitzogreg: check this one out. This is the Palo Alto store.
[maps.google.com] <– Street View
@skitzogreg: They’re closing all the stores in the Phoenix-Metro area, and at least a few of those are not near a Best Buy.
If they are not declairing bankruptcy, how are they planning on getting out of all those expensive leases?
@mbd: I’m sure it’s cheaper to pay a lease on an empty building than have a full-on store at that location losing money every day.
Business is bass-ackwards at times, ain’t it?
@mbd:
Give it 90 days or so & they will file Chapter 11.
It will depend on December’s sales or lack of.
Sell inventory to liquidator, get money, pay developer to get out of lease early. Seems pretty simple.
@mbd: Oh, it’s not the leases that cost them an arm/leg… It’s the labor costs. For a big corporate store, it’s always cheaper to shut down and pay the remainder of the lease. Sometimes, they’ll save cash by terminating early, especially if they have natural gas hookups and can stop paying utilities on same…
@mbd: They own a lot of their property.
Nothing in MN? I guess they want to keep the pressure on the hometown boys (BB)
@TheBusDriver: Nope, none in MN so far. There are actually 8 to 10 CCs in the Twin Cities metro, too, so they’ll still have a strong presence here. And as I said in an earlier post, I live in Bloomington, and there are 8 BBs within 10 miles of me, not including Headquarters.
Both the ones I’ve used are staying open. I’m glad. CC might have its problems (and I’ve barely been there since the layoffs) but it’s still better than Satan Best Buy.
@csdiego: Oops, looks like strikethrough doesn’t work in these comments. Strike through “Satan” in the comment above.
I wonder what fun it will be to pick over the corpses of the stores to see what type of deals they’ll be running if they plan on dumping all of their product. Maybe it’s a good time to be a CC customer to pick up some stuff dirt cheap.
@InsomniacZombie: It’ll be the first time I’ve been in a Circuit City in years.
@InsomniacZombie: I imagine most of the good stuff will be rerouted to stores that are still open.
I’m surprised by how few are closing in Texas. There are only two closing in DFW and we’ve got A LOT of CC stores around here.
@SgtBeavis: DFW is a leading region in the retail industry due to huge growth over the past several years. Best Buy has opened over 20 stores in DFW in the past year alone. This is one area where Circuit needs to compete. Also, in terms of the economic meltdown, it’s one of the less affected areas.
@triggerh:
I have to say that I have not had any major bad experience at Circuit City like others here have. I live in TX (DFW area) and got a fantastic deal on my 46″ LCD TV (price matching over the next 30 days from purchase got me >$400 back for the furniture, TV, and surround sound). I hope that they can come through this and repair their bottom line and reputation, but I don’t think that is too likely.
@SgtBeavis: I live less than 10 minutes from Mansfield and I spend most of my time there. I had NO idea there was a Circuit City.
thanks for the post. It doesn’t really affect me much, but it’s interesting to see some of the new-ish stores in Ohio closing. I know a few of those have been open less than 3 years!
@pjsammy: Heck, the one here in Warner Robins, GA hasn’t even been open a year. I bet it still has the new carpet smell.
Mine isn’t closing, but I guess it’s regional and they draw from a larger area without consumer electronics outlets…people come to town for their shopping from all over. No sales for me, but I haven’t been there since the late 90s
I wonder if this had anything to do with the phonecall I got Friday – I got a call from CCity about an employment ‘fair’ for seasonal employees (for christmas) asking me to be there Sunday at 5pm (Fairview Heights, IL store). I was not able to make it – but strange that this call came the same weekend the store started to sink. Maybe they were hiring the ‘clearance crew’.
I just want to clarify they aren’t closing all store that are next to Best Buys. They based their decision off of what stores aren’t paying for their own advertisement bills. If the store isn’t making any money, why keep it open?????
Its about time, they have been screwing the customer for along time. I have been waiting on there demise since the DIVX days.
Our local CC is closing, it doesn’t surprise me at all. Rarely did I see people there when I drove by and for the longest time the union had local, non-union day laborers protesting outside of the store.
My store is closing. A lot of good people are being affected by this. So many heartless comments.
