UPDATED: Breaking: Circuit City Closing 155 Stores
According to anonymous insider tips, Circuit City is closing 155 stores and withdrawing from 12 markets. This will be officially announced tomorrow at 8am, says our source. A scan we received of a letter distributed to CC employees helps corroborate the story. The tipsters say that store employees were told this morning. No information was provided at that time about severance pay. Employees in certain departments, like car installation, and Firedog, will likely be out of a job within 48 hours. Warranties will still be honored. UPDATE 6: Here's the complete official list of closing stores.
A Consumerist commenter on this post says this story is true, and a few posts in Google Finance forums also attest to the store closing. One post there says the store closings will be effective 12/31/08.
The news wouldn't be entirely unexpected as WSJ reported on Oct 20th that the retailer was considering closing 150 stores. On Friday, Oct 31, CC was warned it get delisted from the New York Stock Exchange because its stock price averaged below $1 for 30 days.
You can already start to see which stores are closing by seeing which ones don't show up in Circuit City's online store locator.
Circuit City is officially fried.
UPDATE: A Consumerist commenter on this post and a message in the Google Finance forums have also said that the store closing are going to happen.
UPDATE 2: Another Circuit City insider writes: "A team of liquidators will be coming in and taking control of the store. They will set prices as they see fit, and price match guarantee, employee discounts, CC circulars, and the new one price guarantee are all out the window. The price you see is the price you will pay, although it ought to be at a bit of a discount. Firedog services as well as car audio installation are gone immediately. Returns and warranties have to be taken to a CC that's not closing. No new stock will be delivered, we just gotta crank away and sell off everything, and when it's sold, we hit the road."
UPDATE 3: A CC employee scanned and sent us this letter he received from CC about the store closings:
UPDATE 4: In classy fashion, Chicago CC employees were told the news at what was billed as a "holiday kickoff" meeting that instead became a "holiday layoff" meeting.
UPDATE 5: Another CC insider reports, "Liquidators will be coming in on Tuesday and the affected stores will be shut down. there is likely not going to be a severance package for us being affected by the layoffs but we were given the option to get a bonus based on how many hours we worked under the liquidation process. We are not allowed to transfer to other locations and have to wait out the liquidation process before we can reapply. So essentially, we will have to take a paycut, a position cut, and more than likely an hours cut if we want to still work for the company.
More importantly I tried to find out what was going to happen to all the warranty computers. Customers will be getting a call from their local firedog techs tomorrow (Monday) about either to pick up their computers and take them to a different location to do warranty work, or for those who have already had their computers sent out for repair be told where they can pick it up. As far as I've been told everything that is out at our repair depots has already been set in motion and will not be shipping back to the stores that are closing. During the liquidation process we will no longer be accepting gift cards, coupons, checks, or circuit city credit cards.
I would tell people to call up their store tomorrow and see where their laptop is being shipped to because obviously that could be a very big hassle for people."
(Photo: heartburn)
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Comments:
Any indications as to where some of these stores might be?
Wow. 155/660 = 23% of their stores.
Wonder if they'll mark the items up before putting them on a 30% sale like comp usa did.
This isn't a shock.
Now the question that comes to mind is: Will there be deals to be had?
Wow.
Hope they start selling stuff off with big discounts, I need a laptop.
@AlexandraCurvus: Where do they find jobs for all of the educated zeroes? Having a college education does not automatically preclude you from being a moron.
Just ask the thousands of former employees of some of our major financial institutions who will be right behind the retail "morons" in the unemployment lines once the fallout from the actions of the "educated" types subsides a little.
Has any big chain EVER closed such a high percentage of their total stores, and then NOT gone on to eventually close ALL the stores within a year?
I believe this. A Firedog employee of the CC I used to work at text messaged me last night saying our store (3708, York, PA) was having an "emergency meeting." My heart sank, but it wasn't entirely unexpected.
I only wonder if they're going to close the six month old location out here in my current city (Norman, OK). Nobody seems to shop there, which actually makes it more pleasant to visit, but obviously that's not good for business.
I heard this a week or so ago.
Is this really such big news? Their stock price is at $0.26. Writing on the wall, kids. Circuit City is dead.
@mrbill:
Kmart closed quite a bit of stores 4 or 5 years ago and they are still around (for now...).
But Circuit City is done. Even if they close just this number of stores, it's not going to really help them.
I think calling the people who work there "uneducated zeros" (zeroes, dear) shows the kind of attitude that ensures only poor quality workers will stay in regular retail jobs. Retail jobs are great for college students (far from zeroes) to help keep their college loans in check. Unfortunately, most good workers leave after a few run-ins with the kind of customer that treats them with an utter lack of respect such as you have shown; leaving the people who couldn't care less and show up simply for a paycheck to serve the rest of us who DO know how to put the shoe on the other foot and treat everyone with the consideration they deserve. SOMEONE has to work retail jobs, and as long as consumers treat workers with at least a modicum of respect, we have a hope of attracting a better class of workers to an undervalued job market.
@surfer88:
No.
bad CC, getting price matches like pulling teeth, receipt checks at door, poorly trained employees, Better deals online 9/10 times, firedog, bad product replacement program...
I went into a Circuit City a few weeks back to try and buy a cell phone charger. They only seem to sell Verizon phones and accessories for Verizon phones, a total waste.
@MrsLopsided: I was just reading an article that stated they have close to 1500 stores in US and Canada, so it's 10% of their stores.
I expect the one in Fairview Heights, IL to be one of them. The last time I was in there (was trying to find a Wii, so figured why not try since no other stores had one), the place was a ghost town.
So my Firedog "free stereo de-installation in the event you sell your vehicle" will become worthless soon?
Dang.
