From the AP:

A spokeswoman for Streambank LLC, the intellectual property consulting firm hired by Circuit City Stores Inc., said the assets were sold at auction Monday to New York-based Systemax. Terms of the deal were not available.

A federal bankruptcy judge in Richmond must approve the sale at a hearing Wednesday.

What does this mean for the Circuit City brand? Well, here's a recent post detailing what Systemax did with CompUSA.

The general consensus is that they improved it. Will they improve Circuit City?

Circuit City brand, Web site sold at auction [Chicago Sun-Times]
(Photo:rchris173)

CircuitCity.com is also temporarily closed, although we anticipate the website will reopen in the coming weeks. Please check back for updates.

What's this? Circuit City may rise again? Well, probably not, but perhaps some poor fool has plans to buy the brand and open a web-only store— similar to what happened with CompUSA.

Only time will tell.

So my brother was at Circuit City last night seeing if he could take advantage of their liquidation. He saw a display advertising a Sirius Stiletto 2 Radio with Car Kit for $90 marked down from $300, a seemingly great deal.

He called me while he was at the store and asked me to look up the going rate for the radio on ebay as he planned to purchase it from Circuit City and turn around and sell it for profit on the net. Brand new radios of this model with a car kit are selling for anywhere between $180 and $230 on ebay; a good return on investment if he could pick one up for $90.

While I had him on the phone I mentioned that he should thoroughly check out the radio to look for defects or any other problems before buying since I had read on The Consumerist that people were getting ripped off at Circuit City during the liquidation and all sales are final. He checked it out it looked ok.

It was sorta in the original packaging which was inside one of those hard plastic looked boxes BB and CC use when they don't want people stealing small expensive items so he couldn't actually hold the unit before purchasing. He took it up to the register, the checkout girl scanned it, he swiped his credit card, and the girl unlocked the plastic lockbox.

When she did this, my brother wanted to inspect the radio one more time before buying. He picked it up and took the battery out of the back and on the label under the battery he discovered the unit was not a Stiletto 2, but the Stiletto 1. Circuit City was selling a Stiletto 1 as a Stiletto 2, a huge difference in price. So, because he hadn't yet signed for his credit card he told them they had falsely advertised the product, canceled his purchase, and just walked away.

Remember that all sales are final at liquidations. Inspect your merchandise before you buy it! Or just stay away completely — it's common for liquidation prices to be higher than prices at regular stores.

Adrian says:

The store was mostly empty of inventory with people filling up carts of the most random stuff. So they have vast sections of the store covered with caution tape labeled 'Service Defective', which kind of sums up the shopping experience of Circuit City. Also excuse the fingers in the photo.

Perfect.

Kenneth says:

So, I decided to take a look at my almost-closed circuit city last night for some super deals. I get here and I'm quite disappointed. Please look at the attached picture.

A Standard 6 foot USB A - B cable. No box. No anything. In a zip lock bag. Listed for $30.59. After liquidation discounts.

Hey, let's see what Monoprice charges for this beauty. Cables... USB... A - B.... Wait, does that say... $1.10?

Team 5 Investigates discovered that while consumers are warned about final sales, they have no way of knowing if what they're buying is bad. In the Natick store, inspections are allowed only after a customer pays, and in Somerville, one sign says "Check your purchase," but another sign says, "Don't Open The Merchandise."

In Minnesota, we found a similar story. A family paid $1,500 for a TV at the Circuit City liquidation sale — and claim that they were prevented from opening the box to make sure the TV wasn't damaged. The TV was, of course, totally shattered. When the local Fox affiliate tried to investigate, they say they were "kicked out" of the store.

Meanwhile, back in Boston, the customers told reporters that they were going to try to get their credit card company to help them — but honestly, we're not optimistic. All sales are final in a liquidation sale. That's only one of the many reasons you should avoid them.

UPDATE: For those of you asking why state laws don't apply here, it's because federal bankruptcy laws are in play.

Customers Burned In Circuit City Closeout Sale [WCVB]
(Photo:catastrophegirl)

"Circuit City's real estate has begun to create interest among national and regional retailers and supermarkets. There are great opportunities for schools and other non-retail uses. "

Don't do it, we say. Those stores are cursed. As soon as you move in there, they'll fire all the teachers and replace them with 11th graders who'll work part-time in exchange for minimum wage and cafeteria discount.