@jamesuss: Well, I suppose not everybody that works at CC is bad. I wish the good people the best of luck, getting another job, if it means their job. Who knows, you may find that going somewhere else is actually better. I chose to quit my cushy job and move once, and it turned out to be a good decision. So, it could be a blessing in disguise. Don’t mope about it, take assertive action and take the opportunty to steer your careers into a GOOD company with a GREAT customer service record! and good benefits!
Wow, there are 150 stores closing down.. and people here are rejoicing? See, you see it as a big box shuttin down. A store that screwed you over. But look at the big picture you idiots. Lets assume for a second that each store has 30 employees on average. I’m sure the average is higher, but 30 seems reasonable. Thats 4500 jobs lost. Also, this now forces people to shop at other big box stores like Best Buy and Walmart. Its not that they have to go there, but for competitive pricing, and for name recognition, thats where they’ll go. Remember people are sheep and will just go to the next big box they see. I don’t work for them or any other big box, but you gotta keep in mind, no matter who comes along there are always going to be problems.
@Fist-oâ„¢: I hear you! I already have a few job offers lined up. Better jobs at that. Just kind of sucks because I was at that store before we even opened the door for our first customers. So many good memories….
@jamesuss: Sorry to hear your news. I have some friends who worked at stores that closed and some of them took it pretty hard. Especially for those who took their jobs seriously and always did their best (and those good people exist at EVERY company, even McDonalds or BB or CC), seeing everything they worked for go down in (liquidation sale) flames, it’s kind of like a dear friend has died.
I was always surprised the McLean, VA location on Chain Bridge stayed open as long as it has – they opened a brand new location less than a mile away from that one about two years ago. Granted the one on Chain Bridge is part of the Tysons Corner Center complex, but I still couldn’t believe they left it open that long.
At least I’ll still have a place to get emergency power supplies .. nothing closing in Utah ..
Consumerist got mentioned on cnn.com about this also ..
[money.cnn.com]
I am shocked the Manchester, NH store isn’t on the list. It is in a bad location and I never see many cars in that parking lot.
@chrisgeleven:
Therefore its easier to afford the cost to stay there.
Yeah, the CC by my house is closing(League City,TX)! Not that I ever shopped their when Fry’s Electronics is a lot closer and have a way better selection!!!!!
Closing the small store in Chicago they tried to place right next to the big best buy on North Ave. I actually went to that one a few times because there was NEVER any one in it. The other best buy on elston has been completely ghettoized, so I try to avoid it.
The new one they opened less then a year ago in norman, ok is closing, wonder if they will have a going out of business sale that might lower the prices? or they might just move the stock to another store since it appears they can’t get any new.
Geez. No wonder the one in Tally is closing. I went in Tuesday to get Fallout 3. Signs your business is bad.
Empty parking lot.
6 people, 3 at the phone desk, 2 at customer service.
When looking for the game, where do you think I head? The game section. I look around, see nothing but old “Coming soon” games that came out a month ago. I do find a Fallout 3 Strategy Guide. Maybe it has the location of the game.
Another person quickly walks by the game section and enters a locked door.
I give up finding it, go to the front desk. I ask about the game after waiting 3 minutes. Normally, this isn’t too bad, but the store has NO customers. Seriously. And no one can answer me?
I ask for a copy of Fallout 3 for PC. She asks “Which game. Far Cryout 3?” “Um….no. Fallout 3 for PC.” “Oh, I’ve got it for XBOX 3 and PS360.” “…..None for PC?” “I don’t think so.” “Ok, thanks.”
Went down the street to a Best Buy doing brisk business and got a copy from the computer games section. Good riddance CC.
How interesting. All of the ones in my state (NY) are in or near the largest metro area. The one up here in Albany is staying. Good. I like them better than Best Buy.
Wow… the Circuit City that opened in Spring Hill, TN at the END OF JULY is closing. Fascinating.
Disappointing :-/
The thing that seals the deal that they had no chance for me … two of the stores that are closest to me (Hilliard and Grove City OH) have been opened in the last 12-18 months. Yes, they tried expansion! Now, they’re all closing up. Isn’t it ironic?
The South Barrington store had its grand opening last week.
How f’d up is that?
Looks like the one behind Tyson’s Corner Mall is closing finally. It’s at least 3 rebrandings old, and still has the old-school “Plug” design from the commercials in the early 90s. Once they built the new parking garage and expansion onto the mall, it’s been steadily going downhill.