@Triborough: I'm sure there will be deals to be had, but lets hope they're better than the "deals" found at the CompUSA closings.
The SONY thing wasn't because CC couldn't pay, it was because there was a sinkhole at the distribution center and ALL trucks got turned around because the center was right over a main gas line.
Now where did I put my fork...
@JessMeNU: Some of your points are valid, but "receipt checks at door"? Every electronics store does that if your item isn't in a bag.
@mrbill: KMart closed 110 stores in the mid-90's (how I remember this I don't know) for restructuring - they didn't actually bankrupt. In 2003 or 2004 they filed chapter 11 and closed another 300 while restructuring again.
They've now merged with Sears and share a CEO, and I expect they'll tinker with the brand more, with more store openings and closings over time. Kmart is kind of the zombie of the retailer world.
According to my tipster, two stores in the Pennsylvania area are closing as early as TOMORROW. I'm trying to get him to come over here and send in more details...
anyone have a list of stores that are closing?
My thought exactly, along with good riddance and may this be a lesson to corporations that think there is money to be made by eliminating the portion of your workforce that knows how to do its job.
@Marshfield:
I don't like Circuit City, but it sucks that the employees are losing their jobs during an economic downturn and right before the holidays no less.
FYI, following the link for the photo credit ([www.flickr.com]) gives me an error stating that it is a private page.
I just went to CC's website and entered find stores. The store closest to my house here in central NJ did not appear. Of course there is a Best Buy just up the road.
I loves me some fixture sales. I got a ton of shelving from media play for our shop when they went under.
Great photo with the storm clouds in the distance.
Sadly, Best Buy has been cleaning their clock for years. I dislike BB with a passion, but now there's no other national competitor to them (only a handful of regionals such as Fry's, Tweeter, P.C. Richard, etc.).
Last one out hit the lights, please...
@AnnRullus: Same here. One that was here for a good few years, and a brand new one that opened up just a month ago is now not showing up at all
Yeah this is true. Four stores in my district (long Island) are closing.
Here is a list of them:
#3661 - Bay shore, NY
#3681 - Massapequa, NY
#3685 - Patchogue/Holbrook, NY
#3678 - Lake Grove, NY
They haven't discussed any severance packages but they said they'll let us know within a few days about that. Also, there is an incentive for associates who stay throughout the liquidation process. It sucks that I'm losing my job, but it'll give me more time to concentrate on finishing school.
A sad day for the Richmond based company for sure. My parents bought me my Atari 2600 in the 80's at a CC and I've had a soft spot in my heart for them ever sense. Im scared if BB becomes the "only option" for a mega electronics store since honestly, as much as CC has screwed up over the years I HATE Best Buy.
Honestly, I wouldn't be sad if they closed Circuit City near my work. I went there to find Iron Man on blu-ray and circled the aisle where the blu-ray movies 5 times. We had to flag down some employees that were too busy talking to each other to help us to find that it was sold out.
Terrible in-store customer service.
I went and did the find by zip, it didn't look like any Houston stores were closing.
@AnnRullus: The store locator on circuitcity.com is indeed a valid way to find out if your local store is closing. I already know of several stores in my region that are closing via friends in the company, including two in the Nashville market (Antioch and Spring Hill) and the entire Atlana market, and none of them show up on the store locator anymore.
@HooFoot: One of the marks of an economic downturn is lots of layoffs. Might be better before the holidays than just after you've spent hundreds or thousands on presents and THEN get laid off. I took an expensive vacation during late 2000 and when I got back found out in a week that our dot com was dot-bust. Wound up unemployed for 2 months and could have really used that money.
I can confirm this as well. We had a meeting this morning to discuss the holiday season already scheduled. They told us the news then.
Luckily my store won't be closing... yet.
This is not a surprise. Best Buy has been on the verge of putting Circuit City out of business for several years now. Supposudly most of circuit city's profits come from sales of warranties.
@Juxmodo: Mine was in the bag over at Best Buy (an Asus EeePC 900A that I declined any "Geek" Squad service on and any extended warranty because just me being there voided it). The staffer saw something relatively large, asked for the receipt, and we chatted over how small and cheap the netbook was.
this is pretty sad, I live here in Richmond and, ironically, they just opened a new store here in the East End of town, probably intended to be their new flagship store. Oh well, I'll just go across the street to the new Best Buy....
@Triborough: Glad you asked it before me. I feel terrible for the employees and the shareholders, but I also want some cheap electronics before Christmas. Hopefully, it won't be like how unpopular stores will hold going out of business sales and not lower prices or even raise them, and count on people assuming prices are automatically lower.
as a firedog technician at ccity for the past 1 and a half years. I was not at all surprised as to hear the news. With crappy upper Management, an extreme amount of internal theft, and them being way to greedy. It was just a matter of time before this happened.
Just did a store search on their web site. It only brings back 2 stores.. 1 that is 8 miles away in Jackson, Mississippi and 1 that is 78 miles away in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. That means the 1 that is only 3 miles away in Flowood, Mississippi is being closed. Me thinks it's time to buy a new TV.. maybe, possibly. Usually these liquidation sales are just markups anyway. But one would think they would just move the inventory to the closest store.
Athens, GA here. I plugged in my ZIP code for the store that is about 10 minutes from my house, on Atlanta Highway. It's no lobger listed. The closest store I got in response was 60 miles away in SOUTH CAROLINA!
No big surprise, actually. Our Circuit City is a few hundred feet from our Best Buy.
i tried googling "circuit city in Charlotte NC" and cross-referencing that list with the list of charlotte-area stores on the CC website... it appears we're going to lose at least 2 stores... but it looks like they're in the older areas of town
This is all one hundred percent true. Employees will be allowed to stay at closing stores through the liquidation, but that is all we were really told. Nothing about severance or anything like that.