Circuit City Elementary School? [Blogging Stocks]
DJM Realty to Dispose of All Remaining Circuit City Real Estate in the United States (Press Release) [PR Newswire]
(Photo:Paxton Holley)

I know you guys have been getting plenty of shots of the “liquidation sale” items and well I got one for you. A 14” HP laptop with a Celeron M processor, 512mb RAM, 80 GB hard drive, 802.11b/g wireless, and a DVD burner for a bargain price of $705.99…down from $829.99!!!!

We Googled the model number and were unable to find this little beauty for sale anywhere else — though we did see a broken one on eBay and a few users reviews from 2006.

What a find.

CC customer: "I walked out of the store and I thought... this is crazy!"

Action News: Because this laptop computer made by Sony was $799.99 on January 12, before Circuit City's Liquidation. The consumer says it was not on sale, but now during the liquidation, the laptop is being sold for $37 more.

The report showed the woman's receipt and the new sale price of the laptop.

We dug up a cached copy of Circuit City's website, and it shows that the laptop was being offered for $799.99, but that it had a MSRP of $929.99, which is the price that the liquidator is discounting from.

The same laptop is being offered by Newegg for slightly more than the liquidation sale, but the best sale price we could find was still Circuit City's before they were being liquidated.

You can see the report here.

Liquidations offer bogus bargains? [Action News 6] (Thanks, Brian!)

Sam says:

I have a few tips for people that are planning on shopping there during the "sale:"

1. All of what you have seen is correct, not much is actually on sale. Looking at items I remember from a couple weeks before, most everything is more expensive. Especially things like blank CDs, flash drives, and anything in the computer area. Cables are less expensive than usual, but still way more than online. Game systems are not a bad deal either.

2. You're right: We really don't care about you. I and anybody else will answer any questions about the product or return policy, or show you where something is. But that is it. I really can't do anything else for you under our new policies, and that is honestly fine with me. It is hard to care when you know the job is gone in 2 months anyway. It becomes even harder when you see how busy we are with prices being higher. It kills me to see these people scrambling over terrible prices when we were dead the past year.

3. This goes even more so for management. They have been stripped of all of their power, and are relegated to people that are allowed to have keys. Chances are they needed their job more than the part-timer like me, and they are not very happy about being jobless soon, and they are making it known.

4. Bring a copy of the CC return policy from Consumerist in if you have a valid return. As you have seen already, a lot of the Customer Service and even managers don't know the real return policy for items bought before January 1.

5. No, we cannot change ANY PRICE in the store. Whatever it says in the computer is what we have to sell it at, regardless of what the sign says, or what the associate told you. It is all set by the liquidation company. I wish we could change it, but that is the way it is.

6. (And this is more of a rant:) Don't act happy that we are going out of business, please. I have had more than a few qualms with my job and the company the past few years, trust me. But I am still sad to see it go. I helped out a lot of very nice people, and I genuinely believe I helped them out and went above and beyond for them. I may be the exception, but I helped as much as I could and didn't sell people things that I didn't think they could use. Part of what is so depressing about working there right now is how smug people seem to be about us closing. You don't think the price on that camera is good? Neither do I, and I am sorry that I and 34,000 other people losing their jobs could not have saved you 12 more dollars on a camera. See how much better it gets in 6 months when Best Buy is the ONLY option for that TV you are looking for.

Poor Sam. We hope you land on your feet, buddy. Thanks for sharing your advice.

(Photo:Matt McGee)

First, here's a report from Cincinnati's WCPO:

We Compare Prices

* A Samsung 46 inch LCD TV, Model #LN46A850: Originally $2,599, now on sale for $2,339...but we found the exact model on Best Buy's website for $2,099....$300 less.
* A Vizio 42 inch LCD TV, Model #SV420XVT1A: Was $1,199, now marked down to $1,079...but we found the same model number TV at Target for just $1,029... $50 less.
* And a Panasonic 50 inch LCD TV, Model #TH-50P80U: Was $1,399, now $1,259...but both Amazon.com and Beach Camera had it for less than $1,000, a at least $300 less, and at Beach you even get free shipping!