Woops, the CC in my town is closing. Kind of not surprised, there are never that many cars there. I did buy a few things there, though. Hmm. That leaves us with just Best Buy.
And in Columbus, they’re closing the CC they *just opened* within the last few months . . . .
Somebody was brilliant to open that one.
@jenl1625: The Columbus Hilliard Rome store AND the Grove City store (also Columbus) were both new in the last 12 months. Also, the Columbus West Broad St store was changed from a regular store to an Outlet not too long ago.
Heh the one in Skokie / Niles IL is in the same mall where a CompUSA used to be, and now the only big-box electronics retailer in that mall is Best Buy.
What me, worry? Nah. I’m still waiting for my favorite Silo and Higland Appliances to re-open, any day now…
Dang, only one in New England, and it is in south CT, no where near me. I was hoping to go snag some deals too. Oh well, I dont really shop BB or CC for anything, I just buy online, the only real reason I go into either is to browse and get a hands on of some of the products.
funny thing is there closing 11 stores in Ohio, leaving about 8 open in the state. bad thing is though, some of those are pretty new. never went there anyways, so it doesn’t affect me, but around here it is pretty hard to compete with BB I’m afraid to say.
If you take a close look at the locations you will see that Frys Electronics have a presence in most of the markets that Circuit city are closing, EG Phoenix, metro Atlanta, Texas, So Cal.
@JDL1527: No Fry’s in Colorado — I wish there was.
@JDL1527: I wouldn’t say that Fry’s has MUCH of a presence in metro Atlanta. They have two stores – Alpharetta and Duluth – but neither is even remotely convenient to the majority of the area. I didn’t even know there WAS one in town until recently.
@JDL1527: Yup. Fry’s Electronics has a huge presence in the Phoenix area with its Tempe behemoth. It’s a converted Incredible Universe (and looks like one, too). Very maze-like.
Yet it probably has problems marketing because there’s a Kroger grocery banner here called Fry’s that uses red in its branding (like the electronics chain).
Mine (C’ville, VA) is closing. I’m probably the only one that actually goes to a CC, but the employees are relatively pleasant, they always have Wii and DS games in stock, and I can bike to it. The Best Buy is nearly inaccessible and I will do anything to avoid going there.
Looks like the trend there is CC is getting out of many major cities and moving its focus to the areas of urban sprawl (As an example, Atlanta is losing all of its stores, but the ones in SC are all safe)
Looks like I gotta find another store to pick up online purchases the next time there’s a deal which is actually pretty good compared to other online retailers, the Upper East Side CC won’t be making the cut.
Closing a store that “just opened” is a sign your business is about to FAIL.
Alas, the Panama City store is going away. I paid off my post-college credit card debt reselling “hacked” Apex DVD players I bought at that store on ebay back around ’99. Must have bought 20 of the things over a period of three months or so.
I’m glad my local store is staying open. They didn’t seem to be doing too well, but at least it’s some competition.
Looks like they’ve already scrubbed thier website “find a store” thing. I searched it to see how many stores were going to remain around my city (Louisville, KY), and the Louisville and Clarksville, IN stores that are on the closing list have already gone down the memory hole.
Not surprised at all that the only one closing in Houston is in Sharpstown – that area is in rapid decline. The Sharpstown Mall across the street from that store is almost completely shut down.
@mrbill:
The only time I go over to that part of town is to partake in the goodies on Harwin.. Even then, I’d never get caught
in that area after dark…
I’ve gone to the one in our town that is closing and it’s always practically empty. The only stuff I’ve bought there was mispriced items (“but it says on the package it’s $20″).
The one I worked in several summers ago (Livington, NJ) is closing. That store used to do really well because they actually had competent people on the floor. But with Best Buy being down the road and CC laying off all the aforementioned competent people (I didn’t recognize too many faces last time I was there), I’m sure they’ve been taking a heavy hit. Good riddance, although I’m sad to see BB get larger in the area.
I think I said this yesterday, but now that its closing is official… the one in Norman, OK has been open for less than a year.
What a waste.
Store 3380, in Colorado Springs is the one closest to my house and it is closing. Its the one with that the bear broke into: [consumerist.com]
So, within the span of one economic shrivel, mighty, uppity Cuyahoga Falls has gone from two CCs to none.
Gosh, that’s a bit of a shame. Any of my fellow Ohio people even know where that one was?