One of the companies running the sale defends the prices....telling the Los Angeles Times "we have commitments to banks and creditors who are expecting a certain return."

But you're not committed to shop at these prices...especially since all sales are final, with no returns.

And from Tennessee, an interview with a woman who went to Circuit City looking for Wii games — only to find out "we got up here and it's higher than it is at the normal stores."

TheStreet.com has compiled a list of reasons to avoid liquidation sales entirely, not least of which is that the sale prices are crap:

In fact, most liquidators will actually raise prices to full retail or a token 10% off because they know the store will be packed with people. That means prices at liquidation sales are often higher than you could have gotten at the store before it went into bankruptcy. Those "75% off or more" discounts that you are imagining won't arrive until the final week of the liquidation sale — a time when anything you would really want will already be long gone.

For those of you looking for some additional analysis of the economics of liquidation, check out this article from Portfolio:

The fact is that liquidations tend to be pretty bad places to find a bargain. It's worth remembering that a liquidation isn't the kind of sale put on by a store which needs to clear out their shelves in order to make space for new merchandise: there's no new high-margin merchandise coming in for shoppers to buy, and so the opportunity cost of keeping the old merchandise on the shelves is actually very low. Circuit City stores are going to be open through March: there's little point in having them simply sit there empty thanks to too-big early discounts.

The LA Times has some interviews with pissed off shoppers who wanted bigger discounts:

"I've been waiting in line for half an hour each day based on employees' promises that prices could come down, but they haven't," said McGinness, a TV commercial producer from Los Angeles. "It's very disappointing."

Big Sales Don’t always mean the Best Deals [TriCities]
Circuit City Closing Sale: Undercover Investigation [WCPO]
5 Reasons to Avoid Liquidation Sales [TheStreet]
The Economics of Liquidation [Portfolio]
Price is not right for many shoppers at Circuit City closeout sale [LA Times]
(Photo:Matt McGee)

Consumer Reports says:

For example, at the liquidation, a 50-inch Panasonic plasma TV was discounted to $1,800, a $200 savings. That might sound like a bargain, but if you check the circular you’ll see that Circuit City had planned to cut the price this week by $500. What’s more, we found the same model online for $1,365, including free shipping.

An HP all-in-one printer, at the liquidation for $270, was scheduled to be on sale for $150. And we found it as low as $135 online. A Garmin GPS system, discounted to $225, was $160 in the circular and $141 online.

Despite the modest discounts, the checkout counter was mobbed. We repeatedly overheard salespeople telling customers that they had run out of merchandise. Shoppers were undeterred by signs proclaiming that all sales are final; that the store no longer was accepting the Circuit City credit cards, personal checks, or coupons; and that it wouldn’t match competitors’ prices.

They did find a few deals on items that are rarely on sale, such as the Nintendo Wii Guitar Hero World Tour bundle — but ultimately decided that the sale just wasn't worth it.

Meanwhile, Flickr pool member lanenem provided us with these photos of the liquidation mob. Sad.

Good deals hard to find at Circuit City’s liquidation sale [Consumer Reports]
(Photo:lanenem)

From HDGuru:

The HD Guru priced five HDTVs at its closeout store in Massapequa, NY. Comparing the original and 10% off closeout prices with prices listed at Circuitcity.com revealed the “current” pre-closeout price written on the price tags was actually $200 to $400 higher than the “real” current selling price of all five HDTVs at CircuitCity.com . After the 10% off closeout price is taken into account, 3 out of 5 HDTVs remained $60-$100 more than the same item at Circuit City’s website!

A Circuit City spokesman was contacted by email. At press time we are waiting for a response (the site will be updated when a response is received). The HDTVs priced are as follows

Model/Store Price/10% Off Price/ “True” Current CCWeb Price

Samsung/PN50A550 $1999.99 $1799.99 $1699.99
Samsung/LN46A550 $1699.99 $1529.99 $1449.99
Samsung/LN52A750 $2999.99 $2699.99 $2699.99
Sony/KDL40V4100 $1399.99 $1259.99 $1199.99
Sony/KDL52XBR6 $3499.99 $3149.99 $3299.99

HDGuru also notes that all sales are final — and you are not allowed to check to see that your merchandise works before you buy it.

Circuit City Liquidation Sale Price Switch-Can You Beat It or Will It Beat You? [HDGuru]
(Photo:Matt McGee)

Top 10 Circuit City Stories Of All Time

10. Is Circuit City Going Bankrupt? Since the end of May, Circuit City's stock has lost about 87% of its value; the company has fired its CEO, lost a $1.3 billion takeover offer from Blockbuster, and posted quarterly losses of $239.2 million.

9. Circuit City Customer Arrested After Refusing To Show Receipt Michael writes, "I've always taken the stance that retail stores shouldn't treat their loyal customers as criminals and that customers shouldn't so willingly give up their rights along with their money."

8. Circuit City Lies About Guitar Hero Release Date To Get You To Go Away David went to Circuit City yesterday to buy a copy of the new Guitar Hero game, which, according to our extensive research, is currently on sale at Circuit City.

7. Circuit City Calls The Cops On Customer Who Tried To Redeem $40 DTV Coupon Circuit City wouldn't let Larry redeem his $40 digital transition converter box coupon unless he signed a credit slip agreeing to pay $40. Larry refused, and asked to cancel the transaction.

6. Timeline: How Circuit City Came Undone Bankruptcy is a time for reflection, we guess, so we put together a nice little time line of Circuit City's precipitous decline over the past 2 years.

5. Circuit City Calls The Cops On Customer Who Requests A Price Match I said I would gladly leave once he proved to me that the club portion of the policy existed. He response: he called the police!

4. 10 Confessions Of A Circuit City FireDog Technician 9. "FD COURTESYCHECK" isn't a real SKU, it means the customer was good looking, and the tech should check to see if they have any "personal" pictures worth keeping.

3. Circuit City Doesn't Sell Fire Extinguishers Just in case you were wondering.

2. Circuit City Tries To Install Navigation System, Causes $12,119 Of Damage To Your Car
Honda later declared VTECnical's car a fire hazard and told him it was unsafe to drive.

1. Circuit City Orders All Stores To Destroy Issue Of Mad Magazine Parodying "Sucker City"
The retailer apparently isn't amused by the 4-page spoof of "Sucker City."

Bonus Story: Perfect for people with nothing to do for two weeks and need a quick "career."

(Photo:theblackdog2071)

(Photo: corsec67 )

(This is a repost from Nov 10, 2008)

Circuit City Stores Inc.’s assets may be bought by companies that would sell off remaining merchandise and shut down the second-largest U.S. consumer-electronics chain, according to two people familiar with the planned bids.

Hilco Merchant Resources LLC, Great American Group LLC and Hudson Capital Partners are part of two separate groups of liquidators that planned to submit offers for the retailer, said the people, who declined to be identified because the auction process isn’t public.
...
Gordon Brothers Retail Partners LLC and Tiger Capital LLC also are among potential buyers that would liquidate Circuit City’s assets, the people said. Liquidators buy the assets of distressed companies, which can include unsold merchandise, store displays and shelving, computer systems and other technology. Circuit City leases most of its stores.

For those of you new to the liquidation game — these companies are notorious for raising prices before discounting them.

Circuit City Said to Get Bids From Liquidator Groups (Update1) [NYT]

Circuit City says:

Presently, the company is engaged in significant discussions, meetings and negotiations with two highly motivated and interested parties concerning the terms of a going concern transaction. These interested parties are considering providing additional financing to allow the company to sustain operations and move forward with a subsequent restructuring through a stand-alone plan and/or purchasing the company or all or substantially all of the company's assets.

The statement goes on to say that the company feels that the transaction will probably be successful, but that it can't guarantee anything.

If there is no sale by next Friday it seems that Circuit City could be liquidated, according to a motion unsealed today by the bankruptcy court.

Circuit City Stores, Inc. Provides Update [Circuit City] (Thanks, Sean!)
Circuit City in talks with 2 ‘interested parties’ [Richmond Times-Dispatch]
(Photo: Ben Popken )

This Circuit City is obviously being liquidated — but they're still hiring.

Perfect for people with nothing to do for two weeks and need a quick "career."

(Thanks, Koy!)

[Failblog] (Thanks, Rob!)

James says:

I'm sure you can surmise that I never signed up for email alerts to anything from Circuit City. I merely use their website to manage my (rarely used) Circuit City card. It's good to see they still have the customer in mind.

The best part of the email is where they inform James that, in the future, he'll get advance notice about "grand openings." Isn't that sweet?

[Bloomberg]
(Photo: tagurity )

Scott says:

Not really any deals to be had there. As you can see from the picture, apparently someone there doesn't know how to calculate "5% off"...

Scott was wondering if this was a widespread issue or something endemic to this store?

In any case, we searched the internet for a tool that can help them and found this neat sale price calculator.

(Photo: corsec67 )

L says:

When we were told we our store was be closed, the liquidator told us that we would get a big bonus for sticking around until Dec. 31st instead of looking for a new job. Of course all the associates were very excited. The liquidator told us we would find out in about a week what that bonus is. We we found our on Sunday. They lied to us about it being big. It is only 75 cent an hour. If you are part time and work 20 hours a week, that is about $120 over two months before taxes. If you are full time and work around 40 hours a week, that is $240 over two months before taxes. Calling these big bonuses are an insult to the employees who are busting their asses while the stores are finally busy again, because of the liquidation.

After our manager heard that, he decided to give everyone unlimited hours, since he does not report to Circuit City anymore and to screw with the liquidator, since they are paying us right now. I've heard the horror stories about this liquidator in this forum before, but this is a new low to deceive the front line employees who have nothing to do with the mismanagement of this company that ultimately brought it down.

By the way, the liquidator raised many prices. True TV's are 10% off the MSRP, but in many cases Circuit City was already selling them for 30% off the MSRP. Smart customers are simply going to the Circuit City 5 miles away which is not closing and offering lower prices.

(Photo: Getty)

Will Circuit City's bankruptcy affect your shopping plans?

Circuit City, Electronics Retailer, Seeks Bankruptcy [Bloomberg] (Thanks to Ken!)
Circuit City Stores, Inc. to Reorganize Under Chapter 11 [Press Release] (Photo: corsec67)

TWICE says:

Liquidation sales on $300 million worth of inventory that began yesterday at 154 Circuit City stores are being conducted by Hilco Merchant Resources and Gordon Brothers Retail Partners, a government filing shows.

An additional store will be closed by Circuit City on its own.

According to an 8-K filing by Circuit City with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dated Oct. 31, the retailer will be paid a guaranteed amount equal to 72 percent of the cost value of the merchandise included in the sales.

The liquidators, which formed a joint venture, will receive an agent’s fee equal to 3.5 percent of the cost value of the merchandise.

The stores are accepting cash and credit cards, but not selling gift cards or accepting checks.

Send your first hand accounts of the Circuit City liquidation to tips@consumerist.com and/or upload your photos to our flickr group.

Hilco, Gordon Bros. Handling Circuit City Fire Sales [TWICE] (Thanks, Klay!)

Tom says:

We immediately notice that everything is between 10-30% off. Ok, 30% off isn’t that bad, it’s still a business that has some stores open, they still need to try to make some money. Typical stuff like movies and music were 20% off, video games were 10% off and TV’s were about 20% off. Nothing was particularly cheap considering everything was set at almost MSRP with a percentage taken off, making things about the same price they would be on any other normal sale day. The only things we saw that might have been worth it were TV stands. They were nice looking stands with a good amount taken off.

Tom also noticed a bored newspaper photographer waiting for someone to actually buy something.

Maybe it was our fault for expecting more from this “sale”, but I’d rather just order the stuff online for the same price (or cheaper) and have it delivered to my doorstep.


Best part of the whole thing was seeing the local newspaper photographer sitting outside the store waiting for someone to come out with merchandise. He’d been sitting there for at least 20-25 minutes while we were in the store and still didn’t have a single picture of someone walking out with a bag in their hands.

Sad.

Circuit City Liquidation Sale Experience [ACSlater]

"Contrary to consumer perception, you don't typically see tremendous deals" at liquidation sales, said Stephen Baker, a vice president at market researcher The NPD Group.

In fact, some liquidation companies actually raise prices before slapping clearance stickers on the merchandise. Circuit City may not resort to that tactic, but don't assume you're getting a good deal just because the store is closing.

Speaking of Circuit City stores, the WSJ also pointed out that the stores that aren't going under might be empty. As in, nothing to buy.

The "credit noose is tightening," said RBC Capital Markets analyst Scot Ciccarelli, who noted that it's unlikely Circuit City will be able to get the inventory it needs for its remaining stores during the holidays.

The paper also suggested that Circuit City might actually be too broke to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and is trying to stay afloat in order to avoid liquidation.

Circuit City Braces for Dismal Holiday [WSJ]

David launched an EECB (Executive Email Carpet Bomb) on Circuit City and CC'd us. Let's listen in:

I came to Circuit City hoping to purchase Guitar Hero: World Tour Complete Band Set for my wife's birthday. I had tried several other stores before coming to Circuit City, but all were sold out. When I arrived and asked an associate if they had the complete band set in stock, I was pleased to learn that they had one left. However, when they attempted to ring the item up, instead of the $189.99 list price, the item rang up at $10,000.00. We all had a good laugh at this as the associate went for a manager to clear up the error.

The manager looked at the price and told me that that normally happens when an item is marked unavailable because the item was not yet at its release date. Of course, this game was released last Tuesday, Oct. 28, and the manager and various sales associates told me that they had already sold a ton of them. After speaking to his supervisor on the phone (I believe it was a district manager), I was told that they could do a price adjustment to the correct price, but since that would throw off some numbers, would it be all right with me if they set the item available online, where the price is correct, and just pay for it on the web with immediate "in-store" pickup? I was happy to do whatever was needed, and did not mind helping, so I said sure.

Unfortunately, for the next 45 minutes I waited as the employee trying to make this happen ran back and forth from computer to computer trying to get the inventory and the website to match up. Finally, as I had been in the store over an hour at that point, I asked that the manager just do the price adjustment and let me buy the game. He got back on the phone with the district or regional manager, and I was the told that the Guitar Hero: World Tour Complete Band Set was not supposed to be released until NEXT Tuesday, so they could not sell it to me. This is untrue. Multiple CC employees told me that they had sold many of the sets earlier in the week. Also, here is a small list of stores and sites selling the set as of RIGHT NOW:

—WalMart
—Best Buy
—Target
—Amazon
—CIRCUIT CITY (At multiple stores, according to the website)

When I told the manager this was not true and that the manager had in fact earlier offered to simply price adjust the price, the truth emerged. The district manager told the store manager that a price adjustment that large would make their numbers look really bad, so they could not do it. The "It hasn't been released yet" line was just that, a lie to tell me so I would leave. This is unacceptable.

This is what I would like from Circuit City:

1. An explanation why Circuit City's internal variance numbers are more important than a customer trying to spend several hundred dollars at your store, and why I was lied to.

2. An acknowledgment that the item I was trying to buy was in fact available, and that I should have been allowed to purchase it.

3. A phone call from the District Manager, Regional Manager, or higher up at corporate to explain 1. and 2. to me.

Finally, one personal observation...perhaps it is customer service like this that is forcing you to close 155 of your stores?

Sincerely,

David

UPDATE:
David has an update and a happy ending!

David says:

I wanted to give you an update for my Circuit City issue. This morning I got a phone call from the District Manager for the Memphis stores and surrounding areas, Michael. He was "mortified" and had investigated the issue with the store in question as well as the asset manager that the store called. He went over what happened with me and addressed all my points. Apparently, there was a company-wide glitch that goofed up the price for my item. He apologized profusely during our 15 minute conversation, and though I did not ask for it, he gave me the complete band set for free. I just got back from Circuit City, and the game was waiting for me there. So, Circuit City, or at least Michael, really went over and above to address my issue.

"So much for our Unbeatable Price Guarantee policy… It’s amazing to me how much this company keeps digging itself further into its own hole."

The Unbeatable Price Guarantee language on their website still claims:

Find a lower advertised price from another local store with the same item in stock, and we'll gladly beat their price by 10% of the difference. Plus, if you see a lower advertised price within 30 days of your purchase with us, we'll refund 100% of the difference.

Any truth to this?

Unbeatable Price Guarantee [Circuit City]